Abstract

VINOLO, Stéphane. Freudian Psychoanalysis in René Girard’s Mimetic Theory. Tópicos (México) [online]. 2023, n.67, pp.345-368.  Epub Nov 13, 2023. ISSN 0188-6649.  https://doi.org/10.21555/top.v670.2280.

In constructing the theory of mimetic desire, Girard comments on Freud’s work on multiple occasions. In fact, almost all of the themes addressed by Girard have resonance in psychoanalysis: desire, mimesis, violence, collective homicide, the emergence of culture-each of these concepts exists in Freud’s work. However, the Girardian reading always displaces these concepts to think them under the light of a unique mechanism that does not introduce any rupture nor discontinuity. In this text, I show how, according to Girard, Freudian concepts suffer from an original difficulty that lies in the fact that Freud was never able to break away from an objectual conception of desire.

Keywords : desire; Sigmund Freud; René Girard; identification; narcissism.