Constructing the Self: Constructing America

In this unsettling study, historian and psychotherapist Cushman maintains that each epoch produces a distinct configuration of the self--the ``nondeep, horizontal, inclusive'' self of the ancient Greeks; the communal self of the Hebrews, a partner with God; the crusading medieval Christian self, container for the immortal soul; etc. In modern times, the ``empty self,'' marked by a pervasive sense of personal hollowness, is committed to self-liberation through consumption. Cushman, who teaches at the California School of Professional Psychiatry and the Saybrook Institute, argues that psychotherapy, permeated by the ethos of self-contained individualism, unknowingly reinforces the isolated, status quo-oriented empty self. After reviewing the theories of Freud, Jung, Harry Stack Sullivan, Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott, he urges therapists to acknowledge the importance of moral discourse with the patient and to adopt a perspective that recognizes the individual's links to society. This dense yet rewarding study delves into mental asylums, maladies of Victorian women, African American minstrel shows, mesmerism and advertising campaigns. (Mar.)