D. W. Winnicott, transitional objects and the creation of the divine

Religious expressions and religious behaviours are often considered to be mainly mental or spiritual phenomena, to a large degree divorced from or threatened by physical or material forms that may accompany their expression. This paper asks whether the diminution of the material or the condemnation...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Gabel, Stewart (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Taylor & Francis 2017
Dans: Mental health, religion & culture
Année: 2017, Volume: 20, Numéro: 8, Pages: 741-755
Sujets non-standardisés:B Transitional objects and transitional phenomena
B icons and religious art
B Idols
B D. W. Winnicott
Accès en ligne: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Résumé:Religious expressions and religious behaviours are often considered to be mainly mental or spiritual phenomena, to a large degree divorced from or threatened by physical or material forms that may accompany their expression. This paper asks whether the diminution of the material or the condemnation of idols, icons and religious art loses sight of possible benefits that involvement with these forms of material divinity has for believers. Using the concept of transitional objects and transitional phenomena developed by D. W. Winnicott, a mid-twentieth-century psychoanalyst, I argue that idols, icons and religious art often represent transitional objects that form psychological bridges, intermediaries or anticipated "transitions" from humans to unseen divinities who require materialisation in some form to be maintained actively in the believer’s mind. In the process of creating or designing these material forms, the forms themselves often come to be considered "divine". Illustrations are provided.
ISSN:1469-9737
Contient:Enthalten in: Mental health, religion & culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2017.1407920