Myth and Madness: The Psychodynamics of Antisemitism (review)

128 SHOFAR Winter 1997 Vol. 15, No.2 that Reverend Parkes arrived at his theological conclusions well before the Holocaust began. Parkes offered three postulates around which Christian-Jewish dialogue might take place: 1) neither religion possesses the final totality of truth; 2) each recognizes that the other possesses essential aspects of truth; 3) both recognize the similarities of belief rather than emphasize where they differ. Finally he felt that the work of scholars ofgoodwill was wasted ifwhat they learned were not shared with congregations. This book is aptly titled. It more than adequately tells the story of a Christian without antisemitism. Harry James Cargas Department of literature and Language Webster University Myth and Madness: The Psychodynamics ofAntisemitism, byMortimer Ostow. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1996. 191 pp. The historical persistence of antisemitism over more than two centuries, a term not coined until the last century, has troubled psychoanalytic scholars despite an apparent golden age ofAmericanJewry. Unlike the founders of psychoanalysis who showed little overt interest in the subject, 17 analysts participated in a comprehensive review of basic psychodynamic processes contributing to prejudice and specifically antisemitism over a nine-year period, i.e., 1981-1990. They met about eight times a year for two hours, or a total of 75 meetings. Mortimer Ostow, president of the Psychoanalytic Research and Development Fund and Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Psychiatry at the Jewish Theological Seminary ofAmerica, summarized the findings of these meetings in Myth andMadness: The Psychodynamics ofAntisemitism. The perceptions of this volume are similar in conclusion to an article by J. Duckitt in the American Psychologist, "Psychology and Prejudice, An Historical Analysis and Integrated Framework" (1992) and to Professor Gavin Langmuir's findings in Toward a Definition ofAntisemitism (1990) and History, Religion, and Antisemitism (1990). What makes Professor Ostow's group discussion memorable is the search for case material by applying depth psychology to the study of antisemitism with all the limitations that the current practice of psychoanalysis entails. Presumably Book Reviews 129 for the sake.of objectivity, about half of the group was Jewish, and among the non-Jews an Mrican-American participated during the first half of the project. In addition to a short foreword, a list of participants, an introduction, and a bibliography, the book contains six chapters. The initial chapter, entitled "The Project, Its Background, and Its Presuppositions," includes a limited list of historical, economic, political, opportunistic, religious, status consciousness, and resource struggle contributions to antisemitism, which remain explored elsewhere. The author did not wish to contend that antisemitism is to be attributed only to the outcome of psychic conflict. A fairly inclusive review of psychoanalytic interpretation of antisemitism lays a beginning foundation for the psychological dynamics of prejudicial sentiments that have characterized the "dislike of the unlike." Chapter two presents ten case histories, limited by considerations of confidentiality. A number of other cases were mention~d briefly. These numbered both men and women who expressed their antisemitic intensity from being committed Neo-Nazis to those whose antisemitism was not a major item on their agenda. It must be remembered that antisemitic comments in analytiC treatment emerged when the so-called transference of analysand to analyst turned negative. All the defensive maneuvers and worst fears came into play on such occasions, so thatJews are "seen sometimes as Oedipal rivals, sometimes as sibling rivals, sometimes as degraded and unworthy, sometimes . . . as individuals who do not exert sufficient self-discipline and permit themselves all kinds of excesses, sometimes as individuals who are self-righteously moralistic, sometimes as separatist and exclusive and sometimes as presumptuous intruders." In short, when antisemitism prevails, there is no Jewish life-style that will undo it in view of its mythologic attributes. In chapters three and four, much thought is given to the ideas about Jews and Judaism that have persisted since its inception and, therefore, must have served significant psychic functions "which will be given up reluctantly ifat all." Although the studyofsuch group phenomena remains within the purview of sociologists and· cultural anthropologists, the psychological understanding of myth formation was deemed a legitimate area of investigation by the analysts. In addition to group myths, there are also personal myths which, if accepted and maintained, may...