Inledning: Sigmund Freud omnämner 1912 för första gången i publicerad form det psykoanalytiska lyssnandets princip med begreppet Jämnt svävande uppmärksamhet (JSU) (1912/2002). Begreppet har frekvent refererats till i publikationer om psykoanalys och psykoterapi sedan Freud myntade det.  Syfte: Syftet med föreliggande studie är att ge innebörd åt och förstå mer om Freuds begrepp och hur psykodynamiska psykoterapeuter med utgångspunkt i Freuds grundregel lyssnar kliniskt idag.  Metod: Genom intervjuer med fem psykoterapeuter söks begreppets kliniska relevans och tillämpbarhet. Intervjuerna analyseras enligt en kombinerad deduktiv och induktiv Tematisk analys.  Resultat: Resultatet visar att jämnt svävande uppmärksamt lyssnande utgörs av en historiserande positionering i förhållande till berättelsen. Lyssnande som läsning utgörs av uppmärksamhet efter semantiska och vokaliserande aspekter av mänskliga erfarenheter bortom språk och begrepp. Lyssnandet i samtalets form karaktäriseras av med-lyssnande.  Diskussion: Analysen visar terapeuternas uppfattning av tillämpbarheten av JSU med hänsyn till begreppets referensvärde. Terapeuternas förståelse av och syn på dess kliniska relevans diskuteras utifrån tillgängliga forskningsresultat från studier av empatisk förståelse och kliniskt lyssnande inom psykoterapi. / Introduction: In 1912, Sigmund Freud first mentions in published form the principle of psychoanalytic listening with the concept ofEvenly Hovering Attention(EHA) (1912/2002). The term has been frequently referenced in publications on psychoanalysis and psychotherapy since Freud coined it.  Research questions: The purpose of this study is to give meaning to and understand more about Freud's concepts and how psychodynamic psychotherapists, based on Freud's groundrule, listen clinically today.  Method:Through interviews with five psychotherapists the clinical relevance and applicableness of the concept is sought. The interviews are analyzed according to a combined deductive and inductive Thematic Analysis.  Results:The results show that evenly hovering attentive listening consists of a historizing positioning in relation to thestory. Listening as readingconsists of attention aftervocalizing aspects of human experiences beyond language. Listening in the form of conversationis characterized by co-listening.  Discussion:The analysis shows the therapists' perception of the applicableness of EHAtaking into account the reference value of the term. The therapists' view of its clinical relevance is discussed based on available research results from studies of empathetic understanding and clinical listening in psychotherapy.

This essay examines how grief, melancholy and irony interact in the poetry collections Hej då, ha det så bra! (2003) by Kristina Lugn and Det här är hjärtat (2015) by Bodil Malmsten. The authorships have their similarities and differences when it comes to the themes and language of their poetry. In Malmsten’s collection of poetry, grief is more present than usual and for Lugn, the feeling of melancholy is much heavier in this collection of poetry compared to her previous ones. Although the poetry collections differ in theme, the feeling of grief and melancholy is common between them. The concept of irony is examined in the essay as an antipole to grief and if irony could help the authors poetic self get distance from their grief. In my examination of the concept of melancholia and irony, I have discovered that they differ between men and women. This is interesting when it comes to how women write poetry in the concept of irony and melancholia. This will be used in my essay to better understand how Lugn and Malmsten work within these themes. To explore grief and melancholy in the poetry, I will use Freud’s essay “The Mourning of Melancholia” (1917), Kristeva’s Black sun: depression and melancholia (1989) and also Karin Johannsson’s Melankoliska rum (2009) to give a clear history of the concept of grief and melancholia and the many aspects of it. / I denna uppsats undersöks hur sorg, melankoli och ironi samspelar i diktsamlingarna Hej då, ha det så bra! (2003) av Kristina Lugn och Det här är hjärtat (2015) av Bodil Malmsten.  Författarskapen har sina likheter och skillnader när det gäller dikternas stämning och språk. Diktsamlingarna skiljer sig även från författarnas tidigare verk. För Malmsten är sorgen mer närvarande än någonsin och hos Lugn är känslan av melankoli tyngre i denna diktsamling jämfört med tidigare diktsamlingar. Även om diktsamlingarna skiljer sig i tematik, finns ändå en gemensam känsla av sorg och melankoli. Begreppet ironi undersöks i uppsatsen som en motpol till sorgen, om ironin kan hjälpa till att distansera diktjaget från sorgen eller om ironin kan skapa ett behov att uttrycka sorgen, likt bekännelselitteraturen.  I min analys av begreppen melankoli och ironi har jag stött på att det skiljer sig mellan hur män och kvinnor skriver. Detta är intressant när det kommer till hur kvinnor skriver poesi inom begreppen ironi och melankoli, och detta kommer att användas i min uppsats för att få en bättre förståelse för hur Lugn och Malmsten arbetar inom dessa teman. För att utforska sorg och melankoli i poesi kommer jag att använda Freuds essä ”The Mournig of Melancholia” (1917), Kristevas Black sun: depression and melancholia (1989) och även Karin Johannissons Melankoliska rum:om ångest, leda och sårbarhet i förfluten tid och nutid (2009), för att ge en tydlig bild av begreppet sorg och melankoli och de många aspekterna av det.

Using psychoanalysis as a theoretical framework, this essay examines the subject of escapism in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Defense mechanisms of the ego, first thought of by Sigmund Freud, allow for a clearer understanding of what takes place during the plot. By taking the author’s background into account, along with clues in the plot of the novel, a more realistic reading of the novel is made possible instead of a supernatural take. A psychoanalytic perspective allows the essay to explore why and how the protagonist chooses to escape in the novel. The main focus of the analysis is how the protagonist of the novel carries the theme of escapism with increased intensity as the plot progresses. The essay considers why and how Dorian chooses to escape reality and utilizes the theoretical framework for two defense mechanisms used as an aid during escapist activities. Dorian progressively uses the defense mechanisms known as repression and rationalization to support his escapist behavior and protect his ego from anxiety derived from internal and external conflicts.

[pt] Este trabalho é o resultado de uma pesquisa sobre o desenvolvimento do conceito de desamparo no percurso teórico de Freud, desde os textos prépsicanalíticos do final do século XIX, até suas últimas obras na década de 1930. Investigamos como Freud compreende, a partir da categoria de desamparo, algumas das mediações presentes entre a vida psíquica e a vida política, ou ainda, alguns dos elos que unem o desenvolvimento singular dos indivíduos e o desenvolvimento geral da civilização. Analisando a categoria do desamparo, pudemos compreender como Freud passa a conceber a vida como uma dádiva conferida pelo Outro e não como o propósito máximo do ser vivente. Isto é, sem a alteridade não há destino para a pulsão senão a destruição total da vida. Tal conclusão revela a necessidade de pensarmos o aparelho psíquico como o produto de um trabalho social e não como algo essencialmente individual. / [en] This work is the result of research on the development of the concept of helplessness in Freud s theoretical trajectory from the pre-psychoanalytic texts of the end of the 19th century to his latest works in the 1930s. We investigate how Freud builds on the category of helplessness in order to understand some of the mediations that take place between psychic life and political life, or, differently put, some of the links that connect the singular development of individuals and the general development of civilization. Analyzing the category of helplessness we could understand how Freud starts to conceive life as a gift conferred by the Other and not as the highest aim of the living being. That is, without otherness there is no destination for the drive but the total destruction of life. Such conclusion shows the need to think of the psychic apparatus as the product of social work instead of something essentially individual.

[pt] O presente trabalho tem como objetivo central discutir as experimentações técnicas de Sándor Ferenczi frente aos impasses oriundos de sua clínica com pacientes difíceis . Neste sentido, buscamos apresentar como seus remanejamentos teóricos e reformulações técnicas foram, aos poucos, se distinguindo dos pressupostos básicos da técnica psicanalítica formulada por Freud. Assim, após uma discussão pormenorizada sobre os limites da técnica e da análise nos dois autores, abordamos as inovações de Ferenczi como possíveis norteadores para pensarmos os impasses da clínica contemporânea. Além disso, mostramos como sua obra pode ser tomada como matriz teórica para outros desenvolvimentos conceituais em psicanálise, sobretudo, os de Michael Balint e Donald Winnicott. / [en] The aim of this dissertation is to discuss the technical experiments of Sándor Ferenczi born from his clinic with difficult patients . In order to explain his efforts, we present how his theoretical changes and technique reformulations were gradually distinguishing from the basic knowledge of psychoanalytic technique formulated by Freud. So, after a detailed discussion of the limits of psychoanalytic technique in both authors, we present Ferenczi s innovations as a possible guide to think the difficulties in contemporary clinic. In addition, we explain how his work can be taken as theoretical framework to other conceptual developments in psychoanalysis, especially in the work of Michael Balint and Donald Winnicott.

[pt] Este trabalho analisa as contribuições de Sigmund Freud, Sándor Ferenczi e Jean Laplanche sobre a sedução em psicanálise, destacando as principais características e o agente sedutor de cada abordagem teórica. Enfatizando o traumático da sedução, o texto discute a sedução patológica e a sedução instituinte do psiquismo, articulando, em Freud, com a neurotica, com a descoberta das fantasias sexuais das histéricas, assim como com o papel da mãe, enquanto a primeira sedutora; em Ferenczi, com a teoria do trauma; e, em Laplanche, com a teoria da sedução generalizada. / [en] This study analyses the contributions of Sigmund Freud, Sándor Ferenczi and Jean Laplanche on seduction in psychoanalysis, focusing on their main characteristics and on the seducing agent in each theoretical perspective. Emphasizing the traumatic aspect of seduction, this study discusses the pathological and non- pathological effects of seduction, arguing that in Freud, seduction should be linked to the neurotica, to the discovery of hysterical women`s sexual fantasies as well as to the mother`s role as the first seductor of her baby; in Ferenczi, seduction should be linked to the theory of trauma; whereas, in Laplanche, it is connected with the general theory of seduction.

[pt] Esta dissertação debruça-se sobre a obra teórica do historiador francês Michel de Certeau (1925 - 1986), interessando-se particularmente pela maneira como o autor articula a psicanálise à pesquisa e ao discurso da história. O argumento consiste em evidenciar aquilo que as afirmações de Certeau acerca da natureza da linguagem devem à teoria psicanalítica, notadamente à obra de Freud revisitada pelo psicanalista francês Jacques Lacan. Assumir tal abordagem do fenômeno da linguagem permite a Certeau questionar a relação do texto historiográfico com a realidade, assim como atrelar à sua reflexão teórica uma concepção de historicidade inspirada pelo tempo freudiano. Ressalta-se também o enraizamento na teoria psicanalítica da renitente crítica do autor quanto à incidência impensada da Instituição no discurso histórico, mas também no próprio discurso psicanalítico. Suas preocupações epistemológicas e éticas unem-se no conceito de ficção teórica, pensado junto a Freud. / [en] This dissertation studies the theoretical approach of history proposed by the French historian Michel de Certeau (1925 - 1986), focusing on the way the author introduces some psychoanalytic concepts in his argument. The most important between the concepts chosen is the approach of language developed within the reading of Freud by the French psychoanalyst Jaques Lacan, which allows the historian to question the supposed ties attaching history s methods and discourse to a certain conception of reality. This leads Michel de Certeau to a reflection on the incidence of a sort of freudian time in the act of writing history. On the basis of this development is Certeau s critics of the role played by institutions in the construction of knowledge and identity, for which elaboration he also convokes psychoanalysis. Certeau s epistemic and ethical concerns are assembled in the concept of theoretical fiction, brought up by a long length study of Freud s work.

This thesis interpolates medieval and modern authors and theorists, namely Dante, Petrarch, and Proust on the one hand, and Freud, Kristeva, and Derrida on the other. I propose that these writers are intimately connected and differentiated by their meditations on grief and loss. I compare, confront, and contrast these narratives of mourning in a discursive shuttling to and fro between medieval and modern, French and Italian, and literature and theory, in order to delineate the specificities of different forms of melancholia as legible in Dante’s Commedia, Petrarch’s Canzoniere, and Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu, and as illuminated by Freudian melancholia, Kristeva’s Soleil noir, and Derrida’s concept of ‘demi-deuil’. I challenge the homogeny of the modern concept of melancholia and juxtapose it with the medieval sin of acedia in Dante (Inferno VII) and Petrarch (considering both the Secretum and the Canzoniere). From the examples of the treatment of the myth of Orpheus and the book of Lamentations, I argue that discourses of mourning are trapped in a fruitful tension between a desire for uniqueness or originality and a desire for legibility or the comfort of communality. In Girardian terms, I define literary representations of mourning as ‘mimetic’, that is, caught in a web of intertextual imitation and preoccupations of genre and tradition which are at odds with a quest for new forms of writing. Finally, I contend that the relationship between content and form is particularly close in grief-stricken texts, and characterise my chosen primary texts – including Dante’s Vita nuova – according to the twin poles of endlessness (which I equate with melancholia) and finitude (the teleological, closed nature of the work of mourning), with a Derridean alternative of unstable oscillation between the two (‘demi-deuil’).

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: “Freud, Lacan, and the Oedipus Complex” examines the Oedipus complex as found in the writing of Sigmund Freud and re-evaluated in the works of Jacques Lacan. Lacan‟s critical reappraisal of the Oedipus complex is captured in his 1969-1971 Seminars, published as The Other Side of Psychoanalysis(2007). This thesis examines Freud‟s overemphasis of the Oedipus complex, the myth of the primal horde and the consequent depiction of the father. Lacan doesn‟t dismiss the Oedipus complex completely, but treats it as a dream, and reinterprets it in light of Freud‟s The Interpretation of Dreams (1900). Lacan focuses on Freud‟s overemphasis on the father in both the Oedipus complex and the myth of the primal horde and illustrates how Freud is protecting the image of the father by depicting him as strong, whereas clinical experience shows that the father can be weak and fallible. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: “Freud, Lacan, and the Oedipus Complex” ondersoek die Oedipus kompleks, soos beskryf in die werk van Sigmund Freud en die beskrywing daarvan in die werk van Jacques Lacan. Lacan se kritiese herevaluasie van die Oedipus kompleks verskyn in sy 1969-1971 Seminare, gepubliseer as The Other Side of Psychoanalysis(2007). Die tesis studeer Freud se oorbeklemtoning van die Oedipus kompleks, die oer-miete en die rol van die vader, ten spyte van die ongerymdhede en kliniese tekortkominge in sy uitbeelding van die vader-figuur. Lacan verwerp nie die Oedipus kompleks ten volle nie, maar kontekstualiseer dit in terme van ʼn droom en herinterpreteer dit in lig van Freud se The Interpretation of Dreams (1900). Lacan fokus op Freud se oorbeklemtoning van die vader in beide die Oedipus kompleks en die oer-miete en illustreer hoe Freud die beeld van die vader probeer beskerm deur hom as sterk uit te beeld, veral wanneer kliniese ervaring wys dat die vader swak en feilbaar is.

This thesis comprises detailed readings of nine early-modern plays featuring female witches in an attempt to recover an understanding of how they were represented on the early-modern stage and what they meant to their first audiences. Drawing on twentieth-century theories of subjectivity, it offers an avenue for the explanation of moments of misogyny in the plays and identifies an unconscious communal anxiety which was revealed and perpetuated by the stage representation of the witch. Although we cannot fully recapture the experience of an audience of 400 years ago, this study attempts to do so in order to place the plays in the context of anxieties detectable in the period. By reading the plays in reference to theatrical conditions, this thesis identifies moments when the drama enlisted the subjectivity of the audience and the witch was constructed as uncanny. Such an approach contributes to the debate on the ages of actors performing certain female characters and suggests potential staging approaches for future performances.