Apocalyptic Narcissism and the Difficulty of Mourning

  • Florian Mussgnug UCL
Parole chiave: morte, lutto, apocalisse, Sigmund Freud, Rene Girard

Abstract

In this article I examine how death and loss feature in recent apocalypse fiction and suggest that, in a genre mostly concerned with finitude, there appears to be paradoxically little room for expressions of mourning. I assess contemporary attitudes towards mortality through the writings of Philippe Ariès, Zygmunt Bauman, Simon Critchley and others, and propose a psychoanalytic reading of solitary survivor narrative, inspired by the work of Martin Jay. In the final part of the article, I turn to Sigmund Freud and René Girard to explore the relation between apocalyptic teleology, melancholy, and the expectation of global catastrophe.

 

Narcisismo apocalittico e la difficoltà del lutto

In questo articolo indago la rappresentazione della morte e della perdita nella recente letteratura apocalittica, e avanzo l’ipotesi che in un genere letterario ossessionato dall’idea di fine sembra esserci poco spazio, paradossalmente, per l’espressione del lutto. Traendo esempi da Philippe Ariès, Zygmunt Bauman, Simon Critchley, ricostruisco alcuni atteggiamenti davanti la morte che dominano il dibattito filosofico contemporaneo, e, sulla scia di Martin Jay, propongo una lettura psicoanalitica delle narrazioni dell’ultimo uomo. Nella parte finale dell’articolo, traggo spunto dalle intuizioni di Sigmund Freud e René Girard per esplorare il rapporto tra teleologia apocalittica, malinconia, e aspettative di una catastrofe globale.

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Biografia autore

Florian Mussgnug, UCL

Florian Mussgnug è Reader in Italian and Comparative Literature a UCL e Direttore del Comparative Literature Programme. Si occupa di letteratura moderna e contemporanea italiana, inglese e tedesca. I suoi interessi di ricerca includono la teoria della letteratura, la scrittura sperimentale, gli animal studies, la rappresentazione culturale della mascolinità, l’ecocritica, la storia culturale della catastrofe e dell’apocalissi. Ha conseguito il dottorato di ricerca presso la Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, il BA e il MSt presso l’Università’ di Oxford. E’ stato Visiting Professor of Comparative Literature presso l’Università’ Roma Tre nel 2010-11. Il suo The Eloquence of Ghosts: Giorgio Manganelli and the Afterlife of the Avant-Garde (2010) ha ricevuto l’Edinburgh Gadda Prize nel 2012. The Good Place: Comparative Perspectives on Utopia (curato in collaborazione con Matthew Reza) è uscito nel 2014. E’ co-fondatore del London Intercollegiate Network for Comparative Studies (LINKS) e co-investigator del progetto di ricerca internazionale “Interdisciplinary Italy 1900-2020: Interart/Intermedia”, finanziato dall’AHRC. Il suo prossimo libro tratterà della fine del mondo.

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Come citare
Mussgnug, F. (1). Apocalyptic Narcissism and the Difficulty of Mourning. Between, 5(10). https://doi.org/10.13125/2039-6597/2214
Sezione
Tra politica e storia: Narrazioni e immaginari