Guide to the Jessica Benjamin papers, 1972-2007

(bulk 1985-2000)

John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2012

Collection Overview

Title:	Jessica Benjamin Papers
Date range:	1972-2007, (bulk 1985-2000)
Creator:	Benjamin, Jessica, 1946-
Extent:	3 linear feet (3 records center boxes)
Abstract:	Jessica Benjamin is a psychoanalyst, author, and professor of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy at New York University. Her collection contains drafts, notes, and research from her books and articles about gender, feminism, and intersubjectivity.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number:	Ms.2011.027

Scope & content

This collection documents the writings and activities of feminist psychoanalyst Jessica Benjamin from the early 1970s through the early 2000s. It consists primarily of drafts of articles and books that she authored and versions of her writings delivered at lectures and public talks. Also included are letters and other correspondence, photographs, conference brochures and flyers, photocopies of articles used for research or reference, and syllabi and readings from courses she has taught. Most of the material documents Benjamin's professional life as a teacher, writer and psychoanalyst. The collection is predominantly in English, but does include some material in German.

Series one, Writings, contains essays, articles, reviews, and manuscripts. It includes subseries dedicated to Benjamin's dissertation, written in 1977, and notes and drafts for her book Bonds of Love and the article "A Desire of One's Own." Series two, Professional Materials, contains documents pertaining or resulting from activities outside of her writing life. This includes teaching materials, correspondence, case studies from her therapeutic practice, and brochures and booklets from conferences. A relatively small third series contains material of a more personal nature. Included here are photographs, letters, and newspapers and magazines that Benjamin saved.

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Feminist Theory Archive.
• Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women.

Subject Topics

• Feminism
• Feminist theory
• Psychoanalysis
• Psychologists.

Document Types

• Typescripts

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Series 1: Writings. Subseries 1: Dissertation, arranged by chapter. Subseries 2: Desire of One's Own, versions delivered at talks, arranged roughly chronologically. Subseries 3: Bonds of Love, papers and notes, chapters arranged in sequence. Subseries 4: Articles and Essays. Subseries 5: Talks and Lectures. Subseries. 6: Reviews.

Series 2: Professional Materials. Subseries 1: Subject Files, created by donor. Subseries 2: Teaching Materials. Subseries 3: Therapeutic Practice. Subseries 4: Correspondence. Subseries 5: Conference Materials. Subseries 6: Miscellaneous.

Series 3: Personal Materials. Subseries 1: Correspondence. Subseries 2: Photographs. Subseries 3: Newspaper and Magazines. Subseries 4: Miscellaneous.

Biographical/Historical note

Jessica Benjamin, born on January 17, 1946, is an American feminist psychoanalyst, teacher, and writer. In addition to running a private psychotherapeutic practice in New York City, she is a faculty member at NYU's Postdoctoral Psychology Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy.

After earning her bachelor's degree cum laude at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1967, Benjamin traveled to Germany to pursue graduate work. She earned her MA in 1971 at the University of Frankfurt in West Germany, studying Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy at the Institute for Social Research. Returning to the States, she taught as a visiting professor of Sociology at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. When Benjamin earned her PhD in Sociology from NYU in 1978, she became a fellow in the New York Institute for the Humanities. During this time she organized a conference called "The Second Sex, Thirty Years Later." Between 1980 and 1983, she conducted research on the social context of mother-infant interactions at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY, funded by a National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health.

A prolific writer, Benjamin has published articles and books on psychoanalysis and feminism, specifically analyzing the dynamics of human relationships. Her first book, published in 1988, The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism and the Problem of Domination, offers a groundbreaking analysis of the power dynamics tied to masculinity and femininity. In her 1995 collection of essays Like Objects, Love Objects, Benjamin develops a psychoanalytic theory of intersubjectivity, which she elaborates further in her 1997 work Shadow of the Other: Intersubjectivity and Gender in Psychoanalysis.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Jessica Benjamin Papers, Ms.2011.027, Feminist Theory Archive, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library , Special Collections Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of Jessica Benjamin in 2011.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared on behalf of the Pembroke Center for the Teaching and Research on Women and the Brown University Library.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 10 May 2012
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor:	Curatorial work and processing provided by the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women on behalf of the Feminist Theory Archive, Brown University Library.

Additional Information

Inventory

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