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Henri Maldiney and the melancholic complaint : the performance of a cry

Goedele Hermans (UGent)
(2023) PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY. 36(7). p.1287-1299
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Abstract
Henri Maldiney offers an evocative analysis of melancholia. He characterizes the melancholic complaint as the only form of action left to the melancholic patient. It is a last stand against a nothingness that threatens to overwhelm. His philosophy directly engages with the psychotic experience, as presented in clinical cases put forth by Binswanger, Kuhn and others. His approach to melancholia does not reduce this experience to one we can easily empathize with. By tracing his steps and elaborating on his work, I aim to clarify why the complaint is so crucial for the melancholic and why listening to the melancholic's complaint can be so challenging. The complaint appears as the melancholic's stilted answer to a devastating event. The deadly repetition and pulsing chant of the complaint might not bring deliverance, but it can offer protection against destruction. Maldiney directs our attention to the act of complaining and how it is ultimately the performance of a cry. With this cry the melancholic patient tries to regain a place in the world from where he can exist.
Keywords
Maldiney, melancholia, complaint, psychosis, phenomenology

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Citation

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:

MLA
Hermans, Goedele. “Henri Maldiney and the Melancholic Complaint : The Performance of a Cry.” PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY, vol. 36, no. 7, 2023, pp. 1287–99, doi:10.1080/09515089.2023.2178887.
APA
Hermans, G. (2023). Henri Maldiney and the melancholic complaint : the performance of a cry. PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY, 36(7), 1287–1299. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2023.2178887
Chicago author-date
Hermans, Goedele. 2023. “Henri Maldiney and the Melancholic Complaint : The Performance of a Cry.” PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY 36 (7): 1287–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2023.2178887.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Hermans, Goedele. 2023. “Henri Maldiney and the Melancholic Complaint : The Performance of a Cry.” PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY 36 (7): 1287–1299. doi:10.1080/09515089.2023.2178887.
Vancouver
1.
Hermans G. Henri Maldiney and the melancholic complaint : the performance of a cry. PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY. 2023;36(7):1287–99.
IEEE
[1]
G. Hermans, “Henri Maldiney and the melancholic complaint : the performance of a cry,” PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY, vol. 36, no. 7, pp. 1287–1299, 2023.
@article{01GWP7R1TY3PVMEPR1HT0KA5S0,
  abstract     = {{Henri Maldiney offers an evocative analysis of melancholia. He characterizes the melancholic complaint as the only form of action left to the melancholic patient. It is a last stand against a nothingness that threatens to overwhelm. His philosophy directly engages with the psychotic experience, as presented in clinical cases put forth by Binswanger, Kuhn and others. His approach to melancholia does not reduce this experience to one we can easily empathize with. By tracing his steps and elaborating on his work, I aim to clarify why the complaint is so crucial for the melancholic and why listening to the melancholic's complaint can be so challenging. The complaint appears as the melancholic's stilted answer to a devastating event. The deadly repetition and pulsing chant of the complaint might not bring deliverance, but it can offer protection against destruction. Maldiney directs our attention to the act of complaining and how it is ultimately the performance of a cry. With this cry the melancholic patient tries to regain a place in the world from where he can exist.}},
  author       = {{Hermans, Goedele}},
  issn         = {{0951-5089}},
  journal      = {{PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY}},
  keywords     = {{Maldiney,melancholia,complaint,psychosis,phenomenology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{1287--1299}},
  title        = {{Henri Maldiney and the melancholic complaint : the performance of a cry}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2023.2178887}},
  volume       = {{36}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

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