As Torches: On Humanity and the Humanities in the Works of Léon Wurmser

Abstract

Leon Wurmser (1931–2020) produced an extensive body of work covering a wide range of theory and psychoanalytic practice. Yet, little has been written on him, perhaps because he is not easily subsumed in traditional academic categories. This essay studies one of the most challenging aspects of Wurmser’s oeuvre, namely his polyglot invocation of culture as a means for the deeper expression of psychoanalytic understanding. I explore the logic to Wurmser’s exposition of literature, philosophy, and other arts, arguing it goes beyond commonplaces about relationships between psychoanalysis and culture. In fact, Wurmser presents a call to the psychoanalytic world, and, indirectly, lay reader, that multi-lingual “torches” are more than embellishments, but necessary spurs to attentiveness and attunement. Making this case invites the integration of Wurmser into further discussion of the place of humanistic learning in psychoanalytically informed introspection.