Amrita Narayanan on the Future of Affectionate Communities

Psychoanalyst Amrita Narayanan, in an interview with Artribune's Futuro Antico series, envisions a future where collective creativity and affectionate communities emerge as a response to atomized individuality and capitalist culture. Narayanan, who holds a PhD from Stanford University and is a member of the International Psychoanalytic Association, discusses her book 'Women’s Sexuality in Modern India: In a Rapture of Distress' (2023), which explores how patriarchal values shape female sexual styles in India. She draws inspiration from artists such as Anjolie Ela Menon, B. Prabha, Anupam Sud, Amrita Sher Gil, and Maite Delteil, as well as writers Jorge Luis Borges, Lewis Carroll, Kamala Das, and Virginia Woolf. Narayanan emphasizes the importance of local environments—she lives in Panjim, Goa—and argues that local realities often prevail over global influences, especially regarding female sexuality. She advocates for reading experimental fiction and attending art performances as preparation for psychoanalysis. The interview covers her concept of the sacred as an aesthetic experience of resonance, and she predicts a renewed appreciation for deep aesthetics over rapid functionality, as well as a nostalgia for pre-digital slowness. The conversation is part of the Futuro Antico series, which features interviews with figures like Pierpaolo Ferrari, Roberto De Paolis, and Carlo Galli.