Madness and Literature

Mental illness has been a favourite topic for authors throughout the history of literature, and, conversely, psychologists and psychiatrists like Sigmund Freud and Karl Jaspers have been interested in and influenced by literature. Pioneers within philosophy, psychiatry and literature share the endeavour to explore and explain the human mind and behaviour, including what a society deems as being outside perceived normality. This volume engages with literature’s multifarious ways of probing minds and bodies in a state of ill mental health. To encompass this diversity, the theoretical approach is eclectic and transdisciplinary. The cases and the theory are in dialogue with a clinical approach, addressing issues and diagnoses such as trauma, psychosis, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, self-harm, hoarding disorder, PTSD and Digital Sexual Assault. The volume has three parts. Chapters in Part I address literary representations of madness with a historical awareness, outlining the socio-political potentials of madness literature. Part II investigates how representations of mental illness can provide a different way of understanding what it is like to experience alternative states of mind, as well as how theoretical concepts from studies in literature can supplement the language of psychopathology. The chapters in Part III explore ways to apply literary cases in clinical practice. Throughout the book, the contributors explore and explain how the language and discourses of literature (stylistically and theoretically) can teach us something new about what it means to be in ill mental health.

Johann Wier

This book deals with a fascinating and original claim in 16th-century Europe. Witches should be cured, not executed. It was the physician and scholar Johann Wier (1515-1588) who challenged the dominant idea. For his defense of witches, more than three centuries later, Sigmund Freud chose to put Wier’s work among the ten books to be read. According to Wier, Satan seduced witches, thus they did not deserve to be executed, but they must be cured for their melancholy. When the witch hunt was rising, Wier was the first to use some of the arguments adopted in the emerging debate on religious tolerance in defence of witches. This is the first overall study of Wier which offers an innovative view of his thought by highlighting Wier’s sources and his attempts to involve theologians, physicians, and philosophers in his fight against cruel witch hunts. Johann Wier: Debating the Devil and Witches situates and explains his claim as a result of a moral and religious path as well as the outcome of his medical experience. The book aims to provide an insightful examination of Wier’s works to read his pleas emphasizing the duty of every good Christian to not abandon anyone who strays from the flock of Christ. For these reasons, Wier was overwhelmed by bitter confutations, such as those of Jean Bodin, but he was also celebrated for his outstanding and prolific heritage for debating religious tolerance.

FIBROMIALGIA: UMA HISTERIA CONTEMPORÂNEA

Este artigo aborda a doença da Síndrome da Fibromialgia (FM) como uma forma de histeria contemporânea, realizando um comparativo entre o quadro clínico da FM e das manifestações histéricas sob a ótica psicanalítica. A fibromialgia se apresenta por meio de dores crônicas, em no mínimo 11 partes do corpo de 18 estabelecidas para o diagnóstico pelo período de 3 meses ou mais, com ausência de causas orgânicas identificadas. Sua maior incidência ocorre em mulheres adultas dos 35 aos 44 anos de idade, porém existem casos em crianças, idosos e homens. A confirmação do diagnóstico é de difícil confirmação devido seu caráter subjetivo por não existir exames clínicos que corroborem o resultado das queixas dolorosas. Objetivamos explanar sobre a enfermidade utilizando o modelo médico, conceituar a histeria conforme descrito por Sigmund Freud no século XIX em relação a sua sintomatologia e causalidade, evidenciando a importância da psicanálise no tratamento para diminuição dos sintomas. O estudo, apresenta um levantamento de publicações cientificas que abordam a fibromialgia a luz da psicanálise, por meio de uma revisão de literatura. Desse modo foram realizadas pesquisas nas bases de dados Scielo-Brasil, Pepsic e na literatura das obras Freudianas. Nesse contexto concluímos que os sintomas apresentados na Síndrome da Fibromialgia se assemelham ao quadro clínico da histeria contribuindo assim para uma melhor compreensão desta síndrome e assim auxiliando no seu tratamento.

Women with Split Identity; A Literary Analysis based on the selected Female Portrayals in Literature

Female characters in Literature are portrayed through diverse dimensions such as heroic figures, objects of desire, rebellious individuals, icons of female liberation and individuals with fragmented identities. Those potrayals reflect the the feminine self which is surrounded by the awareness of her negated existence, stereotyped images of womanhood, the sense of lack of belonging, and repressed individuality. Thus the study focuses on analyzing the female literary portrayals like ‘Nora Helmer’in ‘The Dolls House’ by Henric Ibsen, ‘Adela’ in ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ by Federico Garcia Lorca and ‘Emma Bovary’ in ‘Madame Bovary’ by Gustave Flaubert, ‘Maggie Tulliver’ in The Mill On the Floss by George Eliot and ‘Kattrin’ in Mother courage and Her children by Bertolt Brecht with the objective of bringing to the surface the socially determined fatal end and the symbolic disappearance of the feminine figure. In analyzing and elaborating the perspectives which are discussed within the research paper the theoretical perspectives of Simon de Beauvoir (‘The second sex’), Sigmund Freud, (‘Civilization and its Discontents’,)and Slavoj Zizek, (‘Looking Awry’) are referred with a thorough consideration. Consequently the woman figure whose identity is negated and given less vitality is identified as an inferior and vulnerable social figure within the existing social order and thus the literary characters like Adela, Nora, Emma, and Maggie Tulliver portray the antagonism between the social principle of ‘Repression’ and the feminine ‘ Liberation’. In contrast to the characters such as Adela, Emma and Nora who negate the social other in pursuing their determined routes towards the self-satisfaction, the feminine portrayals like Kattrin and Maggie Tulliver adopt the self-denial and renunciation of desires for the betterment of the social other. Thus the characters like Nora, Emma and Adela become capable of gratifying their intense abomination towards the social order while Kattrin and Maggie Tulliver with their self-sacrifice and altruistic motives achieve a serene satisfaction. In that sense it can be identified that their self-annihilation leaves behind a symbol of identity rather than nihilistic reality implying a more psychological vitality without being just a physical deterioration.

Engels y Freud ante el origen: entre el comunismo primitivo y la horda primordial

Friedrich Engels y Sigmund Freud ofrecen explicaciones tan próximas como contradictorias del origen de la civilización. Ambos construyen rigurosos mitos científicos y los proyectan en la prehistoria para dar sentido a la historia humana y al presente en el que viven. Ambos también coinciden al situar el origen de lo social-económico en lo sexual-familiar. Sin embargo, mientras que Freud empieza por el patriarcado y por la desigualdad constitutiva de la horda primordial, Engels prefiere comenzar por el matriarcado y por una comunidad primitiva tan profundamente igualitaria que ya ni siquiera permite plantear lo que ocurre en ella en términos de igualdad o desigualdad. Esta diferencia tiene implicaciones políticas decisivas. La sociedad humana fue y puede volver a ser horizontal para Engels, mientras que Freud considera que la socialización presupone forzosamente relaciones jerárquicas verticales de poder. La figura paterna de liderazgo, por ejemplo, resulta ineliminable de la visión freudiana de la colectividad.

The Sizzling of Desire A Psychoanalytic Study of Clyde’s Character in An American Tragedy

An American Tragedy is a novel by Theodore Dreiser. It was published in 1925. The novel is a complicated account of an ambitious, ill-educated, and immature young protagonist named Clyde Griffith. It is a portrayal of the society whose values both shape Clyde's mimetic desires and seal his destiny. Since the novel revolves around the strong desires of Clyde and the way they reflect on him and others around him, this paper offers an analysis of the character through the lens of psychoanalysis. This study is an attempt to shed light on the deep-rooted desires of the protagonist and how they affect him for his assumed success in life. In this regard, the beliefs of Sigmund Freud and some other writers in the field are discussed.

Reflexões sobre personagens melancólicas: um olhar sobre o romance de João Tordo / Reflections on Melancholic Characters: A View to João Tordo’s Novel

Resumo: O presente artigo examina o comportamento das personagens no romance O luto de Elias Gro (2015), do escritor português João Tordo, levando em conta os efeitos traumáticos que as assolam frente às situações trágicas. O romance apresenta os espaços geográfico, arquitetônico e literário como condicionantes, sem, todavia, associá-los à história e ao nome de um país ou região. Num sentido global, o romance traz uma reflexão acerca da fragilidade humana quando se depara em situações de perda. Para tanto, o ensaio Luto e melancolia, de Sigmund Freud, serve como referência inicial, observando o seu aproveitamento para a compreensão das figuras em ação no romance.Palavras-chave: melancolia; romance português do século XXI; João Tordo.Abstract: This article discusses the behavior of characters in the novel Mourning Elias Gro (2015) by Portuguese author João Tordo, considering the traumatic effects that plague them in the face of tragic situations. The novel brings geographical, architectural and literary spaces as buildings elements, but does not associate them to the history and name of a particular country. In an overall sense, the novel sets a reflection about the human fragility when facing situations of loss. Therefore, the essay Mourning and melancholia, by Sigmund Freud, is used as an initial reference, as well as a basis for understanding the characters represented in the novel.Keywords: melancholy; 21st-century portuguese novel; João Tordo.