The Mother's Hands

Desire, Fantasy and the Inheritance of the Maternal

Massimo Recalcati, Alice Kilgarriff

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Hardback

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English

Polity Press
26 April 2019

Family psychology

In this book the bestselling author and psychoanalyst Massimo Recalcati offers a fundamental re-examination of what ‘being a mother’ means today, in a world where new social and sexual freedoms mean that motherhood is no longer the sole destiny of women. Questioning the belief that a mother’s love is natural and unconditional, he paints a more complex and troubling picture of the mother–child relationship, observing that mothers may even resent their children as a result of unresolved conflicts between different dimensions of love. The mother’s hands not only nurture but can also potentially harm. Recalcati argues that it is precisely in these competing demands that motherhood fulfils its function: only if the mother is ‘not-all-mother’ can a child experience the absence that enables it to access the symbolic and cultural world.

Recalcati cuts through conventional wisdom to offer a fresh perspective on the changing nature of motherhood today. An international bestseller, this book will appeal to a wide general readership, as well as to students and scholars of gender studies, psychoanalysis and related disciplines.

By: Massimo Recalcati
Translated by: Alice Kilgarriff
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 201mm, Width: 135mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 318g
ISBN: 9781509531677
ISBN 10: 150953167X
Pages: 200
Publication Date: 26 April 2019
Audience: General/trade , Adult education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction Notes 1 The Mother’s Desire The Hands The Wait The Face Lalangue The Breast Absence Desire Paranoia The Name Care Transcendence Notes 2 The Mother’s Shadow The Two Mothers and Solomon’s Ruling Wanting to Have a Child Maternal Anxiety The Child as Object The Mother’s Refusal ‘Primary Perversion’ The Mother’s Enjoyment Ange Duroc The Mother-as-Crocodile The Narcissistic Mother A Fugitive Mother The Medea Complex Mommy Notes 3 The Mother’s Inheritance Maternal Power The Maternal Sentence Maternal Inheritance The Dead Mother Mother and Daughter Failure of Inheritance Ravage Violence and Resignation The Mother’s Solitude A Successful Inheritance Notes Epilogue

Massimo Recalcati is a psychoanalyst and author who teaches at the universities of Pavia and Verona.

Reviews for The Mother's Hands: Desire, Fantasy and the Inheritance of the Maternal

'This book from one of Italy's most popular public intellectuals turns our conventional understanding of motherly love on its head, encouraging a complete rethink of what motherhood means today. Written with Recalcati's typical flair and sagacity, it will be of interest to a very wide readership.' Dany Nobus, Brunel University, London