Andrew Brink Bücher

The book delves into the complexities of the Esopus Wars, exploring the motivations and attitudes of European settlers in 17th-century New York. By focusing on individual settlers, it seeks to uncover the underlying causes of the conflicts with Native Americans, challenging existing historical narratives. The study emphasizes the scarcity of indigenous records while highlighting settler perspectives on land acquisition and the ensuing violence. Readers are prompted to reflect on the dynamics that led to these tragic confrontations and their genocidal consequences.

The Creative Matrix shows how Freudian and Kleinian theories of creativity are giving way to an attachment model, owing to research on anxiety by John Bowlby and other psychobiologists. We are entering an era of rapproachment between psychoanalysis, neurobiology, and attachment theory. Theory of creativity must take into account the rapid advances toward an integrated view of human development and capacity for adaptation. The Creative Matrix offers a critical review of British Object Relations theories of creativity from Melanie Klein through Ronald Fairbairn, Marion Milner, D. W. Winnicott, and others. It studies these theories in the light of Bowlby’s challenge to psychoanalytic accounts of child development and personality formation. Creativity is seen as a necessary concomitant of anxious attachment in infants and children – as a natural adaptive resource in overcoming trauma and other deflections of normal development. Brief studies of poets Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, and Anne Sexton show how attachment theory illuminates bipolar disorder and poetic creativity.

Desire and Avoidance in Art explores the impact of early developmental traumas on male artists, highlighting how these experiences can fuel creative endeavors while simultaneously leading to destructive relationships with women. Brink employs personality formation theories from notable psychologists to delve into psychobiography, particularly focusing on the concept of "anxious attachment" in mother-infant relationships. By examining the childhood experiences of various artists, he identifies the anxious-avoidant attachment style that contributes to their complex dynamics with women. Brink seeks to explain the often hazardous and tragic nature of these partnerships, drawing on insights from feminist writers to extract psychodynamic explanations rooted in the artists' imagery. He demonstrates how attachment theory enhances understanding of the fraught interactions between the sexes. The analysis centers on culturally significant artists like Picasso, Bellmer, Balthus, and Cornell, whose work invites critical discussions about misogyny within their social contexts. Through this lens, Brink sheds light on the intricate interplay between creativity and relational challenges faced by male artists.

Andrew Brink, a prominent professor of English at McMaster University, made significant contributions to literary scholarship and education from 1932 until his passing in 2011. His work reflects a deep engagement with literature and a commitment to fostering understanding and appreciation of the written word among his students. Through his teaching and research, Brink left a lasting impact on the field of English studies.