Following the publication of the 4th issue of the Annual edition of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis in Greek, Tomas Plänkers, psychoanalyst at the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt will give a lecture entitled “Splitting the Mind within the Individual, Nation and Economy: Reflections on the Struggle for Integration in Post-War Germany”. Organized by the Greek Annual Edition of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, and the Bachelor of Science in Psychology program (BSPsy) of Hellenic American College (HAEC) in cooperation with Hellenic American University (Nashua, NH, USA), the event will take place on Friday, September 15, 2017.
Psychoanalysis, beyond its therapeutic target, is also a source of knowledge for human psychic functions at the personal, social and collective levels. Tomas Plänkers, via his own psychoanalytic perspective, has recently published a paper in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis- available also in the Greek Annual Edition of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis- where he applies the psychoanalytic notion of split or dichotomy, to approach the psychodynamic elements which contributed at a personal and collective level to re-integration in Post-War Germany.
The well-known psychoanalyst will discuss the function of this defense mechanism and the consequences of idolization, projection, denial and extreme denigration – a series of psychological mechanisms which led, at the collective level (in the case of National Socialism) to various phenomena like the Holocaust and the subsequent 40-year split of Germany based on the ideological confrontation between socialism and capitalism. A description of two extensive discussions with a former Stasi agent will follow, where Plänkers describes how this man through his personal and collective ideals was led to an illusion of idolization, projection, denial and extreme denigration
Tomas Plänkers is a psychoanalysis instructor and research associate at the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt as well as DPV fellow. His research interest is the conceptive research in psychoanalysis and social psychology. He has published various books and articles on psychoanalysis.
Language: English – A hardcopy of the speech will be distributed in Greek.
Introductory remarks will be delivered by Mr. Kostas Zervos, translator of the Plänkers paper.
Date: Friday, 15 September 2017, 19:30
Venue: Hellenic American Union Theatre - 22 Massalias Street, Athens
