YEREVAN, Armenia — The American University of Armenia (AUA) is pleased to announce that Dr. Rachit Anand, assistant professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, served as co-editor of the latest issue of the journal Penumbr(a), A Journal of Psychoanalysis and Modernity, published on September 24.
Titled Psychoanalysis from Elsewhere, the fourth issue of Penumbra, which Dr. Anand co-edited with Dr. Fernanda Negrete, associate professor at the University at Buffalo, features essays, short articles, interviews, and a review essay on the topics of decoloniality, race studies, and psychoanalysis. In addition to co-writing the Editors’ introduction, Dr. Anand also published a review essay on Rizvana Bradley’s Anteaesthetics: Black Aesthesis and the Critique of Form in the issue.
We sat down with Dr. Anand to learn more about Penumbr(a), his role as co-editor, how the journal’s latest issue contributes to the diversification and globalization of psychoanalytic thought, and more.
How do you see Penumbr(a) contributing to current academic discourse?
Penumbr(a) is a reiteration of the much celebrated 1990s journal Umbr(a). It is among the most reputed journals within the field of psychoanalysis and culture. Over the past four years, Penumbr(a) has found its footing as a sought after platform for debating and discussing the contributions of psychoanalysis to emergent contemporary theoretical and clinical movements, such as decolonization, aesthetics, and gender studies.
How did the collaboration with Dr. Fernanda Negrete come about?
I have been a longstanding member of the Center for Psychoanalysis and Culture at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Negrete is the director of the Center and is a key proponent of psychoanalytic discourse among theoreticians and practitioners in Buffalo and across various other parts of North and Latin America. My collaboration with her on this journal issue stemmed from our common interest in theorizing the intersection between decolonization and psychoanalysis.
What was your role as co-editor in shaping the direction and content of this issue?
I have been involved with this project from its very inception. In fact, I took the germ of its idea to Fernanda in 2023, and we immediately agreed to work on it together. However, the scope of the initial project was more humble. We had about five long essays, one interview, and a review essay. However, after Fernanda returned from Brazil, where she spoke at a conference titled “UBUNTU,” we widened the scope of the issue and included voices from this conference. I co-wrote the introduction and shared responsibilities for all stages of journal production, such as the call for papers, copy-editing, design, sending and receiving proofs, appointing interviewers, etc.
In what ways does this issue contribute to the diversification and globalization of psychoanalytic thought?
Diversification and globalization of psychoanalytic thought are the key focus areas of this issue. It accomplishes it in two ways. First, it elucidates the long arc of the history (or rather the “geo-history,” as Mendelsohn and Boni put it in their contribution) of psychoanalysis outside of the dominant centers of the Western world. Secondly, it invites a range of thinkers and practitioners working on the cross-sections of decolonial theory, race studies, and psychoanalysis to think together on the function of psychoanalytic thought in combating the ubiquitous logics of colonial history in the modern world.
What critical insights does your review offer into Black aesthetics and the critique of form?
Rizvana Bradley’s Anteaesthetics is a fantastic exploration of how blackness is repressed in the larger frame of Western aesthetics. But even more, she argues that blackness is the “vestibule” to Western art practices, which means that by only its exclusion does our aesthetic regime gain its coherence and certainty. In my reading of this book, in large parts, I try to unpack this argument in all its force. Toward the end, I question whether we need to find a distinction between a solidified “aesthetic regime” and aesthetic experience as such for the future growth of humanities education.
Do you have plans for continued involvement with Penumbr(a)?
Hopefully…! I think I will take a break from any editing responsibilities for now. But I look forward to contributing to the forthcoming issues of Penumbr(a) as an author and a reviewer.
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.