Drawing on work with Indian and Japanese patients, a prominent American psychoanalyst explores inner worlds that are markedly different from the Western psyche. A series of fascinating case studies illustrates Alan Roland's argument: the "familial self," rooted in the subtle emotional hierarchical relationships of the family and group, predominates in Indian and Japanese psyches and contrasts strongly with the Western "individualized self." In perceptive and sympathetic terms Roland describes the emotional problems that occur when Indians and Japanese encounter Western culture and the resulting successful integration of new patterns that he calls the "expanding self." Of particular interest are descriptions of the special problems of women in changing society and of the paradoxical relationship of the "spiritual self" of Indians and Japanese to the "familial self.? Also described is Roland's own response to the broadening of his emotional and intellectual horizons as he talked to patients and supervised therapists in India and Japan. "As we were coming in for a landing to Bombay," he writes, "the plane banked so sharply that when I supposedly looked down all I could see were the stars, while if I looked up, there were the lights of the city." This is the "world turned upside down" that he describes so eloquently in this book. What he has learned will fascinate those who wish to deepen their understanding of a different way of being.

In recent years, the traditional psychoanalytic view of the self as an autonomous entity has been shifting to a more relational perspective. This evolution from a solely intrapsychic stance brings psychoanalysis closer to the viewpoint of social psychology, formerly a highly divergent discipline. Bridging these different literatures, THE RELATIONAL SELF describes the extent and meaning of these convergences. The book is divided into four sections. The first two examine current perspectives from psychoanalytic self psychology and social psychology, and the latter two present an integration of psychoanalytic and social-personality approaches. Part One reviews the psychoanalytic theories of character "structure" that focus upon identity maintenance, self-esteem regulation, and resistance to change. Also presented is an interactional view of the self that explores the intersubjective context of intrapsychic experience. Part Two shifts from the largely unconscious intrapsychic self to the self as affected by situational variables. Considered here are the relationship between self-image and attitudes, the social categories deemed by people as important to their identity, and the effects of physical relocation upon self-concept change. Part Three presents a theory of the self with separate rational and experiential processing systems and also explores cultural influences on the self from a psychoanalytic vantage point. Part Four considers psychotherapy, self-verification, and self-concept change, including self-defeating behavior and self-consistency striving; the avoidance of self-awareness; self-evaluation maintenance; and self-with-other representations. Bringing together the work of leading theorists in social, psychoanalytic, and personality psychology on the interaction of self-organization with the social and physical environment, THE RELATIONAL SELF fosters a better understanding of both situational and dispositional variables and a deeper appreciation of the changing theoretical sense of a relational self as the ultimate stage of development.

"The Burakumin. Stigmatized throughout Japanese history as an outcaste group, their identity is still “risky,” their social presence mostly silent, and their experience marginalized in public discourse. They are contemporary Japan’s largest minority group—between 1.5 and 3 million people. How do young people today learn about being burakumin? How do they struggle with silence and search for an authentic voice for their complex experience? Voice, Silence, and Self examines how the mechanisms of silence surrounding burakumin issues are reproduced and challenged in Japanese society. It explores the ways in which schools and social relationships shape people’s identity as burakumin within a “protective cocoon” where risk is minimized. Based on extensive ethnographic research and interviews, this longitudinal work explores the experience of burakumin youth from two different communities and with different social movement organizations. Christopher Bondy explores how individuals navigate their social world, demonstrating the ways in which people make conscious decisions about the disclosure of a stigmatized identity. This compelling study is relevant to scholars and students of Japan studies and beyond. It provides crucial examples for all those interested in issues of identity, social movements, stigma, and education in a comparative setting."

This book is a sequel to Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (SUNY, 1992) and anticipates a third book, Self as Image in Asian Theory and Practice. In order to address issues as diverse as the promotion of human rights or the resolution of sexism in ways that avoid inadvertent lapses into cultural chauvinism, alternative cultural perspectives that begin from differing conceptions of self and self-realization must be articulated and respected. This book explores the articulation of personal character within the disparate cultural experiences of Japan, China, and South Asia.

How do ways of explaining one's life vary over time? Although anthropologists have found intriguing cultural differences in how people interpret the self, there has been little extended work exploring historical variations. In this study, sociologist Diane Bjorklund remedies this gap by exploring the historical nature of self-narrative. Examining over 100 American autobiographies published in the last two centuries, she discusses not only well-known autobiographers such as Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie but also many obscure ones such as a traveling book peddler, a minstrel, a hotel proprietress, an itinerant preacher, a West Point cadet, and a hoopskirt wire manufacturer.

Over 50 reminiscences of pre-modern Japan. This book presents an illustrationf a way of life that has virtually disappeared.

Contributed papers presented at a conference organized by Japan Foundation, New Delhi in March 2005.