150 research outputs found
To Be and Not to Be: Hamletâs Identity. Lacanâs Errors and His Disappointing Interpretation of Shakespeare
Hamletâs desire must be examined in relation to the desire to be, that is the desire for identity: this is the claim upheld in this study. Consequently, the article begins by making a distinction between the desire to be and the desire to have: this distinction was expressed in a new way by Freud, but was never adequately developed either by Freud himself or by Lacan. Therefore, the desire to be has remained prisoner of the Oedipus complex, even in Lacanâs reformulation in which it basically proves to be the desire to be the Phallus.Yet the desire to be must be understood starting from the âmodal revolutionâ introduced by Heidegger, and this allows us to appreciate the more innovative thesis in Freudâs essay, âGroup Psychology and the Analysis of the Egoâ (1921). Identity is a relationship that may be considered to be a coincidence or a non-coincidence with oneself: in the latter case, we will refer to an âovercoming identity.â As a result, philosophy, the theory of the subject and the theory of literature are called upon to investigate the modes of identity.From the perspective of the modes of being, Hamlet is analyzed here starting from his refusal to subordinate his own identity to the role of avenger. His desire oversteps the borders of neurosis and melancholy, in which it had traditionally been imprisoned (also by Lacan). Hamlet is a hero of non-coincidence: he goes beyond the models that appear to him to be inadequate and attempts to construct a flexible identity. Adopting the mask of madness, he has the opportunity to display his linguistic creativity. This does not deny that Hamlet is a tormented hero: the shadow of his father and the lust of his mother are obstacles to the desire for identity.This interpretation is only delineated in the last pages of the article. It is first necessary to show that the limitations of Lacanâs interpretation derive from a narrow conception of the Symbolic and the desire to be for which Lacan never acknowledges creative possibilities. The Lacanian notion of âlackâ is a logical and epistemological obstacle that prevents the development of the logic of flexibility and the nonof ânon-coincidence.
The Turn of the Screw. A tale that âturnsâ
This article offers a new interpretation of The Turn of the Screw. The reader is not asked to choose between ghosts and hallucinations, but rather to understand that Jamesâ intention was to include a ghost story in a story of hallucinations. These two stories intertwine and transform into one another. Nonetheless, the mental dimension remains prevalent: The Turn of the Screw is a tale of identity or rather of the dissolution of the principium individuationis and the consequent establishment of a âconfusive regimeâ. The rise in personal pronouns is the detail that points to and confirms this interpretation.This article offers a new interpretation of The Turn of the Screw. The reader is not asked to choose between ghosts and hallucinations, but rather to understand that Jamesâ intention was to include a ghost story in a story of hallucinations. These two stories intertwine and transform into one another. Nonetheless, the mental dimension remains prevalent: The Turn of the Screw is a tale of identity or rather of the dissolution of the principium individuationis and the consequent establishment of a âconfusive regimeâ. The rise in personal pronouns is the detail that points to and confirms this interpretation
Frankenstein Rather Than Faust? The Decline of Limit-Surpassing Forces
Giovanni Bottiroliâs article âFrankenstein Rather Than Faust?â aims to problematize and investigate further the challenge to the notion of «rigid identity» proposed by extant scholarship. In order to do so, Bottiroli dismantles a univocal understanding of «identity», bringing to light the polysemy and porosity intrinsic to this term. In order to do so, the author discusses here different modes of identity, concentrating on two in particular: coincidence and non-coincidence with oneself. Taking this distinction as his point of departure, Bottiroli applies these interpretative frameworks to two of the most significant figures of Western imagination, Frankenstein and Faust
Il desiderio "effrayant" di Julien Sorel
Che cosa significa leggere un classico? Questâarticolo distingue due modi, o due vie. Per i contestualisti Ăš sufficiente collocare lâopera nella sua epoca storica, e sottolineare eventualmente la novitĂ che quellâopera ha introdotto. Per la teoria dellâinterpretazione, un classico vive nel «tempo grande» (Bachtin), cioĂš oltrepassa i confini della sua epoca.
In questo senso, i grandi scrittori sarebbero âuniversaliâ. Per lâautore di questâarticolo sarebbe piĂč corretto riconoscere la densitĂ semantica dellâopera dâarte, cioĂš lâinsieme delle sue virtualitĂ . Ma per riconoscere e indagare le virtualitĂ di un classico occorre far riferimento alla teoria, o meglio alle teorie. Nel caso di Le Rouge et le Noir, ci si puĂČ limitare ad analisi parziali, che, nella loro consapevole limitatezza, sono legittime. Tut-tavia, chiunque pretenda di offrire un punto di vista complessivo su questo romanzo di Stendhal non puĂČ (o meglio non dovrebbe) ignorare, per esempio, le teorie del desi-derio. Le Rouge et le Noir rappresenta un momento fondamentale per la nascita del realismo moderno («serio», come lo ha chiamato Auerbach): ma si puĂČ ridurre la rappresentazione della realtĂ , che esso offre, quasi unicamente al contesto storico-sociale? La veritĂ (lâĂąpre vĂ©ritĂ©) che Stendhal promette ai suoi lettori nellâesergo del romanzo Ăš la veritĂ di quegli esseri flessibili che noi siamo: Ăš la veritĂ delle diverse possibilitĂ , o versioni, dellâamore. Non si puĂČ leggere un classico senza incontrare il desiderio di essere.
What does âreading the classicsâ mean? This paper identifies a twofold approach to this act. Contextualist critics believe that setting the text within its historical context and shedding light on its innovative aspects suffice to understand it. According to the theory of interpretation, classics embody Bachtinâs «great time», exceeding the limits of their epoch. Great writers would be therefore universal figure. For the author of this paper, a correct approach to literary works acknowledges the density of texts, that is to say the combination of virtual components. In order to investigate classicsâ âvirtualityâ, one has to refer to theory, or rather theories. Dealing with Le Rouge et le Noir, critics can provide partial analyses that, in being consciously limited, are certainly legit. However, whoever might want to offer a complete view of Pascalâs novel cannot â or rather should not â ignore, for instance, theories of desire. Le Rouge et le Noir stands out as a fundamental step towards the birth of modern realism («serious», as Auerbach named it). Nonetheless, is it possible to reduce the portrayal of reality it offers to, almost exclusively, its socio-historical context? The truth (lâĂąpre vĂ©ritĂ©) Stendhal promises to his readers in the novelâs exergue is the truth about us as flexible beings. In other words, it is the truth about the several possibilities, or potentialities, intrinsic to love. One cannot read classics without discovering the desire to be
Perché bisogna riscrivere Lacan. A partire dalla letteratura (cioÚ dalla flessibilità )
Lâarticolo propone una riflessione sul pensiero di Lacan che porta ad un suo radicale ripensamento. Tesi centrale Ăš la necessitĂ di reinventare il Simbolico, ispirandosi alla letteratura ed in particolare a ciĂČ che la letteratura mostra relativamente alle virtualitĂ del linguaggio e della condizione umana. La flessibilitĂ costituisce il concetto chiave di questa elaborazione. Soltanto a partire da una concezione non semplicistica del Simbolico, sostiene lâautore, si potrĂ comprendere la teoria dei registri intesa come teoria di un soggetto flessibile. This paper proposes a deep reflection on Lacanâs thought, leading to its radical reassessment. Its central argument is the necessity to reinvent the notion of Symbolic through the tool of literature. Flexibility in particular is the key concept to proceed towards the rethinking of the Symbolic realm hereby proposed. The author argues in fact that only a non-simplified understanding of the Symbolic allows to understand Lacanâs theory of the three registers as the theory of a flexible subject
La situazione degli studi letterari nelle FacoltĂ di Lettere e Filosofia. Proposte per un rinnovamento
http://www.giovannibottiroli.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=1
Michel de Montaigne. Per una lettura degli Essais
Si riflette sullo stile di pensiero degli Essais, in cui, come afferma lo stesso Montaigne «vi Ăš gran libertĂ di parlare in ogni senso, e pro e contro». Si rileva la capacitĂ del pensatore di conferire un nuovo significato a termini tradizionali, recuperati in accezioni inedite. Emerge per esempio una nozione di forma che sa includere il molteplice senza irrigidirlo nellâUno. CiĂČ che Montaigne ri-fiuta Ăš la concezione tradizionale di forma come essenza rigida, come insieme di tratti o di proprietĂ ; lâidentitĂ del soggetto umano â lâ humaine condition â Ăš invece una condizione flessibile, cioĂš aperta a destini divergenti. Il pensiero di Montaigne si puĂČ interpretare dunque come un pensiero della flessibilitĂ .In this article we reflect on the style the thought of Montaigneâs Essais. In particular we underline the ability of the thinker to attach a new meaning to traditional terms, recovered in unprecedented acceptations. For example, we can find a notion of form that can include multiplicity without force it into the âOneâ. Montaigne refuses the traditional conception of the form as a rigid essence, as a whole of traits and properties; the âidentity of the human subjectâ â the âhumaine conditionâ â is rather a flexible condition, i.e. open to divergent fates. Montaigneâs thought can therefore be interpreted as a thought of flexibility.
Hybridising as an Artists' Problem. Some Theses
The article proposes a theoretical reflection on the notion of «hybridization» and a critique of its ideological use. The concept of «hybrid» is treated as a starting point rather than as a result. The possibility of defining a classification is questioned on the basis of some fundamental reflections by Nietzsche, who, in Beyond Good and Evil, distinguishes between fertile hybridizations, where the different elements are strenghtened by their mixing and the various forces are combined, and bad or sterile hybridizations, where the various forces, rather than reciprocally stimulate themselves, hinder and paralyze each other. The author believes that this distinction can play a crucial role both in the arts and in politics.Lâarticolo presenta una riflessione di carattere teorico sulla nozione di «ibridazione», e una critica dellâuso ideologico. Il concetto di «ibrido» viene considerato come un punto di partenza, e non come un punto di arrivo. Ci si interroga sulla possibilitĂ di una tipologia, e questo avviene a partire da alcune fondamentali riflessioni di Nietzsche, che, in Al di lĂ del bene e del male, introduce questa distinzione: ci sono ibridazioni feconde, in cui la mescolanza rafforza gli elementi e le forze che si intrecciano, ma ci sono anche cattive ibridazioni, ibridazioni sterili, nel cui ambito le forze, anzichĂ© stimolarsi reciprocamente, si ostacolano e si paralizzano. Lâautore ritiene che questa distinzione possa svolgere un ruolo decisivo sia in campo artistico sia in campo politico
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