Eugene W. Holland, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University, dives into the dark dynamics of capitalism in his latest work. He explores how capitalism cultivates sadistic and masochistic patterns as societal norms, transforming economic interactions. Holland discusses the paradox of pleasure and pain in consumerism and probes the psychological impacts of these relationships. He analyzes literature and film to highlight the damaging effects of capitalism, urging a shift to eliminate destructive social behaviors for a better future.
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Baudelaire's Transition
Baudelaire transitioned from masochism to narcissism during his life.
This shift mirrored the transformation of French society from monarchy to capitalism.
insights INSIGHT
Capital's Perversion of Markets
Markets existed before capitalism, but capital perverts them.
Capital transforms markets into systems focused on endless surplus value production.
insights INSIGHT
Sadism and Masochism as Systems
Sadism and masochism in a socio-historical context describe institutionalized behavior patterns, not individual proclivities.
They diagnose how systems, like capitalism, function, rather than labeling individuals.
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Book on the Evolution of Deleuze and Guattari's Thought
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Book on Splitting of the Psyche
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120 Days of Sodom
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Written in 1785 while Marquis de Sade was imprisoned in the Bastille, this novel tells the story of four wealthy men who lock themselves in a castle with various accomplices and victims. The narrative involves detailed descriptions of sexual perversions, torture, and murder, serving as a catalogue of sexual deviations and a critique of societal structures. The manuscript was lost during the French Revolution but was later rediscovered and published in 1904.
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In this seminal work, Freud introduces his theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation and discusses what would later become the theory of the Oedipus complex. He argues that dreams are forms of 'wish fulfillment' and are influenced by unconscious forces and censorship. The book differentiates between the manifest content and latent content of dreams and explores the mechanisms of dream formation, including displacement and the 'dream-work'. Freud uses his own dreams and those of his patients to illustrate his theories, providing a deeply personal and insightful look into the human psyche[1][3][5].
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Perversions of the Market
Perversions of the Market
Sadism, Masochism, and the Culture of Capitalism
Eugene W. Holland
Eugene W. Holland's "Perversions of the Market" examines the intertwining of sadism and masochism within the framework of capitalism. The book explores how global capitalism distorts free markets, leading to societal patterns of sadistic production and masochistic consumption. Holland uses Deleuze and Guattari's schizoanalysis to analyze the psychodynamics of the capitalist market, integrating Freud's and Lacan's perspectives. He argues that these perverse relations must be addressed to prevent capitalism's destructive impact. The book's historical and theoretical analysis offers a critical perspective on modern culture.
Perversions of the Market: Sadism, Masochism, and the Culture of Capitalism(SUNY Press, 2024) argues that capitalism fosters sadism and masochism--not as individual psychological proclivities but as widespread institutionalized patterns of behavior. The book is divided into two parts: one historical and the other theoretical. In the first, Eugene W. Holland shows how, as capital becomes global in scale and drives production and consumption farther and farther apart, it perverts otherwise free markets, transforming sadism and masochism into borderline conditions and various supremacisms. The second part then turns to Deleuze and Guattari's 'schizoanalysis,' explaining how it helpfully embeds Freud's analysis of the family and Lacan's analysis of language within an analysis of the capitalist market and its psycho-dynamics. Drawing on literature and film throughout to illuminate the discontents of modern culture, Holland maintains that the sadistic relations of production and masochistic relations of consumption must be eliminated to prevent capitalism from destroying life as we know it.
Nathan Smith is a PhD candidate in Music Theory at Yale University
New Books in Psychoanalysis 
