I’ve been meaning to return to Tanya Luhrmann’s essay “A Hyperreal God and Modern Belief” for some time; I finally now have a chance to get back to it. What initially intrigued me most about this text was the fact that it was not written about, or with any direct reference to, psychosis; the overlap, … Continue reading »
Category Archives: Psychiatric Anthropology
Luhrmann’s Living with Voices (in appreciation)
Given my reaction to Luhrmann’s Wilson Quarterly essay it admittedly took me a few days to persuade myself to read her other new essay on the Hearing Voices Movement. I’m glad I did. In a refreshingly critical—and also simply “different”—take on the HVM, Luhrmann draws attention to the potential ‘dark side’ of the movement’s focus … Continue reading »
Return of the Social: Rewriting the recent history of schizophrenia
I’ve long felt a certain ambivalence regarding Tanya Luhrmann’s work on psychosis (see, e.g., a much earlier post here). Part of my frustration stems from Luhrmann’s disconnect, so far as I can tell, from the complexities of the user/survivor movement, and part from disappointment that the tremendous potential latent in her topics of choice—potential, above … Continue reading »
