Ronald David Laing’s “Knots” available in Persian

TEHRAN – Scottish psychiatrist Ronald David Laing’s “Knots” has recently been published in Persian.

Translator Mojgan Saidian is the translator of the book, which has been released by Roshd Publications.

It is a collection of poems and dialogues for two or more voices. Each dialogue (or poem) represents a “knot” in which one person is caught and the other person seems to collude.

It has been defined as a collection of brief, dramatic poems or prose meant to illustrate the complex knots of human relationships and communication, particularly those involving mental distress.

The book is a collection of Laing’s direct observations on how people interact and perceive each other, often leading to paradoxical and bewildering situations.

The dialogues are presented in a concise, almost mathematical format, each illustrating a specific relational dynamic or an internal logical trap.

Laing himself described the book as attempts to understand the logic of certain common kinds of confusion, misunderstanding, and distress.

Born in Glasgow in 1927, Laing was one of the most prominent, and controversial, figures in the anti-psychiatry movement of the 1960s. He specialized in the treatment of schizophrenia and, in 1965, co-founded the Philadelphia Association, which established communities for those experiencing mental distress.

His works include “The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness” and “The Politics of Experience”. Laing died in 1989.