Can psychoanalysis contribute to the understanding of fundamentalism? An introduction to a vast question.

During the past 20 years, religious and political fundamentalism has produced a number of barbaric terrorist attacks which have strongly shaken public opinion in the Western world. Can psychoanalysis contribute to the understanding of the unconscious functioning of these fundamentalist groups? The different presentations of fundamentalism and the various hypotheses concerning its origins and aims are discussed. Should fundamentalism be understood mainly as a means for strengthening the sense of identity, as a search for power, or as a refuge in certainty? When trying to understand these phenomena, are there any pitfalls a psychoanalyst should beware of? The slippery ground of applied analysis is discussed, as well as some dangers specific to this issue, such as reductionism, theoretical hyper-saturation, wild speculative over-interpretation, and emotional/ethnocentric biases.

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE ARTS: THE SLIPPERY GROUND OF APPLIED ANALYSIS.

The ways in which today's psychoanalysts approach art closely follow the avenues opened by Freud a hundred years ago. Drawing mainly on Freud's studies on Jensen's Gradiva (1907) and on Leonardo da Vinci (1910a), the author examines the main paradigms he used in discussing artistic activity, including his doubts and hesitations. Present-day approaches to art are then examined via a discussion of the advantages and pitfalls of psychobiography, of the case study, and of textual approaches.

John Cage and W. R. Bion: an exercise in interdisciplinary dialogue.

The author discusses some striking convergences which appear in the thought of two unsettling and powerfully stimulating personalities of the 20th century: John Cage in music and art, and W.R. Bion in psychoanalysis.

Contemporary art and Hanna Segal's thinking on aesthetics.

From the point of view of the history of ideas in psychoanalysis, a major shift may be described from Freud's starting point considering art as sublimation of sexual desires on a largely objectal level to later developments emphasizing the presence in art of destructiveness and narcissistic conflicts. Segal's contribution represents a watershed in this evolution. Following Klein, Hanna Segal suggests considering art in relation to depressive anxieties and reparation in such a way that artistic activity may be seen as an attempt 'to restore and re-create the loved object outside and inside the ego' which implies a successful work of mourning accompanied by symbol formation.

[The practitioner defeated? Present-day outlook on hypochondria].

The hypochondriacal patient's refusal to be reassured by his doctor about a non-existent illness threatens the practitioner with failure. The authors discuss the value of hypochondriacal states for the so-called "normal" person. The ongoing trend is to consider hypochondriacal events as a sort of psychological "dampener" allowing to live out, and work through, identity changes both at a physical and a psychical level.

Marcel Duchamp: on the fruitful use of narcissism and destructiveness in contemporary art.

Considering Marcel Duchamp's work, this paper raises the question as to the nature of the subjective experience proposed by contemporary art to today's audience. Approaching art through the concept of sublimation, Freud maintains a fundamentally optimistic and positive view, putting forward its libidinal and sexual aspects, the pursuit of pleasure, beauty, and omnipotence. Following the path opened by Freud through the concept of the 'uncanny', most post-Freudian authors have proposed a 'blacker' image of artistic endeavour, allowing the expression of aggression.