This study addresses the subject of melancholia, examining the phenomenon in the context of art, literature, philosophy and the history of religion and culture, as well as psychoanalysis. It describes the depressive as one who perceives the sense of self as a crucial pursuit and a nearly unattainable goal, and explains how the love of a lost identity of attachment lies at the very core of depression's heart. In her discussion she analyzes Holbein's controversial 1522 painting "The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb", and comments on the works of Marguerite Duras, Dostoyevsky and Nerval. She takes the view that depression is a discourse with a language to be learned, rather than strictly a pathology to be treated.
Author Biography
Julia Kristeva is a professor of linguistics at the Universit de Paris VII. She is the author of many highly respected books (most published in English by Columbia University Press) and a practicing psychoanalyst.
