Dominique-Octave Mannoni (; 29 August 1899, in
Sologne
Sologne (; ) is a natural region in Centre-Val de Loire, France, extending over portions of the departements of Loiret, Loir-et-Cher and Cher. Its area is about . To its north is the river Loire, to its south the river Cher, while the districts ...
– 30 July 1989, in Paris) was a French
psychoanalyst
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...
and author.
Life
After spending more than twenty years in
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
, Mannoni returned to France after World War II where he, inspired by
Lacan
Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, , ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, and ...
, published several psychoanalytic books and articles. In 1964, he followed Lacan into the
École Freudienne de Paris
The École freudienne de Paris (EFP) was a French psychoanalytic professional body formed in 1964 by Jacques Lacan.
It became 'a vital—if conflict-ridden—institution until its dissolution in 1980'.
Early history
In 1953 conflict within the P ...
, where he remained (with his wife
Maud Mannoni
Maud Mannoni (; born Magdalena Van der Spoel; 23 October 1923 – 15 March 1998) was a French psychoanalyst of Belgian origin, who married Octave Mannoni and became a major figure of the Lacanian movement.
Life
She was born as Magdalena Van der ...
) a loyal supporter to the end.
Work
Arguably his most well known work, ''Prospero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization'', deals with
colonization
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
and the psychology of the colonizer and the colonized. Mannoni saw the coloniser, with his "Prospero complex" as one in regressive flight from a
father complex
Father complex in psychology is a complex—a group of unconscious associations, or strong unconscious impulses—which specifically pertains to the image or archetype of the father. These impulses may be either positive (admiring and seeking out ...
, using
splitting
Splitting may refer to:
* Splitting (psychology)
* Lumpers and splitters, in classification or taxonomy
* Wood splitting
* Tongue splitting
* Splitting, railway operation
Mathematics
* Heegaard splitting
* Splitting field
* Splitting principle
...
and the
scapegoating
Scapegoating is the practice of singling out a person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g. "he did it, not me!"), individuals against groups (e.g., ...
of the colonised to evade personal problems; the colonised as hiding resentment behind dependency.
The book was later criticized by writers such as
Frantz Fanon
Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have be ...
for underestimating the socio-materialistic roots of the colonial encounter. Nevertheless, it was to influence a generation of Shakespeare directors like
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...
, who considered that Mannoni "saw Caliban and Ariel as different forms of black response to white paternalism".
Another of Mannoni's well-known works was "Clefs pour l'imaginaire ou l'Autre Scène", Seuil, 1969.
Bibliography
* ''Psychologie de la colonisation'', Seuil, 1950, also published as ''Prospero et Caliban,'' in 1984, and as ''Le racisme revisité'', in 1997
** English translation'': Prospero and Caliban'' (1956)
* ''Lettres personnelles à Monsieur le Directeur'', Seuil, 1951, republished as ''La Machine'' in 1977, and once more as ''Lettres personnelles, fiction lacanienne d'une analyse,'' in 1990
* ''Freud par lui-même. Éditions du Seuil (1968)''
** English translation'': Freud: Theory of the Unconscious''. Verso Books, 2015.
* 'The Decolonization of Myself' ''Race'', VII 1966:327-35
* ''Clefs pour l'imaginaire ou l'Autre Scène'', Seuil, 1969
* ''Fictions freudiennes'', Seuil, 1978
* ''Un commencement qui n'en finit pas : Transfert, interprétation, théorie'', Seuil, 1980
* ''Ça n'empêche pas d'exister'', Seuil, 1982
* ''Un si vif étonnement'', Seuil, 1988
* ''Nous nous quittons, c'est là ma route: carnets'', Denoël, 1990
See also
References
External links
Postcolonial Studies at Emory
Postcolonialism
1899 births
1989 deaths
French psychiatrists
French non-fiction writers
Analysands of Jacques Lacan
French male writers
20th-century non-fiction writers
Male non-fiction writers
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