Ghosts and the Psyche

Dienstag 18 Dienstag 18 Dienstag 18 Dienstag 18- -- -20 Uhr 20 Uhr 20 Uhr 20 Uhr, UdL 6, , UdL 6, , UdL 6, , UdL 6, 3031 3031 3031 3031
Email: simone.natale@hu Email: simone.natale@hu Email: simone.natale@hu Email: simone.natale@hu- -- -berlin.de berlin.de berlin.de berlin.de
Dr. Simone Natale
Gastdozent
Vielfalt der Wissensformen
Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin
Sommersemester 2014
ummar! o" last #ee$%s lesson
Ghosts and cultures of death
Philie !ri"s# Western Attitudes toward Death: From the
Middle Ages to the Present $1%&4'(
Ghosts and the culture of mournin) $Trauer'
&o'i(s "or toda!%s (lass: ghosts and the 's!(he
1( *mer)ence of the lin+ bet,een the )host and mental states
$s-cholo)-'
2( .err- /astle0s theor- on the 1sectralization of the mind2
3( 4reud0s Das Unheimliche
)host as a''arition * +ision * illusion
Secter $n(' c(1500# 6fri)htenin) )host#6 from 4rench sectre 6an
ima)e# fi)ure# )host6 $15c('# from 7atin sectrum 6aearance# vision#
aarition6 $see sectrum'( 4i)urative sense 6ob8ect of dread6 is from
1&&4(
Phantom $n(' c(1300# fantum6illusion# unrealit-#6 from 9ld 4rench
fantosme $12c('# from Vul)ar 7atin :fantauma# from 7atin hantasma
6an aarition6 $see hantasm'( .he h; ,as restored in *n)lish late
15c( $see h'( <eanin) 6secter# sirit# )host6 is attested from late
14c(= that of 6somethin) havin) the form# but not the substance# of a
real thin)6 is from 1&0&(
)hosts and the mind in
toda!%s language
*>ressions lin+in) )hosts to states of mind?
1.he ghosts in -our head2
1! thou)ht that haunts me2
@
What does it mean 1to see a )host2A !nd ,h-
do ,e use )hostl- metahors in our ever-da-
lan)ua)e in order to describe thou)hts and
mental statesA
&err! ,astle on the -s'e(trali.ation
o" the mind/
.err- /astle# historian of literature# currentl- Walter !( Haas
Professor in the Humanities at Stanford Universit-(
Boo+ 1.he 4emale .hermometer#2 ublished in 1%%B
$available as df in our <oodle a)e'
'e(trali.ation o" the mind
Cuestion? When does the )host becomes a metahor for our
mental states# our thou)htsA !nd ,hich are the
conseDuencesA
!nal-sis of !nn Eadcliffe0s novel The Mysteries of Udolpho
$1&%4'
$German edition? Udolphos Geheimnisse'
TheMysteriesofUdolpho
!rchet-al Gothic novel# )reat oular
success
.heme of the suernatural F )host
Eational e>lanations? the )host is the
roduct of our ima)ination and of
suerstition
,astle%s anal!sis o" TheMysteriesofUdolpho
19ld;fashioned )hosts $in the <-steries of Udolho' have
disaeared from the fictional ,orld# but a ne, +ind of aarition
ta+es their lace( .o be a Eadcliffean hero or heroine means 8ust this?
to be Ghaunted0# to find oneself ossessed b- sectral ima)es of
those one loves( 9ne sees in the mind0s e-e those ,ho are absent=
one is befriended and consoled b- hantoms of the beloved2 $/astle
1%%B# ( 123'(
;;H 7in+ ,ith shifts in the rocess of mournin)# ,hich increasin)l-
becomes a more rivate issue $see Aris on mournin) in our societ-'
0 ne# 'er(e'tion o" human e1'erien(e
1In the moment of romantic self;absortion# the other ,as
indeed reduced to a hantom J a urel- mental effect# or
ima)e# as it ,ere# on the screen of consciousness itself( .he
cororealit- of the other J his or her actual life in the ,orld J
became stran)el- insubstantial and indistinct? ,hat mattered
,as the mental icture# the )host# the hauntin) ima)e2
$/astle 1%%B# ( 12B'(
;;H 1Sectralization2 of the other? romantic conviction that the
dead and the absent lives in our mind
4rancisco Go-a#
1*l sueKo de la razLn
roduce monstruos#2
1&%&;%%
&he s'e(trali.ation o" the mind toda!
1.he t,entieth centur-# I hoe to sho,# has comletel-
naturalized this historic shift to,ard the hantasmatic( We are
used to the metahor of the haunted consciousness J indeed
hardl- reco)nize it as metahoric( 9ften enou)h# ,e sea+
colloDuiall- of bein) haunted b- memories or ursued b-
ima)es of eole inside our heads( $@' Mot coincidentall-# the
most influential of modern theories of the mind J
s-choanal-sis J has internalized the )host;seein) metahor2
$/astle 1%%B# ( 12B'(
2ationalist dis(ourses and the s'e(trali.ation
o" the mind
/astle? 1.he rationalists did not so much ne)ate the
traditional sirit ,orld as dislace it into the realm of
s-cholo)-2
;;H Ghosts are internalized
'iritualist debun$ing and rationalist
dis(ourses
'iritualist debun$ing and rationalist
dis(ourses
.,o e>lanations?
1( Ghosts as decetion
2( Ghosts as creation of our mind
$ ;;H and therefore a sub8ect for s-cholo)ical inDuir-'
'iritualist debun$ing and rationalist
dis(ourses
Walter /ooer Nend-# senior sur)eon at the Eo-al Infirmar- for
/hildren# eDuates )hosts to an intense idea $ide fie'?
!"t is as easy to #elie$e in the power of mind in con%uring up a spectre
as in entertaining a simple thought& it is not strange that this thought
may appear em#odied' especially if the eternal senses #e shut& do we
not see a form in our mind(s eye' and if this idea #e intensely defined'
does it not #ecome a phantom)*
3s!(hoanal!sis and the s'e(trali.ation o" the
mind
4reud? ,hat the mind re8ects in one form ma- return to
another
Ghosts as the dead ,ho returns ;;H )hosts as the reressed
ima)e ,ho returns
$!ccordin) to /astle# Ps-choanal-sis ,ould have not been
thin+able ,ithout the sectralization of the mind in Western
societies'
4reud%s -Das Unheimli(he/ 516167
*n)lish translation? the Uncann-
Interest in the issue of belief but also in literature and other
fictional reresentations of uncann- henomena
;;H Nouble life $reli)ious belief O fictional reresentation'
of )hosts and other uncann- manifestations
4reud on the meaning o" -unheimli(h/
PNas deutsche Wort QunheimlichR ist offenbar der Ge)ensatz zu
heimlich# heimisch# vertraut und der SchluS lie)t nahe# es sei et,as
eben darum schrec+haft# ,eil es nicht be+annt und vertraut ist(1
But 4reud also notes that Pheimlich unter den mehrfachen Muancen
seiner Bedeutun) auch eine zei)t# in der es mit seinem Ge)ensatz
unheimlich zusammenfTllt( Nas heimliche ,ird dann zum
unheimlichen( $@' Wir ,erden Uberhaut daran )emahnt# daS dies
Wort heimlich nicht eindeuti) ist# sondern z,ei Vorstellun)s+reisen
zu)ehVrt# $@' dem des Vertrauten# Beha)lichen und dem des
Verstec+ten# Verbor)en )ehaltenen(1
0mbi+alen(e
+eimlich seems to mean t,o oosin) thin)s
simultaneousl-?
1' Belon)in) to the house or the famil-# or re)arded as so
belon)in)=
2' /oncealed# +et from si)ht# so that others do not )et to
+no, about it# ,ithheld from others
P!lso heimlich ist ein Wort# das seine Bedeutun) nach einer
!mbivalenz hin ent,ic+elt# bis es endlich mit seinem
Ge)ensatz unheimlich zusammenfTllt( Unheimlich ist
ir)end,ie eine !rt von heimlich(1
&!'es o" things that arouse sense o" the
un(ann!
Inanimate objects that seem animate and vice versa
DoublesFconfoundin) of selfFother
; double first as assurance of immortalit-# later as harbin)er
of death
&!'es o" things that arouse sense o" the
un(ann!
Involuntary/unintended returns
; 4reud0s e>amle of endin) u over and over in the red li)ht
district
Involuntary repetition $e()( numbers reeatin) several times
durin) a da-'
Attitude towards death
0nimism
PNie !nal-se der 4Tlle des Unheimlichen hat uns zur alten
Weltauffassun) des !nimismus zurUc+)efUhrt# die aus)ezeichnet ,ar
durch die *rfUllun) der Welt mit <enschen)eistern $@'( *s scheint# daS
,ir alle in unserer individuellen *nt,ic+lun) eine diesem !nimismus
der Primitiven entsrechende Phase durch)emacht haben# daS sie bei
+einem von uns ab)elaufen ist# ohne noch TuSerun)sfThi)e Eeste und
Suren zu hinterlassen# und daS alles# ,as uns heute als QunheimlichR
erscheint# die Bedin)un) erfUllt# daS es an diese Eeste animistischer
SeelentTti)+eit rUhrt und sie zur WuSerun) anre)t1
)hosts and Unheimli(he
Nas Unheimliche as somethin) that comes bac+? PNas Unheimliche sei
et,as# ,as im Verbor)enen hTtte bleiben sollen und hervor)etreten
ist(1
PIm allerhVchsten Grade unheimlich erscheint vielen <enschen# ,as
mit dem .od# mit 7eichen und mit der Wieder+ehr der .oten# mit
Geistern und Gesenstern zusammenhTn)t(1
Death and animisti( belie"s
1!ber auf +aum einem anderen Gebiet hat sich unser Nen+en und
4Uhlen seit den Urzeiten so ,eni) verTndert# ist das !lte unter dUnner
Nec+e so )ut erhalten )eblieben# ,ie in unserer Beziehun) zum .ode(
$@' Na fast alle von uns in diesem Pun+t noch so den+en ,ie die
Wilden# ist es auch nicht zu ver,undern# daS die rimitive !n)st vor
dem .oten bei uns noch so mTchti) ist und bereit lie)t# sich zu TuSern#
so,ie ir)end et,as ihr ent)e)en +ommt(1
3s!(hoanal!sis and the s'e(trali.ation o" the
mind
Nas Unheimliche as the return of the reressed $the rimitive
animistic beliefs O the reressed events of childhood'
Ghosts are creations of our mental life# of our s-cholo)ical life
;;H sectralization of the mind
8e1t #ee$
The ,at and the ,anary $US! 1%2&'#
directed b- Paul 7eni
Dan$e9
simone(nataleXhu;berlin(de