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The Dybbuk as Imagery and as Psychological State in the Work and Life of Yona Wallach
- Hebrew Studies
- National Association of Professors of Hebrew
- Volume 50, 2009
- pp. 245-264
- 10.1353/hbr.2009.0025
- Article
- Additional Information
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It is possible to identify in the background of Wallach's creative output two general frames of reference, frames that possess a distinct terminology, both of them dealing with the unconscious by giving pride of place to its non-rational characteristics. One is the psychological frame of conceptualization, which Wallach uses broadly and freely, and the other frame of reference is the mystical system of explanations, a central source of that inspiration being the world of Kabbalah. In this essay, I will focus on states of consciousness in Wallach's poetry similar to that associated with a "dybbuk," and I will argue that such descriptions comprise an attempt to give meaning to a complex and non-defined identity—an attempt that expresses an alternative to psychological conceptualization and medical diagnosis, forming in its stead a different path to express those states of mind.