Jouissance as Ananda seeks to resolve the often-problematic Western concept of the ego by proposing a cross-cultural theory of consciousness that draws on Indian philosophy. Author Ashmita Khasnabish begins with a critique of Western psychoanalysis, engaging French feminist philosopher Luce Irigaray's concept of jouissance to highlight shortcomings in the work of Freud and Lacan. Khasnabish then seeks to expand the idea of jouissance by comparing it with the Indian concept of ananda. The highly theoretical analysis of philosophical and psychoanalytic terms is combined with an examination of colonial and postcolonial literature. A thoughtful and immensely creative approach to psychoanalytic theory, Jouissance as Ananda will be of interest to readers from a variety of cultures and disciplines.

Jouissance as Ananda is a tour de force that delivers on all of the major issues suggested by its title. The masterful analyses of Irigaray and Brennan alone make this work an important contribution to feminist theory. But in conjunction with the equally masterful analyses of Aurobindo and Tagore, Ashmita Khasnabish has succeeded in creating a space around the ego in which East and West have taken significant steps closer to each other. -- Paget Henry, professor of Africana studies and sociology, Brown University
Admirable both for its scope and creative interpretations, Jouissance As Ananda is a landmark in the scholarship of psychoanalysis, philosophy, feminist theory, and literature. Its interdisciplinary and cross-cultural analysis of ego-transcendence should interest a wide audience of international scholars sensitive to Ashmita Khasnabish's mastery of Indian and Western intellectual thought. * South Asian Review *
This study is a groundbreaking analysis critiquing Western psychoanalysis from the author's own unique Indian philosophical and psychoanalytical background. This juxtaposition of concepts results in a work of great insight, clarity, and focus. -- Teresa Brennan, Florida Atlantic University, University of Amsterdam

Ashmita Khasnabish received a Ph.D in English Literature from Bowling Green State University and has taught at Algonquin College, Bentley College and Quincy College. She is currently a visiting scholar at Brown University Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, and teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.