Gambling, Game, and Psyche (Suny Series in Psychoanalysis and Culture)

The fate of the hero-gambler, as described by Dostoevsky, Balzac, Poe, and others, is the focus of this unprecedented exploration of gambling and the human psyche.Bettina Knapp adds a new spin on the study of gambling as she explores both sides of the coin―the rush and thrill of risk taking versus the depression and defeat of losing. In a unique Jungian approach, Knapp probes the universal and eternal mysteries that lady luck herself offers to humanity’s never-ending quest to defy destiny.While games of chance and of skill have held universal appeal throughout the ages, here Knapp adds a new dimension by exploring the psyches and the cultures of their players. In each of the book’s nine chapters, she examines a different type of gambling as evidenced in Western and Eastern tradition through the literary works of Aleichem, Balzac, Dostoevsky, Hesse, Kawabata, Pascal, Poe, Serao, and Zhang. This scrutiny shows both the diversity and universality of each culture as she takes the literary works out of their individual contexts and relates them to humankind in general. Through an examination of seven different cultures―American, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian―she shows the effects of gambling on individuals and groups of players as well as its impact on the family and society.