Dead Loss: Freud and the Aesthetics of Mourning.

  • Published In: Paragraph, 2024, v. 47, n. 2. P. 214 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Waller, Thomas 3 of 3

Abstract

This article rereads the aporia in Freud's theory of mourning as a problem for representation and aesthetics. Drawing a parallel with Kant's account of the disinterested nature of aesthetic judgement, I argue that the mourner's stubborn willingness to persist in the reproduction of images of the lost object, in spite of their conscious knowledge of the irreversibility of the loss, wrests a minimal zone of autonomy from the sphere of practical interests. In dialogue with Adorno and Laplanche, I conclude by arguing that Freud's inability to adequately explain the problem of mourning is less a shortcoming of his theory of libidinal economy than it is proof of the enigmaticalness of mourning itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Paragraph. 2024/07, Vol. 47, Issue 2, p214
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Arts and Entertainment
  • Publication Date:2024
  • ISSN:0264-8334
  • DOI:10.3366/para.2024.0463
  • Accession Number:178092386
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