R. D. Laing, The Facts of Life

Daniel Burston (Duquesne University); Gavin Miller (University of Glasgow)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Domains

Medicine
Psychoanalysis

Dates

First circulation or publication 1976

Places

Scotland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

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The Facts of Life

(1976) is widely regarded as one of Laing's weakest works. It is also quite chaotic, moving from biography, to clinical vignettes and observations from everyday life, to lengthy meditations on the heartlessness of contemporary psychiatry and child-birthing practices. But what really provoked the ire of the mental health professions was Laing's central hypothesis: namely, that neurotic conflict and psychotic delusions may be patterned on traumas suffered while an embryo or foetus. This idea is extremely speculative, though to be fair, perhaps, Laing is trying to generate a hypothesis, rather than prove its validity. “It is at least

conceivable

to me”, Laing testifies, “that myths, legends, stories, dreams, fantasies, and conduct

may

contain strong reverberations of…

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495 words

Citation: Burston, Daniel, Gavin Miller. "The Facts of Life". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 August 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16846, accessed 23 November 2024.]