Freud- Mourning and Melancholia
Gabriel Orozco, Yielding Stone, 1992
Yielding Stone is a plasticine ball my weight in plasticine, and then it was rolled in the street and got all the imprints of the rolling, and the pressure of the weight of the mass.
The artwork is trying present a vulnerable stone. The idea of this artwork is related to Freud's writing on the aspect of mind/body, that every body will be effected by outside world and materialization. And the feeling of loss described in Mourning and Melancholia derives from the idea.
SIGMUND FREUD
Freud was born in Czech Republic on 1856, and moved to Vienna with his family at the age of 4.
He received his medical degree in 1881 and started his career as a young medical researcher. Freud’s research focused on neurobiology (biology of brains and nervous tissues of humans and animals).
Early in his career, Freud was influenced by works of his friend, Josef Breuer.
His psychoanalytic theory, inspired by Josef Breuer, stated that neuroses had their origins in traumatic experiences that had occurred in patient’s past. Those origins had been forgotten and hidden from patient’s consciousness. His treatment was to re-evoke patient’s experience and elevate them to consciousness, confront it both intellectually and emotionally.
Some theories he discussed the most are: The id, ego and superego, psychic energy, Oedipus complex, and dream analysis.
Freud published many influential psychoanalysis works including: Studies in Hysteria, The Interpretation of Dreams, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, and Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality.
Committed suicide at the age of 83 on September 23, 1939.
MOURNING AND MELANCHOLIA
Written in 1918.
Discussed the difference between Mourning and Melancholia.
In mourning, a person deals with losing a specific object that he is in love with, and this process takes place in the conscious mind. In melancholia, a person grieves with the loss of something that he is unable to identify. This process takes place in the unconscious mind. Mourning is identified as a natural process of emotion, while melancholia is considered pathological.
"Mourning and Melancholia" is a direct pendant to Freud's "On Narcissism: An Introduction," a context that helped him to identify melancholic regression. Freud also adapts from Karl Abraham's idea concerning cannibalistic orality and ambivalence of melancholia's origin. He later advanced the notion of mourning on the model of the dream work during the period of The First World War, which was significant to Freud.
BREAK-OUT ROOMS DISCUSSION
Do you think melancholia is a part of the human condition? Why or why not?
Do you agree with Freud’s statement that melancholia is illogical? Why or why not?
Do you think melancholia is universal/how might culture impact one’s understanding/experience of it?
What are some personal experiences that may contradict/support ideas presented in the text?
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