Affirming Psychosis

This study emerged out of the collaboration between a psychiatrist, a scholar of cultural studies, and a sociologist. It offers a new response to the reciprocity between the individual and the collective share in the dynamic of Hitler's delusion. Relying on a model of psychosis based on the most recent research on the polarity of the «private» and «public» self, and incorporating, with critical revisions, new literature on the cultural history of the Third Reich, the study demonstrates that Hitler was most certainly a «pathological case,» who escaped the clinical consequences only because he had found an audience that stabilized his psychosis through an immense degree of acceptance. This interdisciplinary approach to psycho-historical Hitler research avoids the dead ends of previous, one-sided psychological or historical efforts and sheds new light on the issues of responsibility with respect to both the dictator and his German helpers.

Autorentext

The Authors: Paul Matussek (1919-2003) was a famous researcher in the field of psychodynamics and psychotic perception; his publications include a study on the consequences of internment in Concentration Camps.
Peter Matussek (born in 1955) is the author of numerous publications on cultural theory and history, including a study on Cultural Memory.
Jan Marbach (born in 1943) has published on sociological themes in Germany and abroad.

Inhalt
Contents: The Hitler Enigma Appeal for a new diagnostic model. Hitler as exemplary case The development of Hitler's psychosis from a psychodynamic perspective Cultural-historical aspects of Hitler's mania Observations on the question of responsibility.