Freud’s Das Unbehagen in der Kultur in Cioran’s Work: Dissonant and Deep Echoes Cover Image

Das Unbehagen In Der Kultur a lui Freud în opera lui Cioran: ecouri disonante și profunde
Freud’s Das Unbehagen in der Kultur in Cioran’s Work: Dissonant and Deep Echoes

Author(s): Giovanni Rotiroti
Subject(s): Comparative Study of Literature, Romanian Literature
Published by: Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti
Keywords: Freud; psychoanalysis; Cioran; Todestrieb; agony; melancholy; death;

Summary/Abstract: The present article explores the lasting impact of Sigmund Freud’s Das Unbehagen in der Kultur on Emil Cioran’s thought. As a young philosopher, Cioran took a particular interest in Freudian theories, although he later expressed a sort of hostility for psychoanalysis, considering it as a pseudo-scientific discipline and no more than a “sham of a religion”. The paper argues that, despite this attitude, Cioran was very influenced by the reading of Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents. This study focuses on the Freudian notion of death drive (Todestrieb), aiming to identify its trace in Cioranian concepts of boredom, melancholy, agony, and the long-lasting agony of the premises of life.

  • Issue Year: LXIX/2020
  • Issue No: 69
  • Page Range: 81-100
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Romanian