The cover shows the 15th century black Virgin of Le Puy.

Volume 2, Issue 2, October 2020

Cover Page

ISSN 2732-5849

ARTICLES

Richard R. Askay

    Richard Askay is a Merit Professor of Philosophy at the University of Portland, Oregon. He is co-translator and annotator (with Franz Mayr) of Martin Heidegger’s Zollikon Seminars: Protocols, Conversations, Letters (Northwestern University Press, 2001) which includes his article: Heidegger’s ‘Philosophy and Its Implications for Psychology, Freud, and Psychoanalysis’, and co-author (with Jensen Farquhar) of Apprehending the Inaccessible: Freudian Psychoanalysis and Existential Phenomenology (Northwestern University Press, 2006), and  Of Philosophers and Madmen: A Disclosure of Martin Heidegger, Medard Boss, and Sigmund Freud (Contemporary Psychoanalytic Studies, 2011) and a play entitled ‘Of Philosophers and Madmen’ performed by the North Pacific Institute for Analytical Psychology in Seattle (2010). He is most recently completing a text entitled Nothing Matters: Heidegger’s Philosophy and Its Importance for Psychotherapy which will be submitted to Oxford University Press. He has published philosophical journal articles on Heidegger’s philosophy, Freudian psychoanalysis, French phenomenology, and critical thinking including ‘Heidegger, the French, and the Body’ in Continental Philosophy Review (1999), ‘Phenomenology and Psychoanalysis – Strange  Bedfellows’, in The Routledge Companion to Phenomenology (2012) and ‘Being Unconscious: Freudian Meta- physics and Heideggerian Ontology’, in Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry (2013). He has also delivered guest colloquia at the Philosophical Research Institute of Athens, University of Hawaii, University of Tokyo, and UC Berkeley, among others.

Vestigia Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, pages 3-48

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    This article argues that the historical and philosophical relationship between Heidegger’s phenomenological ontology and Freud’s metapsychology is not as problematic and antithetical as typically believed. It does this by textually and philosophically demonstrating the metaphysical unity of Nature (understood via the ‘body’) and ‘Being’ by reciprocally engaging the worldviews of Freud and Heidegger. While doing so, it shows what each has to offer the other metaphysically speaking.

    Cet article soutient que la relation historique et philosophique entre l’ontologie phénoménologique de Heidegger et la métapsychologie de Freud n’est pas aussi problématique et antithétique qu’on le croit généralement. Il le fait en démontrant textuellement et philosophiquement l’unité métaphysique de la Nature (comprise via le «corps») et de «Être» en engageant réciproquement les visions du monde de Freud et Heidegger. Ce faisant, il montre ce que chacun a à offrir à l’autre métaphysiquement parlant.

    Questo articolo sostiene che la relazione storica e filosofica tra l’ontologia fenomenologica di Heidegger e la metapsicologia di Freud non è così problematica e antitetica come in genere si crede. Una lettura testuale e filosofica dimostra l’unità metafisica di Natura (intesa come “corpo”) ed “Essere”, attraverso un confronto tra la prospettiva di Freud e quella di Heidegger, che mostra, allo stesso tempo, cosa uno ha da offrire all’altro in termini di metafisica.

    Este artículo argumenta que la relación histórica y filosófica entre la ontología fenomenológica de Heidegger y la metapsicología de Freud no es tan problemática y antitética como típicamente se creía. Hace esto a través de textualmente y filosóficamente demostrar la unidad metafísica de la naturaleza (entendida a través del “cuerpo” y el “Ser” a través de comprometer recíprocamente las visiones del mundo de Freud y Heidegger. Mientras se hace eso, se muestra lo que cada uno tiene para ofrecer al otro metafísicamente hablando.

Donald L. Carveth

    Donald L Carveth, Ph.D., RP, FIPA is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Social & Political Thought at York University in Toronto. He is a training and supervising analyst in the Canadian Institute of Psychoanalysis, past Director of the Toronto Institute of Psychoanalysis, and past Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Psychoanalysis/Revue Canadienne de Psychanalyse. He is the author of The Still Small Voice: Psychoanalytic Reflections on Guilt and Conscience (Karnac, 2013) and Psychoanalytic Thinking: A Dialectical Critique of Contemporary Theory and Practice (Routledge, 2018). Many of his publications are available on his website at http://www.yorku.ca/dcarveth while his video-lectures on psychoanalysis may be found online at www.youtube.com/doncarveth. He is in private practice in Toronto.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 49-61

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    Although we have tried to disguise the fact, psychoanalysis is a moral enterprise, a value-infused rather than value-neutral science. We affirm life over death, love over hate, and truth over lies. In its concern with psyche, soul, or spirit—with human beings as symboling or meaning-making animals—and in its promotion of personal transformation through the development of an ‘observing ego’ or ‘inner watcher’, psychoanalysis is a spiritual practice and a type of meditation. Although analysts must not be ‘superego-ish’ with patients, they must carry the conscience in the treatment until such time as patients are able to carry it themselves. For, ultimately, emancipation from the tyrannical superego requires reconciliation with a conscience.

    Bien que nous ayons essayé de déguiser le fait, la psychanalyse est une entreprise morale, une science imprégnée de valeurs plutôt que neutre. Nous affirmons la vie sur la mort, l’amour sur la haine et la vérité sur le mensonge. Dans son souci de la psyché, de l’âme ou de l’esprit – avec les êtres humains en tant qu’animaux symboliques ou créateurs de sens – et dans sa promotion de la transformation personnelle à travers le développement d’un “ ego observateur ” ou d’un “ observateur intérieur ”, la psychanalyse est une pratique spirituelle et un type de méditation. Bien que les analystes ne doivent pas être « surmoi » avec les patients, ils doivent porter la conscience dans le traitement jusqu’à ce que les patients soient capables de la porter eux-mêmes. Car, en fin de compte, l’émancipation du surmoi tyrannique nécessite une réconciliation avec la conscience.

    Anche se abbiamo cercato di dissimularlo, la psicoanalisi è un’impresa di carattere morale, una scienza basata su valori e non su valori neutrali. Noi affermiamo la vita sulla morte, l’amore sull’odio e la verità sulla menzogna. Nella sua preoccupazione per la psiche, l’anima o lo spirito – dati gli esseri umani come animali creatori di simboli e significati – e la sua istanza a promuovere una trasformazione personale attraverso lo sviluppo di un ‘io osservatore’ o ‘osservatore interno’, la psicoanalisi è una pratica spirituale e un tipo di meditazione. Sebbene gli analisti non debbano essere ‘superegoici’ con i pazienti, devono farsi carico della coscienza nel trattamento fino a quando i pazienti non saranno in grado di farsene carico loro stessi, poiché l’emancipazione dal superio tirannico richiede, in ultima analisi, la riconciliazione con la coscienza.

Cristiana Cimino

    Cristiana Cimino is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst with a Freudian and Lacanian training. She is Full Member of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society (IPA). She is member of Istituto Elvio Fachinelli (ex ISAP). She has been co-editor of the European Journal of Psychoanalysis and is a member of the editorial board of Vestigia. She has published several texts in specialized journals, in various languages. She is the author of Il discorso amoroso. Dall’amore della madre al godimento femminile (Rome: Manifestolibri, 2015), and Tra la vita e la morte. La psicoanalisi scomoda (Rome: Manifestolibri, 2020). She practices in Rome.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 62-70

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    The issue of the veil worn by Muslim women (the reference is in particular to Arab-Islamic culture, therefore to hijab) is addressed starting from some characteristics of aesthetic order and their difference from Western aesthetics. The hypothesis is that hijab, contextually, a complex aesthetic and ethical system, signals, at least originally, the feminine closeness to the divine mystery, to the inaccessible; in psychoanalytic terms, to a real surplus. In the course of time, the use of the veil becomes linked to the taboo of seeing-showing and to the alienating effect of the scopic drive, which conceals the Other side, one related to the unsustainability of the feminine real.

    Key Words: Veil, Islam, Alhazen, Lacan, Gaze, Feminine.

    La question du voile porté par les femmes musulmanes (particulièrement en référence à la culture arabo-islamique, donc au hijab) est abordée à partir de certaines caractéristiques d’ordre esthétique dans leur différence avec l’esthétique occidentale. L’hypothèse est que le hijab, dans le contexte d’un système esthétique et éthique complexe, indique, au moins à l’origine, la proximité féminine avec le Mystère divin, l’inaccessible. En termes psychanalytiques, à un réel excès. Au fil du temps, dans l’usage du voile, une fonction aurait prévalu, celle liée au tabou du voir-montrer et à l’effet aliénant de la pulsion scopique. Mais cette fonction cache en fait l’autre côté, celui lié à l’insoutenabilité du réel féminin.

    Mots clé: Voile, Islam, Ibn Al-Haytham, Lacan, Regard, Feminin

    La questione del velo indossato dalle donne musulmane (il riferimento è in particolare alla cultura arabo-islamica, dunque all’hijiab) è affrontata a partire da alcune caratteristiche di ordine estetico e dalla loro differenza rispetto all’estetica occidentale. L’ipotesi è che l’hijiab, contestualmente a un complesso sistema estetico ed etico, segnali, almeno in origine, la vicinanza femminile al Mistero divino, all’inaccessibile; in termini psicoanalitici, a un’eccedenza reale. Nel corso del tempo, nell’utilizzo del velo sarebbe prevalsa una funzione legata al tabù del vedere-mostrare e all’effetto alienante della pulsione scopica, che occulta l’Altro versante, quello legato all’insostenibilità del reale femminile.

    Parole chiave: Velo, Islam, Alhazen, Lacan, Oggetto Sguardo, Femminile.

Angelica Federici

    Angelica Federici is a Digital Humanities Research Fellow at the Università degli Studi di Roma Tre. She holds a PhD from Cambridge University on female religious patronage in late medieval Rome. Her research focuses primarily on the role and perception of women during the Middle Ages.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 71-86

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    The existence of black Virgins, but also of Christ and several Saints represented with dark skin, has created one of the most fuelled art historical debates relating to the medieval Romanesque period. Strictly speaking a black Madonna is an iconographic representation (painting or sculpture), typical of Christian iconography, of the Virgin Mary, frequently accompanied by the Christ child, whose face has a dark black or brown colour. Traditions and popular devotions tied to these artefacts conceal issues that involve religious, artistic, historical, anthropological and social aspects. Several legends exist around the arrival of the cult of the black Virgin in Europe, ranging from Arianism to Iconoclasm and the Crusades. Over time the meaning attributed to these artefacts has been incredibly mutable – for example signifying life, death or resurrection, or even good and evil – as further testified by their ‘cryptic coloration’. This paper argues that this was, at least in part, due to contrasting sentiments black Virgins were invested with by the observer, as a commentary of medieval society’s ambivalent relationship towards the feminine.

    Key Words: Black Virgins, Middle Ages, Women

    L’existence de vierges noires, mais aussi du Christ et de plusieurs saints représentés à la peau foncée, a créé l’un des débats historiques de l’art les plus fournis de la période romane médiévale. À proprement parler, une Vierge noire est une représentation iconographique (peinture ou sculpture), typique de l’iconographie chrétienne, de la Vierge Marie, fréquemment accompagnée de l’enfant Christ, dont le visage a une couleur noire ou brune foncée. Les traditions et les dévotions populaires liées à ces artefacts cachent des problèmes qui impliquent des aspects religieux, artistiques, historiques, anthropologiques et sociaux. Plusieurs légendes existent autour de l’arrivée du culte de la Vierge noire en Europe, allant de l’arianisme à l’iconoclasme et aux croisades. Au fil du temps, la signification attribuée à ces artefacts a été incroyablement mutable – par exemple signifiant la vie, la mort ou la résurrection, ou même le bien et le mal – comme en témoigne encore leur «coloration cryptique». Cet article soutient que cela était, au moins en partie, dû à des sentiments contrastés dans lesquels les vierges noires étaient investies par l’observateur, en tant que commentaire de la relation ambivalente de la société médiévale envers le féminin .

    Mots clés: vierges noires, moyen âge, femme

    L’esistenza delle Vergini nere, ma anche di Cristo e di diversi Santi rappresentati con la pelle scura, ha creato relativamente al periodo romanico medievale uno dei più accesi dibattiti storico-artistici. Volendo semplificare una Madonna nera è una rappresentazione iconografica (in forma di pittura o scultura), della Vergine, spesso accompagnata dal Cristo bambino, il cui volto è di colore nero scuro o marrone. Le tradizioni e le devozioni popolari legate a questi manufatti nascondono tematiche che coinvolgono aspetti religiosi, artistici, storici, antropologici e sociali. Esistono diverse leggende sull’arrivo del culto della Vergine nera in Europa, che spaziano dall’Arianesimo all’Iconoclastia fino alle crociate. Nei secoli il significato loro attribuito è stato incredibilmente mutevole – indicando ad esempio vita, morte o resurrezione, ma anche bene e male – e la loro “colorazione criptica” ne è ulteriore riprova. L’articolo qui presentato sostiene che almeno in parte questo fosse dovuto ai sentimenti contrastanti con cui le Vergini nere venivano investite da parte dell’osservatore, come commento della relazione ambivalente da parte della società medievale nei confronti del femminile.

    Parole Chiave: Vergini nere, Medioevo, Donne

    La existencia de vírgenes negras, pero tambien de Cristo y varios santos representados con piel obscura, há creado uno de los mas alimentados debates históricos de arte en relación con el período medioeval Romanesco. Estrictamente hablando, una Madonna Negra es una representación iconográfica (pintura o escultura) típica de la iconografía clásica de la virgen María, frecuentemente acompañada por el niño Cristo, cuya cara tiene un color negro obscuro o café. Tradiciones y devociones populares atadas a estos artefactos asunto escondido que involucra aspectos religiosos, artísticos, históricos, antropológicos y sociales. Existen varias leyendas alrededor del culto de la virgen negra en Europa, estableciendo un rango del Arianismo al Iconoclástico y las cruzadas a traves del tiempo, el significado atribuido a estos artefactos ha sido increíblemente cambiante por ejemplo, significado de la vida, la muerte o la resurrección o hasta el bien y el mal así mismo es testificado por su “coloración críptica”. Este papel argumenta que esto era por lo menos en parte, debido a contrastación de sentimientos, vírgenes negras eran investidas con, por el observador, como un comentario de la relación ambivalente de la sociedad medioeval hacia la feminidad.

    Palabras clave: Víngenes, negras, Edades Medias, mujeres

     

Massimo Filippi

    Massimo Filippi is a full professor of neurology at Vita e Salute University, Milan, Italy and has worked for many years on the question of the animal from a philosophical and political perspective. He is a member of the editorial board of Liberazioni. Rivista di critica antispecista and collaborates with Il manifesto and the Corriere della Sera. He has published more than a hundred essays in books and journals and the following volumes (alone or in collaboration with others): Ai confini dell’umano (Ombre Corte 2010), I margini dei diritti animali (Ortica 2011), Natura infranta (Ortica 2013), Crimini in tempo di pace (Elèuthera 2013), Penne e pellicole (Mimesis 2014), Sento dunque sogno (Ortica 2016), Altre specie di politica (Mimesis 2016), L’invenzione della specie (Ombre Corte 2016), Questioni di specie (Elèuthera 2017), Genocidi animali (Mimesis 2018) e Il virus e la specie (Mimesis 2020). He also edited Nell’albergo di Adamo (Mimesis 2010), Corpi che non contano (Mimesis 2015), a monographic issue of ‘aut aut’ entitled Mostri e altri animali, Jean-Luc Nancy, La sofferenza è animale (Mimesis 2019) and Divenire invertebrato (Ombre Corte 2020) He has also translated several books.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 87-92

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    This essay steps over two constraints, trying to overcome them: a formal boundary and a conceptual boundary (admitting that the two can be separated and that they do not form a third boundary made visible by its invisibility). The formal constraint takes shape in the mirroring of that which happens above and below the reflecting line which separates the text and the footnotes. The conceptual constraint is materialized by the reflection produced by the bar which separates nature and culture. Two contrasting mirrors provoke a mise en abyme that liberates (us) from the mirror phase towards a diffractive thought. A diffractive thought which, altering Narcissus’ (Man’s) semblance, turns self-love into the desire which, as it is well-known, it is the desire for the Other: the un/limit(ed) which does not cease to unwrite itself.

    Key Words: Nature/Culture; Animal/Man; Mirror; Antispeciesism; Mystery

    Cet essai passe par deux contraintes en essayant de les surmonter: une frontière formelle et une frontière conceptuelle (admettant que les deux peuvent être séparées et qu’elles ne forment pas une troisième frontière rendue visible par son invisibilité). La contrainte formelle prend forme dans la mise en miroir de ce qui se produit au-dessus et au-dessous de la ligne réfléchissante qui sépare le texte et les notes de bas de page. La contrainte conceptuelle est matérialisée par la réflexion produite par la barre qui sépare la nature et la culture. Deux miroirs contrastés provoquent une mise en abyme qui nous libère de la phase miroir vers une pensée diffractive. Une pensée diffractive qui, altérant l’apparence de Narcisse (de l’Homme), transforme l’amour-propre en désir qui, comme on le sait, n’est que le désir de l’Autre: le non/ limité qui ne cesse de se défaire.

    Mots clés: Nature/Culture; Animal/Homme; Miroir; Antispécisme; Mystère

    Questo saggio si muove tra due limiti per provare a oltrepassarli: un limite di forma e un limite di contenuto (ammesso che i due siano separabili e non rappresentino invece un terzo limite reso visibile dalla sua stessa invisibilità). Il limite formale prende forma nel rispecchiamento tra ciò che accade sopra e ciò che accade sotto la linea riflettente che separa il testo dalle note. Il limite sostanziale si realizza nella riflessione prodotta dalla barra che separa natura da cultura. Due specchi contrapposti provocano una mise en abyme che (ci) libera dallo stadio dello specchio verso un pensiero della diffrazione. Un pensiero della diffrazione che, alterando il sembiante di Narciso (o dell’Uomo), trasforma l’auto-innamoramento in desiderio che, è noto, è sempre desiderio dell’Altro: il/limite che non cessa di non scriversi.

    Parole chiave: Natura/Cultura. Animale/Uomo, Specchio, Antispecismo, Mistero

Dany Nobus

    Dany Nobus is Professor of Psychoanalytic Psychology at Brunel University London, Founding Scholar of the British Psychoanalytic Council, and former Chair and Fellow of the Freud Museum London. He is the author, most recently, of The Law of Desire: On Lacan’s ‘Kant with Sade’ (Palgrave, 2017), and he has published numerous essays on the history, theory and practice of psychoanalysis in academic and professional journals.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 93-104

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    When Freud exchanged the hypno-cathartic method for a clinical technique based on free association, he decided to call his procedure ‘analysis’ rather than ‘therapy’. In this essay, the significance and implications of Freud’s clinical process of mental de-composition is examined in light of his ‘psycho-geographical’ model of the human mind and his personal scepticism towards conventional approaches to healing. What emerges is a conception of the psychoanalytic treatment as an endlessly deferred homecoming, which allows for a certain degree of mental stability in the patient on account of what Harold Bloom has defined as the ratio of ‘apophrades’ – the ghosts of the past being given the freedom to share their creative powers with the inhabitant of the present.

    Key Words: Psychoanalytic treatment; healing; therapy, analysis; psycho-geographical metaphor; apophrades.

    Lorsque Freud a échangé la méthode hypno-cathartique pour une technique clinique basée sur l’association libre, il a décidé d’appeler sa procédure «analyse» plutôt que «thérapie». Dans cet essai, la signification et les implications du processus clinique de Freud de décomposition mentale sont examinées à la lumière de son modèle «psycho-géographique» de l’esprit humain et de son scepticisme personnel envers les approches conventionnelles de la guérison. Ce qui émerge est une conception du traitement psychanalytique comme un retour à la maison-psyché, indéfiniment différé, qui permet une certaine stabilité mentale chez le patient en raison de ce que Harold Bloom a défini comme le rapport des «apophrades» – donnant liberté aux fantômes du passé de partager leurs pouvoirs créatifs avec l’habitant du présent.

    Mots clés: traitement psychanalytique; guérison; thérapie, analyse; métaphore psycho-géographique; apophrades.

    Quando Freud abbandonò il metodo catartico per una tecnica clinica basata sulla libera associazione, decise di chiamare la sua procedura ‘analisi’ anziché ‘terapia’. In questo saggio, vengono esaminati il significato e le implicazioni del processo freudiano di de-composizione clinica della mente, alla luce del modello psicogeografico della mente umana di Freud, e del sua personale scetticismo verso un approccio convenzionale alla cura. Ciò che emerge è una concezione del trattamento psicoanalitico come un ritorno a casa differito all’infinito, che permette un certo grado di stabilità mentale nel paziente a causa di quello che Harold Bloom ha definito la ratio degli ‘apofradi’ – dei fantasmi del passato cui viene data la libertà di condividere il loro potere creativo con chi abita il presente.

    Parole chiave: Trattamento psicoanalitico; cura; terapia; analisi; metafora psicogeografica; apofradi.

    Cuando Freud intercambió el metodo hipno-catártico por la tecnica clínica basada en la asociación libre, él decidió llamar a su procedimiento ‘análisis’ más que ‘terapia’. En este ensayo, la significancia y las implicaciones del método clínico de Freud, respecto a la descomposición mental es examinado en aspectos de su modelo ‘hipno-geográfico’ de la mente humana y su personal escepticismo con relación a acercamientos convencionales hacia la cura. Lo que emerge es una concepción del tratamiento psicoanalítico como una interminable y diferida vuelta a casa, lo que permite generar cierto grado de estabilidad mental en el paciente teniendo en cuenta lo que Harold Bloom ha definido como el medio de la apófrades – las fantasías del pasado a las que se les dió la libertad para compartir sus poderes creativos con el habitante del presente.

    Palabras clave: Tratamiento psicoanalítico; cura; terapia; análisis; metáfora psicogeográfica; apófrades.

Zeina Zerbé

    Zeina Zerbé is a clinical psychologist and a psychoanalytical psychotherapist. She is also a lecturer at the Saint-Joseph University of Beirut. She worked for more than ten years in Palestinian camps in Lebanon as a consultant psychologist and a psychotherapist for local and international NGOs. She was invited to participate at local and international levels in conferences, seminars, and publications on the themes of trauma, war, refugee, and identity issues. Interested and intrigued by the nexus between the political phenomena and its psychosocial repercussions, she initiated, in 2013, personal research that explores the psychosocial and political triggers of the Lebanese civil war. She focuses particularly on various episodes in the Lebanese civil war and the lived experiences of politicians and the militias’ former soldiers. Through her work, she suggests an understanding of unresolved traumas generated by cycles of violence, which are partially but deeply related to the current psycho-social and political impairment. Broadly, the objective of her research is to contribute, through the psychoanalytical perspective and analysis, to work on collective memory and the writing of history.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 105-121

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    Cet article propose de se pencher sur le « terrorisme d’État » et le « terrorisme contre l’État » (Seurat 2012 : 35) exercés par des régimes dictatoriaux/totalitaires pour asseoir leurs pouvoirs sur leurs populations. En nous basant sur les mécanismes de violence d’État exercés en Syrie, en Palestine et au Liban, nous verrons comment l’hypothèque de l’indépendance de la justice et la neutralisation des enquêtes impartiales, vont autoriser arrestations arbitraires, torture, massacres, assassinats politiques, occupation et répression impunis, générateurs de traumatismes individuels et collectifs ; ces traumatismes vont provoquer sidération de la pensée, émoussement affectif et fonctionnement opératoire au niveau des échelles individuelles et collectives. Les sociétés précitées se verront par ailleurs, une fois la fonction du tiers-régulateur créateur de culture obstruée, sombrer dans des mécanismes de fonctionnement primaires. Elles seront ainsi noyées d’une part dans l’angoisse de persécution, l’élimination du développement des identités individuelles et de la pensée multiple au profit de la soumission mortifère et perverse au discours tout puissant du dictateur ; d’autre part nous assisterons à la prolifération des pulsions de mort sous forme de haine propice aux mouvements insurrectionnels non aboutis ou à l’éclatement de guerres civiles. Cependant, en contrepartie, l’Intifada et les révolutions qui ont eu lieu représenteraient-elles une mise en action des processus de symbolisation, autorisant la transition vers l’établissement de l’Etat de droit?

    Mots clefs: Violence d’État- Répression- Traumatismes- Impasse psychique- Fonctionnement social opératoire- processus primaires- processus de symbolisation

    Abstract: This article examines the act of “state terrorism” (Seurat, 2012, p. 35) exercised by certain dictatorial/totalitarian regimes who aim to assert their power over their citizens. Based on an analysis of the mechanisms of state violence presently being employed in Syria, Palestine and Lebanon, we will see in this article how the sequestering of the judiciary system and the neutralization of impartial investigations results in the authorization of arbitrary arrests, torture, massacres, political assassinations, and repression. The result of this circuitous abuse of power thus generates individual and collective traumas, all of which provoke the dulling of thought, emotional blunting and reduced psychological functioning at both the individual and collective levels. Moreover, once the function of the above mentioned third regulators – the actual generators of culture – is disabled, the societies in question will see themselves sink into primary mechanisms of functioning. They will thus be drowned, on the one hand, in the anguish of persecution; the elimination of the development of individual identities and of critical thinking in favor of the deadly and perverse submission to the all-powerful discourse of the dictator. On the other hand, we will witness the proliferation of death drives in the form of hatred that is in turn conducive to unsuccessful insurrectionary movements and/or to the outbreak of civil wars. However, could the Intifada and similar revolutions that took place represent, in return, a potential space, a triggering of the processes of symbolization, and thus authorizing the transition towards the establishment of the rule of law?

    Keywords: State violence – repression – trauma – psychic impasse – operative social functioning – primary process- shame – guilt – process of symbolization

    Abstract: Questo articolo esamina l’atto di “terrorismo di Stato” (Seurat, 2012, p. 35) esercitato da alcuni regimi dittatoriali/totalitari, che puntano ad affermare il loro potere sui loro cittadini. Sulla base di un’analisi dei meccanismi di violenza di Stato attualmente impiegati in Siria, Palestina e Libano, vedremo come il sequestro del sistema giudiziario e la neutralizzazione delle indagini imparziali si traducono nell’autorizzazione di arresti arbitrari, torture, massacri, assassini politici e repressione. Il risultato di questo circuito di abuso di potere genera, in questo modo, traumi individuali e collettivi che provocano l’ottundimento del pensiero, l’attenuazione dell’emotività e la riduzione del funzionamento psicologico sia a livello individuale che collettivo. Inoltre, una volta disabilitata la funzione dei suddetti terzi regolatori – i veri e propri generatori di cultura – le società in questione si vedranno sprofondare nei meccanismi primari di funzionamento. Esse verranno così affogate, da un lato, dall’angoscia di persecuzione e dall’eliminazione dello sviluppo delle identità individuali e del pensiero critico, a favore della mortale e perversa sottomissione al discorso onnipotente del dittatore. Da un altro lato, assisteremo al proliferare della pulsione di morte sotto forma di odio, che a sua volta favorisce movimenti insurrezionali falliti e/o lo scoppio di guerre civili. Tuttavia, l’Intifada e le rivoluzioni simili che si sono succedute potrebbero rappresentare, in cambio, uno spazio potenziale, un innesco dei processi di simbolizzazione, e quindi autorizzare il passaggio verso l’instaurazione di uno stato di diritto?

    Parole chiave: violenza di Stato; repressione; trauma; impasse psichica; funzionamento sociale operativo; processo primario; vergogna; colpa; processo di simbolizzazione.

Joelle Khoury

    Joelle Khoury is a Lebanese-American citizen based in Beirut. Her doctoral thesis in philosophy was entitled ‘Théâtralité et Désir de Mort Créateur chez Gilles Deleuze’. She is a contemporary-classical and jazz composer and pianist, as well as a lecturer at the American University of Beirut and at the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 122-140

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    Throughout his writings, Gilles Deleuze uses a theatrical technique he sometimes refers to as ‘voisinage’ or ‘vicinity’. It involves placing characters, artists, philosophers and their reciprocal works, on a plateau, an enclosure; a procedure which allows the reader to see, while bypassing logos, thus prohibiting, as he explains, the intrusion of a possible binary interpretation: ‘only the principle of multiple entrances prevents the introduction of the enemy, the Signifier and those attempts to interpret a work that is actually only open to experimentation’. This article portrays Deleuze himself as an actor on our plateau, guiding us through a visit of four literary authors, from the point of view of a necessary criminality, in the form of disorganization, leading into the birth of an artwork: Oedipus ‘un-oedipianized’!

    Keywords: Deleuze, Artaud, Beckett, body without organs, un-oedipianized, theatricality.

    Dans ses écrits, Gilles Deleuze utilise une technique théâtrale qui est celle du ‘voisinage’. Elle implique le fait de présenter des caractères, des artistes, des philosophes ainsi que leurs travaux sur un plateau, une enceinte; un procédé permettant au lecteur de voir tout en contournant un certain logos, ainsi éliminant, comme le philosophe l’exprime, l’intrusion d’une possible tendance à interpréter: ‘Le principe des entrées multiples empêche seul l’introduction de l’ennemi, le Signifiant, et les tentatives pour interpréter une œuvre qui ne se propose en fait qu’à l’expérimentation’. Cet article dépeint Deleuze lui-même en tant qu’acteur sur notre plateau, nous guidant à travers une visite de quatre auteurs littéraires, du point de vue d’un criminalité nécessaire, sous la forme de désorganisation, donnant lieu à la naissance d’une œuvre d’art: Oeudipe ‘dés-œudipianisé’!

    Mots Clé: Deleuze, Artaud, Beckett, le corps sans organes, dés-œdipianisé, théâtralité

    Nei suoi scritti, Gilles Deleuze utilizza una tecnica teatrale[1] che ha talvolta definito “voisinage”, o “vicinanza”, che consiste nel collocare i “personaggi”, gli artisti, i filosofi e le loro rispettive opere, su un “plateau”, un recinto; si tratta di una procedura che permette al lettore di “vedere” bypassando il logos, e impedendo così, come l’autore stesso spiega, l’intrusione di una possibile “interpretazione” binaria: “solo il principio degli ingressi multipli previene l’introduzione del nemico, ossia del Significante, e di quei tentativi di interpretare un’opera che in realtà è aperta solo alla sperimentazione”[2]. Questo articolo ritrae Deleuze stesso come “attore” sul nostro “plateau”, mentre ci accompagna nell’esplorazione di quattro autori dal punto di vista di una necessaria “criminalità”, sotto forma di una disorganizzazione che conduce alla nascita di un’opera d’arte: Edipo non edipianizzato!

    Parole chiave: Deleuze, Artaud, Beckett, corpo senza organi, non edipianizzato, teatralità.

Muriel Rojas Zamudio

    Muriel Rojas Zamudio is a psychoanalyst, practitioner in artistic mediations and a multireferential art therapist, trainer and supervisor. Her life course and clinic have enabled her to work regularly on inter-gender relations, gender identities or even problems related to the reconciliation of various social roles. Author of several books and papers, she is interested in contemporary forms of dialogue between art and therapy, psychic and domestic lives.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 141-158

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    If the cinema or the literature popularized the severe dissociative disorders, the clinic can lead us to consider this phenomenon like a defensive mechanism whose degree of intensity influences the expression, invalidating more or less strongly the daily life of the people in whom it manifests itself, as evidenced by the four examples presented in this paper. We hypothesize that there is a factor common to these different stories: the impossibility of serenely gaining access to emotional intimacy and / or the expression of feelings, both positive and negative. From this point of view, dissociation would be a necessary constraint to live the relationship, this purpose linking these disorders to neurosis as described by Eliane Amado Levy-Valensi more than to psychosis. We will conclude on the interest of orienting the treatment towards inter and intrapsychic dialogue, in particular through artistic mediations, to master the dissociative phenomenon.

    Key Words: Neurosis; dissociative disorders; attachment disorders; art and therapy.

    Si le cinéma ou la littérature ont popularisé les troubles dissociatifs sévères, la clinique peut nous amener à envisager ce phénomène comme un mécanisme défensif dont le degré d’intensité influe sur l’expression, invalidant plus ou moins fortement le quotidien des personnes chez lesquelles il se manifeste, ce dont témoigne les quatre exemples présentés dans cet article. Nous émettons l’hypothèse d’un facteur commun à ces différentes histoires : l’impossibilité d’accéder sereinement à l’intimité émotionnelle et/ou à l’expression de ses sentiments, tant positifs que négatifs. De ce point de vue, la dissociation serait une contrainte nécessaire pour vivre la relation, cette finalité rattachant ces troubles à la névrose telle que la décrit Eliane Amado Lévy-Valensi plus qu’à la psychose. Nous conclurons sur l’intérêt d’orienter la cure vers le dialogue inter et intrapsychique, notamment à travers des médiations artistiques, pour maîtriser le phénomène dissociatif.

    Mots clés: Névrose; troubles dissociatifs; troubles de l’attachement; art et thérapie.

    Se il cinema o la letteratura hanno reso popolare il disturbo dissociativo grave, la clinica ci porta a considerare questo fenomeno come un meccanismo difensivo, il cui grado di intensità ne influenza l’espressione, invalidando più o meno pesantemente la vita quotidiana delle persone in cui si manifesta, come evidenziano gli esempi portati nel testo. Ipotizziamo che ci sia un fattore comune in queste storie differenti: l’impossibilità di accedere facilmente all’intimità delle emozioni e/o all’espressione dei sentimenti, sia positivi che negativi. Da questo punto di vista , la dissociazione sarebbe una necessaria limitazione per vivere la relazione, assimilando questo disturbo alla nevrosi come descritta da Eliane Amado Levy-Valensi, più che alle psicosi. Concluderemo sull’importanza di orientare il trattamento verso un dialogo inter ed intra-psichico, in particolare attraverso la mediazione artistica, per padroneggiare il fenomeno dissociativo.

    Parole chiave: Nevrosi; disturbi dissociativi; disturbi dell’attacamento; arte e terapia.

    Si el cine o la literatura popularizaba los desórdenes de disociación severa, la clínica puede permitirnos considerar a este fenómeno como mecanismo de defensa cuyo grado de intensidad influye en la expresión, invalidando mas o menos fuertemente la vida diaria de la gente en la cual se manifiesta a sí misma como evidenciada por los cuatro ejemplos presentados en este escrito. Nosotros tenemos la hipótesis de que hay un factor común a estas diferentes historias: la imposibilidad de ganar en serenidad, acceso a la intimidad emocional y/o la expresión de sentimientos, ambos positivos y negativos.

    Palabras claves: Neurosis; trastornos disociativos; trastornos del apego; arte y terapia.

Roger Kennedy

    Roger Kennedy is a Training Analyst and Past President of the British Psychoanalytical Society. He is a Child Psychiatrist and was Consultant at the Cassel Hospital for 30 years, and was Chair of The Child and Family Practice, London where he remains a director.  He has written many papers and several books. The most recent books include The Psychic Home (2014), Tolerating Strangers in Intolerant Times (2018), and The Power of Music (2020).

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 159-178

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    There is no abstract for this article.

Isabel Millar

    Isabel Millar recently received her PhD in psychoanalysis and philosophy from Kingston University, School of Art. Her thesis ‘The Psychoanalysis of Artificial Intelligence’ is forthcoming as a monograph with the Palgrave Lacan Series. Her work has been published in Psychoanalytische PerspectievenVestigiaJournal for the Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research (JCFAR), Stillpoint Magazine, and forthcoming essays for the Courtauld Institute of Art, Routledge, Precog Magazine, and the Palgrave Lacan Series.

     

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 179-194

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    Psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic theory are often wrongly accused of being a ‘humanism’ and therefore not capable of addressing the new conceptual challenges that the post-human, post-apocalyptic, post-Anthropocenic era may present us with. The persistent mischaracterization of psychoanalysis as reducing grand theoretical, political, and philosophical concerns into petty psychological questions of personal experience have meant that the radical conceptual possibilities of psychoanalysis in both theory and praxis are missed. Given its shared ability to engage the unconscious and allow us to experience (as dreams so often do) forms of time and space altering logic, often the way to approach these questions is through cinema. More than just concerns with the gaze, desire, and ideology as is traditionally associated with Lacanian film theory, cinema can offer scope to think through psychoanalytic and philosophical questions in a way that empirical research simply cannot. This essay engages the recent films Arrival (Denis Villeneuve), Aniara (Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja), and High Life (Claire Denis) in order to think through new and subversive questions relating to time, taboo and the death drive in the vastness of the universe. Ultimately, I argue that it is though film as a conceptual and psychoanalytic apparatus or form of thinking that we may begin to address these frequently unthought dimensions of human experience.

    Key words: Death Drive, Taboo, Time, Space, Sexuation, Black hole, Cinema, Film Theory

Sergio Benvenuto

    Sergio Benvenuto is a psychoanalyst and philosopher, and lives in Rome. He is researcher at the National Council for Scientific Research (CNR) in Rome, at the former Institute of Psychology. He is the president of Institute for Advanced Studies in Psychoanalysis (ISAP). From 1995 until 2020 he was the editor of the European Journal of Psychoanalysis (EJP) and he is member of the Editorial Board of American Imago. He is a contributor to journals such as Telos, Lettre Internationale (Berlin), Journal for Lacanian Studies, L’évolution psychiatrique, Division/Review, Psychoanalytic Discourse, Journal of American Psychoanalytic Association. He has worked on Freud and Lacan, Wittgenstein and ethics, Plato’s philosophy of Eros, theory of fashion, theory of populism, monotheisms (with J.-L. Nancy). His publications, in many different languages, include ‘Perversion and charity: an ethical approach’ in Perversion. Psychoanalytic Perspectives / Perspectives on Psychoanalysis (eds. D. Nobus & L. Downing, Karnac, 2006); with A. Molino In Freud’s Tracks (New York: Aronson, 2008); ‘Ethics, Wonder and Real in Wittgenstein’ in Ethics and the Philosophy of Culture: Wittgensteinian Approaches, (eds. Y. Gustafsson, C. Kronqvist & H. Nykänen, Cambridge Scholar Publishing, 2013); What Are Perversions? (Karnac, 2016); and Conversations with Lacan (Routledge, 2020). Personal site and Bibliography: http://www.sergiobenvenuto.it./

     

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 195-201

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    There is abstract for this article.

REVIEWS

John Gale

    John Gale is a philosopher and psychoanalyst, and the founder and President of the International Network of psychoanalytic Practices (INPP). Formerly a Benedictine monk, he lectured in philosophy and patristics before leaving the priesthood. He was a trustee and director of a number of organisations in the field of therapeutic communities and psychosis. He was Development Editor and Deputy Editor of the journal Therapeutic Communities for seven years, and is currently a member of its International Editorial Advisory Group. He is also a member of the reviewing panel of the British Journal of Psychotherapy and of the Scientific Committee of the journal Avances en Psicología Latineoamericana. John has edited a number of books including Insanity and Divinity: studies in psychosis and spirituality (Routlegde, 2008) and published around 60 papers in various academic journals including Studia Monastica, the European Journal of Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, The British Journal of Psychotherapy, Critical Psychology, Organisational and Social Dynamics, the European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Current Psychiatry Reviews. He has also participated in discussions at Pratiques psychanalytique, the Società Psicoanalitica Italiana, and the Federacíon Psicoanalítica de America Latina. He speaks regularly at conferences and has given papers at universities and institutes in the UK and abroad including the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at Essex University, the Freud museum London, Brunel University, and Paris VII. His interests span philosophy, psychoanalysis and spirituality, and the main references in his work include the notions of language, silence, tradition, absence, mysticism, madness, place and dwelling. Foremost literary references in his work are to Stoic and Neoplatonic writers and texts from Late Antiquity – e.g. Clement of Alexandria, the Apohthegmata Patrum, Evagrius Ponticus, Augustine – the work of Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Werner Jaeger, Pierre Hadot, Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau, and the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Page 195

Cristiana Cimino

    Cristiana Cimino is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst with a Freudian and Lacanian training. She is a full member of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society, SPI (IPA). She is also a member of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Psychoanalysis (ISAP) and a co-editor of the European Journal of Psychoanalysis. Cristiana has worked extensively on the thought of the psychoanalyst Elvio Fachinelli and has published several texts in specialised journals e.g. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, La Rivista di Psicoanalisi, La Psicoanalisi, aut aut, The European Journal of Psychoanalysis and others. She is the author of Il discorso amoroso. Dall’amore della madre al godimento femminile (Manifestolibri, 2015).

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 196-197

John Gale

    John Gale is a philosopher and psychoanalyst, and the founder and President of the International Network of psychoanalytic Practices (INPP). Formerly a Benedictine monk, he lectured in philosophy and patristics before leaving the priesthood. He was a trustee and director of a number of organisations in the field of therapeutic communities and psychosis. He was Development Editor and Deputy Editor of the journal Therapeutic Communities for seven years, and is currently a member of its International Editorial Advisory Group. He is also a member of the reviewing panel of the British Journal of Psychotherapy and of the Scientific Committee of the journal Avances en Psicología Latineoamericana. John has edited a number of books including Insanity and Divinity: studies in psychosis and spirituality (Routlegde, 2008) and published around 60 papers in various academic journals including Studia Monastica, the European Journal of Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, The British Journal of Psychotherapy, Critical Psychology, Organisational and Social Dynamics, the European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Current Psychiatry Reviews. He has also participated in discussions at Pratiques psychanalytique, the Società Psicoanalitica Italiana, and the Federacíon Psicoanalítica de America Latina. He speaks regularly at conferences and has given papers at universities and institutes in the UK and abroad including the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at Essex University, the Freud museum London, Brunel University, and Paris VII. His interests span philosophy, psychoanalysis and spirituality, and the main references in his work include the notions of language, silence, tradition, absence, mysticism, madness, place and dwelling. Foremost literary references in his work are to Stoic and Neoplatonic writers and texts from Late Antiquity – e.g. Clement of Alexandria, the Apohthegmata Patrum, Evagrius Ponticus, Augustine – the work of Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Werner Jaeger, Pierre Hadot, Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau, and the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 198-199

John Gale

    John Gale is a philosopher and psychoanalyst, and the founder and President of the International Network of psychoanalytic Practices (INPP). Formerly a Benedictine monk, he lectured in philosophy and patristics before leaving the priesthood. He was a trustee and director of a number of organisations in the field of therapeutic communities and psychosis. He was Development Editor and Deputy Editor of the journal Therapeutic Communities for seven years, and is currently a member of its International Editorial Advisory Group. He is also a member of the reviewing panel of the British Journal of Psychotherapy and of the Scientific Committee of the journal Avances en Psicología Latineoamericana. John has edited a number of books including Insanity and Divinity: studies in psychosis and spirituality (Routlegde, 2008) and published around 60 papers in various academic journals including Studia Monastica, the European Journal of Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, The British Journal of Psychotherapy, Critical Psychology, Organisational and Social Dynamics, the European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Current Psychiatry Reviews. He has also participated in discussions at Pratiques psychanalytique, the Società Psicoanalitica Italiana, and the Federacíon Psicoanalítica de America Latina. He speaks regularly at conferences and has given papers at universities and institutes in the UK and abroad including the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at Essex University, the Freud museum London, Brunel University, and Paris VII. His interests span philosophy, psychoanalysis and spirituality, and the main references in his work include the notions of language, silence, tradition, absence, mysticism, madness, place and dwelling. Foremost literary references in his work are to Stoic and Neoplatonic writers and texts from Late Antiquity – e.g. Clement of Alexandria, the Apohthegmata Patrum, Evagrius Ponticus, Augustine – the work of Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Werner Jaeger, Pierre Hadot, Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau, and the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Page 200

John Gale

    John Gale is a philosopher and psychoanalyst, and the founder and President of the International Network of psychoanalytic Practices (INPP). Formerly a Benedictine monk, he lectured in philosophy and patristics before leaving the priesthood. He was a trustee and director of a number of organisations in the field of therapeutic communities and psychosis. He was Development Editor and Deputy Editor of the journal Therapeutic Communities for seven years, and is currently a member of its International Editorial Advisory Group. He is also a member of the reviewing panel of the British Journal of Psychotherapy and of the Scientific Committee of the journal Avances en Psicología Latineoamericana. John has edited a number of books including Insanity and Divinity: studies in psychosis and spirituality (Routlegde, 2008) and published around 60 papers in various academic journals including Studia Monastica, the European Journal of Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, The British Journal of Psychotherapy, Critical Psychology, Organisational and Social Dynamics, the European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Current Psychiatry Reviews. He has also participated in discussions at Pratiques psychanalytique, the Società Psicoanalitica Italiana, and the Federacíon Psicoanalítica de America Latina. He speaks regularly at conferences and has given papers at universities and institutes in the UK and abroad including the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at Essex University, the Freud museum London, Brunel University, and Paris VII. His interests span philosophy, psychoanalysis and spirituality, and the main references in his work include the notions of language, silence, tradition, absence, mysticism, madness, place and dwelling. Foremost literary references in his work are to Stoic and Neoplatonic writers and texts from Late Antiquity – e.g. Clement of Alexandria, the Apohthegmata Patrum, Evagrius Ponticus, Augustine – the work of Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Werner Jaeger, Pierre Hadot, Michel Foucault, Michel de Certeau, and the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan.

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020, Page 201

BULLETIN

Bulletin of Psychoanalytic Studies

Vestigia, Volume 2, Issue 2, Pages 202-258