Cultures of Fetishism

In her latest book, Dr. Louise Kaplan, author of the groundbreaking Female Perversions, explores the fetishism strategy, a psychological defense that aims to tame, subdue, and if necessary, murder human vitalities. Through an exploration of such cultural phenomena as footbinding, reality television, and the construction of robots, Kaplan demonstrates how, in a technology-driven world, an understanding of the fetishism strategy can help to preserve the human dialogue that is the basis of all human relationships. Kaplan writes from the heart as well as from the intellect.

LOUISE J. KAPLAN is a psychoanalyst, author, and feminist scholar. She has published six critically acclaimed books: Oneness and Separateness, Adolescence: The Farewell to Childhood, The Family Romance of the Impostor Poet, Thomas Chatterton, Female Perversions: The Temptations of Emma Bovary, and No Voice is Ever Wholly Lost. She is the recipient of a National Book Critics Circle Award for distinguished literary achievement.