In The Anguished and the Enchanted, M.H. Bowker offers a lengthy critical essay and richly annotated English translation of a lost Finnish translation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. Featuring a substantial Translator’s Preface, M.H. Bowker develops a psychoanalytic lens through which to regard Saint-Exupéry’s classic work, offering a more nuanced and less “fable-esque” text than any translation and interpretation to date.
On Bowker’s reading, dark and primitive unconscious forces — including neglect and abuse at home, the hatred of maturation and development, the projection of feelings of worthlessness onto others, the creation of an absurd and futile world, and more — infest the story, not unlike the Baobab trees dreaded by the little prince.
Those already familiar with The Little Prince will find in The Anguished and the Enchanted a new way of regarding what has perhaps become a favorite or even a beloved book. Those unfamiliar with the original work will discover a sometimes tragic, sometimes sympathetic, sometimes harrowing account of the lengths to which persons will go in their struggle to find — or to escape from — meaningful places for themselves in the world of adults.
About the Author
Matthew H. Bowker (M.H. Bowker), Ph.D. is an internationally recognized scholar in critical and creative thinking, psychoanalysis, and political theory, with over twenty years of experience in teaching philosophy, politics, and psychology at the university level. Educated at Columbia University and the University of Maryland, College Park, he currently works at SUNY, the University at Buffalo, where he is affiliated with both the Department of Psychology and the Program in Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies. He is the author of more than twenty published or forthcoming books as well as dozens of scholarly articles and chapters spanning diverse genres. He founded and co-edits Routledge’s book series, Psychoanalytic Political Theory, is the (North American) editor of the Journal of Psycho-Social Studies, serves as Associate Editor for Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, and sits on several prominent editorial boards. He recently served as a Fulbright (Teaching) Specialist in Singapore and has hosted workshops on critical and creative thinking, group dynamics, and reflective learning. He has been interviewed frequently on NPR/WBFO and in popular publications such as The Atlantic, Elle Magazine, and elsewhere. Some of his recent and forthcoming titles include: Walls; Oblation: Essays, Parables, and Paradoxes; Getting Lost: Reflections on Psychopolitical Isolation and Withdrawal (with Amy Buzby, eds.); The Destroyed World and the Guilty Self: A Psychoanalytic Study of Culture and Politics (with David Levine); and Critical Thinking and The Subject of Inquiry: Capacities, Resilience, and Power.
