Rapprochement Between Fathers and Sons: Breakdowns, Reunions, Potentialities

Following Freud’s rather cold conception of fathers and a relative neglect of their role in psychoanalytic theory is a challenge to continue more recent efforts to develop a psychoanalytically affirmative portrait of fatherhood. Here, fathers are attuned to relational mutuality and intimacy as a source of flourishing. Rapprochement is understood as a sub-phase of child development marked by a dramatic expression of conflict such as, “Hear me, see me, give me space, don’t give me space.” In addition, rapprochement is considered to characterize conflicts between autonomy and dependency across the lifespan. An often muted and subtle tension between holding and letting go persists. Working with what is felt entails entering a never fully completed negotiation marked by misreadings, bias, and illusion. ‘Father’ is understood to be a name pointing to a parenting function. With material that includes the grief of failed reunion, particular stories are mediated through thinking alongside philosophy and psychoanalytic theory in order to further explore the difficulty of integrating nurturing capacities into conceptions of masculinity. As a critique of gendered rigidity, a case is made for a social surround that declares mutual vulnerability to exist in a state of permanent inquiry and relational curiosity. Such openness can function to aid parents, clinicians, and respective community members to privilege the development of increased frustration tolerance. By extension, a good-enough father is one who recognizes breakdown, a need for refueling, and possesses and practices a willingness to encounter uneven rhythms in human dimensions. This thoughtful work brings fresh insight into the role of the father and masculinity and is essential reading for mental health professionals.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments About the author Introduction Part I - Fleshing out fathers and sons in familial contexts 1. Finding a father: Repetition, difference, and fantasy in Finding Nemo 2. It is still hot: Wild things across centuries of childhood 3. The Giving Tree and spaceship dreams: Terrestrial embodiment and ethics of the outside Part II - Sons and flight lessons 4. Icarus as falling forever: Unearthing the maternal in father hunger and endeavor excitement 5. Coercive elements and the threat of child sacrifice: The Lego Movie 6. On hunger and freedom: Huck Finn’s Pharmakon 7. Stealing a bad feed in the night kitchen 8. Peter Pan dances with Frankenstein: Wise babies facing/not facing challenges of integration Part III - Fathers and homecomings 9. Abraham’s and Isaac’s fear and silence 10. Ulysses beached: Absence and faith in transformations 11. Father to the good-enough man: Vulnerability in The Trumpet of the Swan Further thoughts References Index

About the Author :
Louis Rothschild, PhD, is a clinical psychologist in the greater Baltimore, Maryland area. Specialising in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, his publications have ranged from quantitative to qualitative and clinical to philosophical. After obtaining his PhD at the New School for Social Research where he published on the relationship between essentialist beliefs and prejudice, he completed a fellowship at Brown University’s Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior. There, his categorical interest turned from the social to psychiatric taxonomy, focusing on the relationships between personality and chronic depression. Once in private practice, his writing returned to the intersections between critical theory, psychoanalysis, gender theory, and pop culture that piqued his interest as an undergraduate in San Francisco. Those varied interests have led to his first book Rapprochement between Fathers and Sons: Breakdowns, Reunions, Potentialities forthcoming with Phoenix in addition to a co-edited volume, Precarities of 21st Century Childhoods: Critical Explorations of Time(s), Place(s), and Identities. He is a past President of the Rhode Island local chapter of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (Division 39) of the American Psychological Association, and served as a member of the steering committee for the 38th annual spring meeting of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology, which took place in New Orleans, his birthplace. There, he was able to feature one of his paintings entitled “Ghosts and Guardians”, and helped to plan and deliver a featured panel on the impact of slavery in the United States. His website is www.louisrothschildphd.com.

Review :
‘After its foundational preoccupation with a child's relationship with his or her father, psychoanalysis took a radical turn towards the maternal, a turn that lasted for over half a century. Louis Rothschild's book is both an outstanding representative of the subsequent 'return to the father' and a unique explication of psychoanalytic thought on its own. Crisscrossing between mythology, fiction, film studies, children's literature, and contemporary psychoanalytic praxis, Rothschild unveils a portrait of fatherhood as an amalgam of strength and tenderness that spurs the offspring's autonomy while allowing on-going dependency as well. The word' rapprochement' in the title of his book embodies not only the blend of firmness and compassion in fathering but also the heuristic benefits reaped by psychoanalysis' interaction with related disciplines of humanities. This is a book of great literary elegance and impressive psychological wisdom.’ ‘There is a lack of nuanced explorations of contemporary masculinity beyond stereotypes in psychoanalytic and psychosocial writing. Louis Rothschild's Rapprochement between Fathers and Sons: Breakdowns, Reunions, Potentialities takes the reader on an imaginative, rich, and often surprising journey through good-enough fatherhood, holding, and its failures. The book draws on a wide range of literary narratives while situating its subjects in their historical and social context. I would highly recommend it.’ 'Rothschild advocates for a new masculine parenting ideal that combines nurturing and strength, challenging contemporary culture’s privileging of detached rationality. In an era of dual-income families, he argues for father-son relationships that embrace both dependency and autonomy while acknowledging inevitable breakdowns and recoveries' ‘A landmark contribution to the fields of psychoanalysis, masculinity studies, and fatherhood research […] In an era marked by ongoing debates about the nature of masculinity and the role of fathers, Rothschild’s work provides a timely and sophisticated contribution […] It stands as an essential read for anyone seeking to understand and navigate the complex emotional terrain of father–son relationships in the modern world, while also contributing valuable insights to our broader understanding of human relationships, emotional development, and the ongoing evolution of masculinity in contemporary society.’