Cultures of Fetishism

CULTURES OF FETISHISM

Louise J. Kaplan

“A dictionary pertinent to the times. A work to be read with hypnotizing shock.”—
Newsweek

“Excellent encyclopedia of the folklore of the Atomic Age ...A factual, terrifying and very funny book.”—
Washington Star

“Measured and brilliant handling of the tragic irony which in itself would make the book a delight and perhaps even a weapon the Great Lost Cause which the definition of the human imagination and of human anything appears to have become.”—W. S. Merwin

“
The Domesday Dictionary
is an imaginative work. It integrates paradox with infuriatingly true characterizations in a surprising and original manner.”—Theodor Reik

“One of the season’s most interesting books ...A striking critique of 20th century life and thought.”—
Wilmington Delaware Journal

“A brilliantly done job.”—William Styron

“A sleeper in more ways than one. In format and style it is unusual. The authors do a fascinating job on contemporary civilization.”—
New Haven Register

“Clinical psychologist Louise Kaplan combines meticulous scholarship with shrewd and mostly jargon-free insights into the dynamics of imposture.”—Dennis Drabelle,
Washington Post Book World

“Fascinating and often highly illuminating . . . Louise J. Kaplan approaches this remarkable story as a psychoanalyst with a special interest in the problems of adolescence . . . The book is well worth reading. Chatterton was an extraor- dinary individual, and he turns out to be even more extraordinary in realistic close-up than in romantic legend.”—John Gross,
The New York Times

“What raises Kaplan’s biography above the norm is her study of Chatterton as a precocious and neurotic adolescent . . . Her presentation of a highly talented fatherless boy surrounded by adoring female family is very convincing.”—Anstiss Drake,
Chicago Tribune

“Louise Kaplan has the gift of bringing to life any person or subject of interest to her.”—Judith Rossner

“At last, a psycho-biography that works ...a rich and illuminating mix of biography, history and psychoanalytic theory.”—Vicki Goldberg

“A kind of psychoanalytic detective story with many of the trappings of a picaresque novel ...a thoroughly unusual and enjoyable piece of work.”—Morris Dickstein

“Kaplan has blended poetry, scholarship, and sensitive psychological insight to produce a major contribution to the literature of human development.”—Aaron Esman, M.D.

“A groundbreaking book that redefines the meaning of adolescence.”—

Publishers Weekly

“Kaplan gives a fresh interpretation of that phase of human existence about which nobody agrees ...a naturally lyrical style enables the author to do what adolescents do: to weave past, present and future on a thread of imagination and create new possibilities.”—
Contemporary Psychology

“The author’s magisterial style and psychological insight combine to make this book a watershed in the study of adolescence.”—
Cultural Information Service

“Kaplan’s understanding of these traumatic years is a milestone in the lit- erature of child development.”—
Tulsa Daily World

“Parents will embrace this professional’s eloquent understanding, and Kaplan’s colleagues will surely benefit from her empathy and insight.”—
The Boston Sunday Globe

“At last, adolescence is treated with the respect and understanding that has long been its due . . . Dazzling scholarship, warm sympathy, original insights and brilliant interpretation make it a must for anyone who is puzzled by the behavior of adolescents.”—Bel Kaufman

“Brilliant, original, fascinating, poetical, beautiful, vibrant, spontaneous, clear, compassionate, eloquent, dazzling, insightful, warm, sympathetic, sen- sitive, deep, and aesthetically pleasurable. When so much jargon is lavished on adolescence, it is refreshing to obtain an original portrait of this enigmatic age.”—E. James Anthony, M.D.

“Sound, knowledgeable and powerfully written . . . unified by Dr. Kaplan’s unblinking focus on real human babies and how they act and by her own clear and lyrical voice.”—
The Boston Globe

“An eloquent and beautiful book ...a stunning interpretive drama of the mother-child relationship that reaches into the very mind of the baby.”—Molly Haskell

“Here is a book I would give to every mother- and father-to-be . . . Kaplan makes the first years of life come alive in such a tactile, empathetic way that the reader not only feels with the infant, but for the child who lives on in himself.”—Nancy Friday

“Scholarly and poetic,
No Voice is Ever Wholly Lost
speaks to both the intellect and the heart, offering profound and healing insights into loss, grief, and reconnection.”—Judith Viorst, author of
Necessary Losses

“With all the self-help junk passing for books, it’s a pleasure to read a work with depth, vision and scholarship on a subject that merits these strengths.”—Betty Rollin, author of
Last Wish
and
First You Cry

“A lovely, deeply comforting meditation on loss, grief, and the triumphs of human survival.”—Martha Lear, author of
Heartsounds

“This masterful study breaks new ground in our understanding of sexuality, gender roles and the way modern society trivializes erotic expression.”—

Publishers Weekly

“A great discovery, a new lens focused on the female condition.”—Fay Weldon
, Allure

“A fascinating and ambitious new study.”—
The New York Times Sunday Book Review

“Lucid, provocative, and tremendously literate.”—
Voice Literary Supplement

“Kaplan has done that rare thing—to write a book for a general audience that can also interest the more narrow technical audience of psychoanalysts. This book is that almost lost phenomena in the contemporary corporate pub- lishing world: an intellectually accomplished book accessible to a general readership.”—
Psychoanalytic Psychology

“Written with a sense of moral courage, breaking new ground in various ways about gender and society, cultural and political supports that enhance but also diminish who we are as infants, children, adolescents, and adults.”—
Psychoanalytic Books

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C
ultures of
F
etishism

By Louise J. Kaplan

The Domesday Dictionary
(with Donald M. Kaplan and Armand Schwerner)

Oneness and Separateness: From Infant to Individual Adolescence: The Farewell to Childhood

The Family Romance of the Impostor-Poet Thomas Chatterton Female Perversions: The Temptations of Emma Bovary

No Voice Is Ever Wholly Lost

C
ultures of
F
etishism

Louise J. Kaplan

CULTURES OF FETISHISM

© Louise J. Kaplan, 2006.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

First published in 2006 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™

175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world.

PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries.

ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–6968–2 ISBN-10: 1–4039–6968–X

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kaplan, Louise J.

Cultures of fetishism / Louise J. Kaplan

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-10: 1–4039–6968–X (alk. paper)