The Black Homoerotic Oedipus: An Exploratory Multiple-Case Study on the Possible Cross-Cultural Applicability of a Depathologized Psychoanalytic Theory of Male Homosexuality
Date
2023-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
Classical psychoanalytic theory famously hypothesises a process in the aetiology of male homosexuality whereby a boy identifies with his mother and takes himself as a love-object. In addition to acknowledging that there may be various mechanisms in the development of a homosexual disposition, contemporary psychodynamic theoreticians have attempted to distance themselves from this view by emphasizing the primacy of the negative Oedipus complex and the ‘heretical’ possibility of one being able to identify with and lust the same object in the development of a homosexual object choice in adulthood. The present study sought to determine the potential cross-cultural applicability of this aforementioned depathologized psychoanalytic theory of male homosexuality by way of three openly homosexual Black South African men. The study found that aspects of both the classical and depathologized psychoanalytic theories might have cross-cultural applicability. It also brought to the fore the many difficulties and forms of discrimination that Black South African homosexual men face within their communities.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Educational Psychology) in the Faculty of Humanities, School of Human and Community Development, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, December 2022.
Keywords
Psychoanalysis, Male Homosexuality, Cross-Cultural Applicability, Homophobia, UCTD
Citation
Bloomberg, Jonti Joey. (2023). The Black Homoerotic Oedipus: An Exploratory Multiple-Case Study on the Possible Cross-Cultural Applicability of a Depathologized Psychoanalytic Theory of Male Homosexuality. [Master's dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WIReDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40166