Jacques Hassoun
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Jacques Hassoun (20 October 1936 – 24 April 1999) was a French
psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk th ...
and proponent of the ideas of
Jacques 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 Sigmund Freud, Freud", Lacan gave The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, year ...
. Hassoun developed a theory of depression and a reparative theory of transmission. He wrote about certain
pathologies Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...
in children of immigrants. Hassoun examined the special problems they face in processing and transmitting what is mostly communicated to them through their parents' narratives of displacement, loss and exile. He was one of the first to evoke the heritage of the
Jews of Egypt The history of the Jews in Egypt goes back to ancient times. Egyptian Jews or Jewish Egyptians refer to the Jewish community in Egypt who mainly consisted of Egyptian Arabic-speaking Rabbanites and Karaites. Though Egypt had its own community o ...
in modern times. He wrote about their history, customs, religious observance, and languages. He showed particular interest in the Karaite community. Hassoun traveled to Egypt with groups of compatriots when Egyptian president
Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...
made it possible for Jews to visit Egypt. Hassoun wrote several works on the history of the modern Jews of Egypt, among them ''Histoire des Juifs du Nil'' (Minerve, 1990), ''Alexandies et autres récits'' and ''Alexandries'' (a novel). He wrote eloquently of the culture of the Jews of Egypt and of their disappearance in the wake of
Egyptian nationalism Egyptian nationalism is based on Egyptians and Egyptian culture. Egyptian nationalism has typically been a civic nationalism that has emphasized the unity of Egyptians regardless of their ethnicity or religion. Egyptian nationalism first manife ...
.


Life

Hassoun was born in
Alexandria, Egypt Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
in 1936 to an observant, Arabic-speaking
Egyptian Jewish The history of the Jews in Egypt goes back to ancient times. Egyptian Jews or Jewish Egyptians refer to the Jewish community in Egypt who mainly consisted of Egyptian Arabic-speaking Rabbanites and Karaites. Though Egypt had its own community ...
family, although Hassoun himself was
non-religious Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, ration ...
. He studied at the Lycee De L'Union Juive and joined
Democratic Movement for National Liberation The Democratic Movement for National Liberation (, abbreviated حدتو, HADITU, , abbreviated M.D.L.N.) was a communist organization in Egypt from 1947 to 1955. HADITU was led by Henri Curiel. The movement followed the line of the National Democ ...
(HADETU), the largest of the illegal communist organizations in Egypt. He settled in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in 1954 at the age of 18, where he had been exiled after being accused and imprisoned by Egyptian authorities for
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
activity. He remained in France for the rest of his life. Hassoun spoke
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
,
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
, and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
fluently. Hassoun died from a
brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...
at age 63, in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.


Theory of melancholy

For Hassoun, melancholy (or depression) stems from an individual's desire for some undesignated ''other''. In Hassoun's model, the mother's attentiveness at the moment of
weaning Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or other mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. In the United Kingdom, UK, weaning primarily refers to the introduction of solid ...
is crucial to the
infant In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of ...
's
sense of self A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditionally identified as su ...
. The mother must be seen by the infant to
mourn Mourning is the emotional expression in response to a major life event causing grief, especially loss. It typically occurs as a result of someone's death, especially a loved one. The word is used to describe a complex of behaviors in which t ...
, disapprove, begrudge, hesitate in the process of weaning. If she does not, the infant will recognize the mother's gesture as indifference. Melancholy is the result of the infant's sensing the mother's indifference at the moment of separation. Henceforth, he will be unable to mourn, having been unable to recognize loss in the mother's eyes. Weaning is a mirroring that leaves the subject both unable to mourn and unable to care—leaves the child in the state of melancholy. Melancholy for Hassoun is the result of a gesture that leaves the infant to suffer interminably for having spied the mother's indifference at the moment of weaning.


About memory and retelling

Hassoun said that the need to tell the past comes up when there's a crisis: when the individual grows up; when there's the urge to preserve a culture, etc. New facts means psychological effort to adapt, this can cause a person to reject that new things/ situation. People go back to the past when there's the need to adapt, because they consider experiences from the past a tool to survive. Telling the past does not mean telling somebody to follow
traditions A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common exa ...
. Traditions subject the individual to follow patterns which may cause more damage than good. Retelling the past is another thing. It is never pure repetition but interpretation. Transmission takes the present into consideration when turning one's attention to the past. Without transmission all we have is nostalgia.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassoun, Jacques French people of Egyptian-Jewish descent French psychoanalysts 1936 births 1999 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 20th-century French psychologists