Kenneth Levin (born 1944) is a psychiatrist and historian from

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...

. He is the author of '' The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege''. Levin is a clinical instructor of psychiatry at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

. He holds a B.A. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, a B.A./M.A. in English language and literature from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, an M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in history from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. His thesis was on "Sigmund Freud's Early Studies of the Neuroses, 1886–1905." In an article entitled, "Transforming the Jewish Psyche," journalist

Warren Kozak Warren Kozak (born 1951) is an American journalist and author. He has written for, among others, ''The Wall Street Journal'' and the ''New York Sun''. He was an on-air reporter at National Public Radio and wrote for television network anchors inc ...

discussed Levin's analysis of the modern "penchant for self-denigration among Jewish people." Kozak summarized that "Dr. Levin, no sixth grade thinker, tells us that after centuries of hearing grotesque lies about Jewish people, that narrative hasn't just rubbed off on anti-Semites, but on some Jews as well." In an interview with the ''Jerusalem Post'',

Manfred Gerstenfeld Manfred Gerstenfeld (; 1937 – 25 February 2021) was an Austrian-born Israeli author and chairman of the steering committee of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He founded and directed the center's post-Holocaust and anti-Semitism program ...

praised Levin's ''Oslo Syndrome'' for bringing to light "this phenomenon of identifying with one's besiegers." Following the 2005 publication of his book ''The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege'', Levin became a frequent commentator on Middle East affairs. According to Levin, the Oslo syndrome is a corollary of the

Stockholm syndrome Stockholm syndrome is a proposed condition or theory that tries to explain why hostages sometimes develop a psychological bond with their captors. Emotional bonds can possibly form between captors and captives, during intimate time together, ...

. Levin's original contribution is that the syndrome can afflict an entire people. The concept has passed into common usage in discussions of the Middle East.

Books

* ''Freud's Early Psychology of the Neuroses: A Historical Perspective and Unconscious Fantasy in Psychotherapy'' * ''Unconscious Fantasy in Psychotherapy'' (1993) * '' The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege'' (2005)

References

Historians of the Middle East Jewish American historians 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American psychiatrists Living people 1944 births American male non-fiction writers {{US-historian-stub

Books

See also

References