Languages of Addiction

The Languages of Addictionlistens to the way we talk about what it means to be unable to say no, using literature as a springboard to a sensitive discussion of alcoholism and drug addiction. It goes far beyond yet brings into conversation with each other the traditional, single-issue texts which discuss alcoholisms, to present a variety of theoretical approaches to, and pedagogical methods of teaching, the problem. The essays both challenge and defend the AA-Medical Model and draw from African, American, British, French, and Spanish literatures, exploring the meaning of denial, "addiction," and the psychological experiences of addiction. From this international perspective, the questions raised and the intertextual resonances between such authors as Virginia Woolf, Athol Fugard, Vicente Blasco IbÁÑez, James Baldwin, and John Berryman enlarge our awareness of how we might understand alcoholism and addiction as created in literature.Lilienfeld, Jane is the author of 'Languages of Addiction' with ISBN 9780312218508 and ISBN 0312218508.