Cadernos de psicanálise (Rio de Janeiro)
On-line version ISSN 1413-6295
Abstract
RABELO, Fabiano Chagas and MARTINS, Karla Patrícia Holanda. Psychoanalytic considerations on The elixirs of devil, by E. T. A. Hoffmann. Cad. psicanal. [online]. 2021, vol.43, n.45, pp.171-192. ISSN 1413-6295.
This paper is based on the observation that, notwithstanding its importance for the establishment of the concepts of the uncanny and the double, Freud and Rank, for different reasons, did not elaborate on their considerations on the romance The devil's elixirs. Thus, the novel is contextualized in Hoffmann's work to question its relevance for psychoanalysis. It is noteworthy that the book highlights the dynamics of the Unheimliche and the double not only as a theme of the plot, but mainly as a narrative strategy. Reference is made to the concept of the Oedipus complex and the Lacanian categories of Real, Symbolic, Imaginary, establishing a connection with the overdeterminations, repetitions and ambiguities that the story portrays.
Keywords : E. T. A. Hoffmann; Uncanny; Double; Narcissism; Fantastic literature.