Gohar Homayounpour, "Persian Blues, Psychoanalysis and Mourning" (Routledge, 2022)
Apr 21, 2025
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Gohar Homayounpour, a psychoanalyst and Crediva award-winning author, discusses her book and the intertwined themes of mourning, culture, and psychoanalysis. She emphasizes the importance of embracing discomfort and the complexities of personal grief, particularly through her experience of loss. The conversation delves into the connections between Persian blues, storytelling, and identity, as well as the nuances of femininity in Iranian culture. Homayounpour also explores empathy in therapeutic settings, advocating for creativity and authentic engagement in psychoanalysis.
Gohar Homayounpour highlights the transformative power of writing as a cathartic response to her father's death, intertwining personal grief with creative expression.
The cultural significance of 'Persian Blues' encapsulates various interpretations of melancholy and explores the complexities of grief through a multifaceted lens.
Homayounpour critiques contemporary psychoanalysis for neglecting the voices of the marginalized and emphasizes the importance of absence in fostering patient growth.
Deep dives
The Motivation Behind Writing
The author reflects on the personal motivation that drove her to write her latest book, inspired by the traumatic experience of losing her father. This loss served as a cathartic outlet for her grief, where writing became a necessary act of processing her mourning. The author emphasizes that the act of writing arose from a deep need rather than a mere desire to publish. This need underscores the profound connection between personal experiences and creative expression.
Exploring the Concept of 'Blue'
The title, 'Persian Blues', encapsulates multiple interpretations of the color blue within the context of mourning and melancholy. It connects to the melancholic emotions associated with loss, as well as the cultural significance of Persian blue, which symbolizes depth and complexity. Additionally, the author weaves in an appreciation for the musical genre of the blues, illustrating how these themes intertwine throughout her narrative. This multifaceted exploration allows her to examine the intricacies of grief through different cultural lenses.
The Relationship Between Psychoanalysis and Marginality
The author asserts that both psychoanalysis and the blues embody the voices of the marginalized, emphasizing the importance of engaging with the margins of society. She critiques contemporary psychoanalysis for drifting towards mainstream acceptance and losing its foundational roots linked to those who stand outside societal norms. This shift, she argues, has distanced the field from its true essence—the exploration of the unconscious and the complexities of human desire. By focusing on 'unbelonging' rather than 'belonging,' she highlights the need to embrace difference as a source of psychological growth.
The Importance of Absence in Psychoanalytic Practice
A key argument presented is the necessity of absence in the psychoanalytic relationship, which allows patients to navigate their emotions and develop their agency. The author criticizes the tendency to minimize absence as it may inhibit the natural process of separation and individuation essential for a patient’s growth. This perspective underscores the importance of tolerating discomfort and uncertainty in therapy, fostering a more authentic connection between analyst and patient. The interplay of presence and absence is framed as fundamental to the psychoanalytic path towards healing.
Rethinking the Dynamics of Desire
The discussion highlights a critical revision of how contemporary psychoanalysis interprets desire, advocating for a shift from unlimited pursuit to an understanding of desire that acknowledges limitation and sought separation. The author argues that true desire emerges from constraints imposed by the reality principle, challenging common misconceptions that associate desire solely with unrestrained freedom. This nuanced view posits that embracing limitations can lead to richer, more fulfilling experiences of desire. Exploring this dynamic ultimately promotes deeper engagement with one’s emotional landscape and the unconscious.
Psychoanalysis is, Homayounpour tells us early in the interview, “a profession for dreamers, for people who don't know what to do with themselves. for freaks. This is not a profession for people in suits at universities who have a clear idea of the status quo. It's the absolute opposite. It's the carnival, you know, it's still unofficial, it's the subversive because that's the discourse of the unconscious. But this is a dangerous business, you know, and it should be for both analytic subjects in the room. I'm in favor of absence. I'm in favor of disturbance. I'm in favor of pollution and darkness. I think these are things that need to be celebrated.”
In Persian Blues, Psychoanalysis and Mourning, Gohar Homayounpour plays a theme and variations on loss, love, and family against the backdrop of Iran’s chaotic recent past. Homayounpour is simultaneously Shahrzad, the fearless storyteller, and Shahrzad’s analyst: subjecting fairy tales to fierce new insights, while weaving an indigo thread through her own devastation on the death of her father and the wonders and horrors of motherhood. A blue thread, or melody, runs though the separations and emigrations of her family and patients driven or broken apart by war, and likewise through the fraught world inhabited by Persian women. This book breaks new psychoanalytic ground, offering a radical rejection of traditional clichés about Iran, and Iranian women, but its unsparing elegance transcends any political agenda, bridging the ocean of a shared and tragic humanity. Persian Blues, Psychoanalysis and Mourning will be of great interest to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically informed readers, as well as those interested in grief, Iran, and women’s experiences.
