Masud Khan
Encyclopedia
Mohammed Masud Raza Khan (July 21, 1924—June 1989) was an Indian-born British psychoanalyst
. His training analyst was Donald Winnicott
.
in the Punjab
district of British India, in what became Pakistan
, to Fazaldad Khan and his fourth wife, Khursheed Begum. His father was 76 and his mother 17 when they married; he was a wealthy landowner, and she a beautiful but illiterate singer and dancer, who had given birth to a child out of wedlock before she married Khan's father. After the wedding, she became a devout Muslim, possibly seeing this as the only way to be accepted by the extended Khan family, though it was an apparently unsuccessful effort.
Khan was raised with his older brother, Tahir, and his younger sister, Mahmooda, in the Montgomery District
on his father's estate, moving to Lyallpur
when Khan was 13. He was not allowed to see much of his mother, though when his father died in 1943 when Khan was 19, he went to live with her.
Khan wrote in his Work Books that he inherited his shyness, sensitivity, and warmth from his mother, and from his father, an "imperious capacity for work and a terrible temper." He had a slight deformity, a right ear that stuck out, of which he was very conscious, later taking to wearing a beret in order to hide it, until Winnicott persuaded him to have it fixed in 1951.
and Lahore
from 1942-5. He obtained his BA in English literature, and his MA for a thesis on James Joyce
's Ulysses
.
His contributions include the concept of cumulative trauma
as creating psychopathology introducing the concept of lack of fit between child and parent creating an ongoing trauma affecting development. He produced a number of papers highlighting perversions as stemming from a split within the personality and the acting out
of disturbed object relations collected in his book "Alienation in Perversions." He wrote a significant sequence of three papers on the use of dreams
in psychoanalysis as well as a series of clinical papers showing his unique intuitive style combined with his application of Winnicott’s then new concepts of potential space and transitional object in the analysis of adult patients. Khan demonstrates the importance of influencing the patient’s environment outside of the analytic setting in line with Winnicott’s emphasis on the environment as a therapeutic tool.
He lost his status as training analyst and was eventually removed from the British Psychoanalytic Association after the publication of his last book "When Spring Comes" in which he included a blatantly anti-semitic tirade against a Jewish patient. In his later years he insisted on being called Prince Raja Khan and signed letters in this way, claiming to have inherited the title from his Pakistani ancestors, however, this claim was never substantiated.
. Together with Beriosova he led a prominent social life and was present in a London scene which included well known figures such as actress Julie Andrews
, photographer Zoë Dominic
, actor Peter O’Toole and members of the Redgrave family
. Khan was described as tall, handsome with oriental charm and sex appeal, he was known as charming, charismatic and infamous for impromptu flashes of psychoanalytic insights given randomly to people met at social occasions. His paradoxical and highly unpredictable nature was summarized by his close friend and colleague, the French psychoanalyst, Victor Smirnoff, who wrote at his death:
Books by Masud Khan
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
. His training analyst was Donald Winnicott
Donald Winnicott
Donald Woods Winnicott was an English paediatrician and psychoanalyst who was especially influential in the field of object relations theory. He was a leading member of the British Independent Group of the British Psychoanalytic Society, and a close associate of Marion Milner...
.
Early life
Khan was born in JhelumJhelum
Jhelum or Jehlum may refer to:* Jhelum, a city in Pakistan on the banks of the Jhelum River* Jhelum District, an administrative division in Punjab, Pakistan surrounding the city of Jhelum...
in the Punjab
Punjab (British India)
Punjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between West Punjab, which went to Pakistan, and East Punjab, which went to India...
district of British India, in what became Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, to Fazaldad Khan and his fourth wife, Khursheed Begum. His father was 76 and his mother 17 when they married; he was a wealthy landowner, and she a beautiful but illiterate singer and dancer, who had given birth to a child out of wedlock before she married Khan's father. After the wedding, she became a devout Muslim, possibly seeing this as the only way to be accepted by the extended Khan family, though it was an apparently unsuccessful effort.
Khan was raised with his older brother, Tahir, and his younger sister, Mahmooda, in the Montgomery District
Montgomery District
Montgomery District was an administrative district of the former Punjab Province of British India, in what is now Pakistan. Named after Sir Robert Montgomery, it lay in the Bari Doab, or the tract between the Sutlej and the Ravi rivers, extending also across the Ravi into the Rechna Doab, which...
on his father's estate, moving to Lyallpur
Lyallpur
Lyallpur may refer to* the former name of Faisalabad city, Pakistan* Lyallpur Town, a municipal area of Faisalabad city, Pakistan...
when Khan was 13. He was not allowed to see much of his mother, though when his father died in 1943 when Khan was 19, he went to live with her.
Khan wrote in his Work Books that he inherited his shyness, sensitivity, and warmth from his mother, and from his father, an "imperious capacity for work and a terrible temper." He had a slight deformity, a right ear that stuck out, of which he was very conscious, later taking to wearing a beret in order to hide it, until Winnicott persuaded him to have it fixed in 1951.
Education
Khan attended the University of Punjab at FaisalabadFaisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
and Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
from 1942-5. He obtained his BA in English literature, and his MA for a thesis on James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
's Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
.
Quoting Jeffrey Masson: Khan about British psychoanalysis
Contributions to Psychoanalysis
Masud Khan was both highly controversial as well as a significant contributor to psychoanalytic thinking, functioning as editor of psychoanalytical publications as well as contributing via his own writings.His contributions include the concept of cumulative trauma
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
as creating psychopathology introducing the concept of lack of fit between child and parent creating an ongoing trauma affecting development. He produced a number of papers highlighting perversions as stemming from a split within the personality and the acting out
Acting out
Acting out is a psychological term from the parlance of defense mechanisms and self-control, meaning to perform an action in contrast to bearing and managing the impulse to perform it. The acting done is usually anti-social and may take the form of acting on the impulses of an addiction Acting out...
of disturbed object relations collected in his book "Alienation in Perversions." He wrote a significant sequence of three papers on the use of dreams
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
in psychoanalysis as well as a series of clinical papers showing his unique intuitive style combined with his application of Winnicott’s then new concepts of potential space and transitional object in the analysis of adult patients. Khan demonstrates the importance of influencing the patient’s environment outside of the analytic setting in line with Winnicott’s emphasis on the environment as a therapeutic tool.
Controversy
Khan’s position in the British Psychoanalytic association as training analyst gave him an air of legitimacy while at the same time he became less and less adherent to psychoanalytic guidelines with gross boundary violations including socializing with his students and analysands, even going as far as sexual relations with them. His controversial behaviours included his tendency to exaggeration and lack of truthfulness together with an often highly critical and even aggressive manner to his colleagues. He developed a severe drinking problem which was the main cause of his ill health in his later years.He lost his status as training analyst and was eventually removed from the British Psychoanalytic Association after the publication of his last book "When Spring Comes" in which he included a blatantly anti-semitic tirade against a Jewish patient. In his later years he insisted on being called Prince Raja Khan and signed letters in this way, claiming to have inherited the title from his Pakistani ancestors, however, this claim was never substantiated.
Personal life
Khan was married initially to the dancer Jane Shore whom he later divorced and married well known ballerina Svetlana BeriosovaSvetlana Beriosova
Svetlana Beriosova was a British prima ballerina who danced with the Royal Ballet of England for more than 20 years....
. Together with Beriosova he led a prominent social life and was present in a London scene which included well known figures such as actress Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
, photographer Zoë Dominic
Zoë Dominic
Zoë Dominic was a British dance and theatre photographer.Dominic's work as a theatre photographer began in the Royal Court Theatre around 1957, and she became known for photographing the postwar British theatre revival, including actors such as Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith and...
, actor Peter O’Toole and members of the Redgrave family
Redgrave family
The Redgrave family is an English acting dynasty, spanning four generations. Members of the family worked in theatre beginning in the nineteenth century, and later in film and television. Some family members have also written plays and books. Vanessa Redgrave is the most prominent, having won...
. Khan was described as tall, handsome with oriental charm and sex appeal, he was known as charming, charismatic and infamous for impromptu flashes of psychoanalytic insights given randomly to people met at social occasions. His paradoxical and highly unpredictable nature was summarized by his close friend and colleague, the French psychoanalyst, Victor Smirnoff, who wrote at his death:
Literature
Biography- Linda Hopkins: FALSE SELF The Life of Masud Khan., New York: Other Press, 2006
- Roger Willoughby (Author), Pearl King (Foreword): Masud Khan: The Myth And The Reality [ILLUSTRATED], Publisher: Free Association Books; 1 edition (January 2005), ISBN 978-1853437243
- Judy Cooper: Speak of Me As I Am: The Life and Work of Masud Khan, Publisher: Karnac Books; 1 edition (February 1, 1994), ISBN 978-1855750449
Books by Masud Khan
- "The Privacy of the Self" (1974)
- "Alienation in Perversions" (1979), Publisher: Karnac Books (October 1979), ISBN 978-0946439621
- "Hidden Selves" (1983)
- "The Long Wait" (1988)
External links
- Saving Masud Khan, by Wynne Godley A first-hand account of analysis under Khan
- Psycho Analyst, By AMY BLOOM New York Times, Published: January 21, 2007
- The Review - BOOKS Published: 20 November 2008
- The Institute of Psychoanalysis & British Psychoanalytical Society