New Books Network Anna Fishzon, "The Impossible Return - Psychoanalytic Reflections on Breast Cancer, Loss, and Mourning" (Routledge, 2025)
Jan 20, 2026
Anna Fishzon, a psychoanalyst and author, discusses her poignant book exploring breast cancer, loss, and identity. She intertwines her personal cancer journey with the themes of mourning and reconstruction, delving into how the body becomes an uncanny double post-surgery. The conversation reveals her reflections on cultural memory, maternal relationships, and the socio-emotional impacts of shame and anxiety in survivorship. Fishzon also connects her experiences to broader historical narratives, including her Soviet upbringing and reflections on queer temporality.
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Book Born From Personal Cancer Journey
- Anna Fishzon wrote the book from her 2017 breast cancer diagnosis and reconstruction journey after finding few analytic accounts that resonated.
- She intended it as a personal project that might fill a gap in literature on mourning and reconstruction.
Reconstruction As Recording Metaphor
- Fishzon links reconstruction to recordings and the uncanny double, comparing a reconstructed breast to a recorded voice.
- She uses opera and recording as a metaphor for lost objects and attempts at replication.
Motherhood Shapes Mourning Experience
- Fishzon recounts breastfeeding her son and how losing a breast felt like losing a person requiring mourning.
- She emphasizes the breast's dual role as erotic and nourishing, complicating grief.
