ABSTRACT
In Chapter 4, Sudhir Kakar and Amrita Narayanan make another new observation, when they point out that Freud didn’t pay attention to the cultural dimensions of the ego. Based on the cultural myths of India, they point to how the father-son relationship is portrayed in many different ways than the rivalrous, murderous Oedipus complex described by Freud. For example, in Indian myth, the father may be seen more as a wished-for ally and protector. It is interesting that in clinical practice, this is also an important theme for men that complicates their rivalrous relationship with men. They also point out that culturally, the idealization of motherhood is reserved for mothers of sons, and it is hard to find examples of mother-daughter rivalry. They also describe a different view of bisexuality in Indian culture.
