Think about german destiny with Elias lack of the Reich and collective neurosis

Main Article Content

François Bafoil

Abstract




By placing at the center of his reflections the notions of lack, but also the feeling of weakness and inferiority, of desire and failure to understand what he identifies under the term “German neurosis”, Norbert Elias is very close to Freud. His originality lies in anchoring these different psychic dimensions in the history of Germany. The interest of the text The Germans is also due to the implementation of the combined dynamics of civilization and decivilization, understood from the perspective of German unity which, in 1891, completed an ancient historical movement, but nevertheless ratified the profound distance between the elites and social classes, the tradition of obedience to authority and submission to discipline on the part of the masses excluded from participation.




Article Details

Section

Contemporary Criticism

Author Biography

François Bafoil, CNRS/CERI - Sciences politiques

Diretor de pesquisas emérito no CNRS/CERI-Sciences politiques, onde codirige o seminário “Psicanálise e Ciências Sociais".

How to Cite

Think about german destiny with Elias: lack of the Reich and collective neurosis . EXILIUM Journal of Contemporary Studies, [S. l.], v. 5, n. 8, p. 71–96, 2024. DOI: 10.34024/exilium.v5i8.18818. Disponível em: https://periodicos.unifesp.br/index.php/exilium/article/view/18818. Acesso em: 5 dec. 2025.