“Une impression posthume des sensations d’autrefois”: Games of Nostalgia and Mysticism in Joséphin Péladan's La Décadence latine
Ryan Atticus Doherty
Collège centenaire de la Louisiane , United Stateshttps://orcid.org/0009-0000-6900-8690
Abstract
For the psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, playing constitutes a “positive value of illusion” which, for the adult as well as the child, allows access to reality in a way that is gradual and bearable. Although better known for his concept of the transitional object for children, Winnicott makes the claim for an essential role played by transitional phenomena at all stages of life, particularly in artistic creation. This article seeks to read together the psychology of Winnicott, especially Playing and Reality (1971) and Joséphin Péladan’s La Décadence latine (1884 & seq.), a little-known and poorly studied work of decadent literature. Through his use of a nostalgic gaze on history, Péladan transforms it into a counter-cultural fantasy, an act of resistance to the present. He creates for himself an alternative to history which acts as an “illusory experience” – a half game, half remaking of reality – allowing him to overcome the moral decadence that he laments. Thus, Péladan opposes his new arc of history to the fears he has about the end of the Latin race, effectively rewriting the world à rebours.
Keywords:
Joséphin Péladan, La Décadence latine, Donald Winnicott, psychoanalysis, decadence, nostalgiaReferences
Bailly, R. (2001). Le Jeu dans l’œuvre de D. W. Winnicott. Enfances et Psy 3(15), 41-45. (Crossref)
Beaufils, C. (1993). Joséphin Péladan : essai sur une maladie du lyrisme, 1858-1918. Paris : Jérôme Millan.
Eliade, M. (1963). Aspects du mythe. Paris : Gallimard.
Eliade, M. (1971). La Nostalgie des origines : méthodologie et histoire des religions. Paris : Gallimard.
Gardini, M. (2015). Joséphin Péladan. Esthétique, magie et politique. Paris : Classiques Garnier.
Jankélévitch, V. (1950). La Décadence. Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale, 55° Année, (4), 337-369.
Jankélévitch, V. (2011). L’Irréversible et la nostalgie. Paris : Flammarion.
Josephson-Storm, J. (2017). The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth ofthe Human Sciences. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. (Crossref)
Jouve, S. (1989). Les Décadents : bréviaire fin de siècle. Paris : Plon.
Lenormand, M. (2013). Le Jeu et le tragique dans Playing and Reality de Winnicott. La Psychiatrie de l’enfant, 56, 327-350. (Crossref)
Millet-Gérard, D. (2000). Théologie de la décadence. Dans S. Thorel-Cailleteau (dir.), Dieu, la chair et les livres : une approche de la décadence (p. 159-201). Paris : Honoré Champion.
Péladan, J. (1886). La Décadence latine, Éthopée. I. Le Vice suprême. Paris : A. Laurent, Éditeur.
Péladan, J. (1892). Comment on devient mage. Éthique. Paris : Chamuel.
Péladan, J. (1898). La Décadence esthétique : Réponse à Tolstoï. Paris : Chamuel.
Péladan, J. (1900). La Décadence latine, Éthopée. XIV. La Vertu suprême. Paris : Ernest Flammarion.
Praz, M. (1999). La Chair, la mort, et le diable dans la littérature du XIXe siècle : le romantisme noir. Paris : Gallimard.
Winnicott, D. W. (1969). The Use of an Object and Relating through Identifications. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 50, 85-94.
Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Jeu et réalité : l’espace potentiel (J.-B. Pontialis et C. Monod, trad.). Paris : Gallimard.
Ziegler, R. (1988). The Elitist Metaphysic of Joséphin Péladan. Nineteenth-Century French Studies, 16 (3/4), 361-371.
Ziegler, R. (2009). Asymptote: An Approach to Decadent Fiction. Amsterdam : Éditions Rodopi. (Crossref)
Ziegler, R. (2012). Satanism, Magic and Mysticism in Fin-de-siècle France. New York : Palgrave Macmillan. (Crossref)
Collège centenaire de la Louisiane https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6900-8690
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Papers of the journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
