Crafting masculine selves : culture, war, and psychodynamics in Afghanistan /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Chiovenda, Andrea, author.
Imprint:	Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2020]
Description:	ix, 259 pages ; 25 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Pushtuns -- Afghanistan. Masculinity -- Afghanistan. Afghan War, 2001- -- Psychological aspects. Afghan War, 2001- -- Social aspects. Masculinity. Psychological aspects. Pushtuns. Social aspects. Social conditions. Afghanistan -- Social conditions -- 21st century. Afghanistan.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12037239

Hidden Bibliographic Details
Varying Form of Title:	Subtitle on cover: Culture, war, and psychodynamics in Afghanistan
ISBN:	0190073551 9780190073558
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-250) and index.
Summary:	Against the backdrop of four decades of continuous conflict in Afghanistan, the Pashtun male protagonists of this book carry out their daily effort to internally negotiate, adjust (if at all), and respond to the very strict cultural norms and rules of masculinity that their androcentric social environment enjoins on them. Yet, in a widespread context of war, displacement, relocation, and social violence, cultural expectations and stringent tenets on how to comport oneself as a "real man" have a profound impact on the psychological equilibrium and emotional dynamics of these individuals. This book is a close investigation into these private and at times contradictory aspects of subjectivity. Stemming from five years of research in a southeastern province of Afghanistan, it presents a long-term, psychodynamic engagement with a select group of male Pashtun individuals, which results in a multilayered dive not only into their inner lives, but also into the cultural and social environment in which they live and develop. Behind the screen of what often seems like outward conformity, Andrea Chiovenda is able to point to areas of strong inner conflict, ambivalence, and rebellion, which in turn will serve as the seeds for cultural and social change. These dynamics play out in a setting in which what was considered legitimate and justifiable violence on the battlefield has now spilled over into everyday life, even among non-combatants.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Prologue
A psychodynamic framework of investigation
An intellectual genealogy
Engaging masculinity
The methodological framework
The contiguity between ethnographic and psychoanalytic practice
1. Historical and Ethnographic Background
The broader Afghan picture
The fieldsite in perspective
Pashtuns in ethnographic perspective
"Culture Talk" war, and subjectivity
2. Rohullah; Shifting Subjectivities and the Crafting of a Private Masculinity
Prologue
The impact of a different social milieu
Crafting an alternative masculinity
The effort at re-establishing an internal balance
Being "different" by negotiating the private sphere
Conclusion
3. Umar: The Making, and Un-making, of a Religious Militant
Prologue
The power of identification, the seduction of power
A closer look
The craft of keeping truthful to oneself
The deep reach of enculturation
Conclusion
4. Baryalay: Between Cultural and Personal Representational Worlds
Prologue
A family portrait
Finding an alternative role
Shaping one's own masculinity
The legacy of three decades of violent conflict
Perceiving oneself: "authenticity" and intimacy
Conclusion
5. Rahmat: The Dilemmas of a "Perfect" Pashtun
Prologue
The "perfect" Pashtun
Complicating the portrait
The strength of interconnectivity
The context of masculinity: between fantasy and reality
Conclusion
6. Between What "Was" and What "Is": Four Tales of Development and Growth
Introduction
Inayat and Kamran
Nasim Khan (and Niamatullah)
Wahid
Conclusion
The search for "meaning" within a shared psychic reality
Bibliography
Index

Crafting masculine selves : culture, war, and psychodynamics in Afghanistan /

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