Œdipe ou le savoir qui condamne

Abstract

ContextThis article is a study at the temporal and thematic intersection of the treatment of the myth of Oedipus in theater. It is based on dramatic works from the Antiquity to the contemporary period. This article does not claim to make a relevant contribution to a purely psychological (or psychoanalytic) debate. However, as Jean-Pierre Vernant maintains, dramaturgical study provides a transdisciplinary perspective necessary for reflection. GoalsEchoing the words of Hervé Castanet “Psychoanalysis does not give air to literature - on the contrary, when applied, it stops questions and problems” (himself inspired by Lacan's remarks in “Lituraterre”), this study seeks to highlight the plurality and richness of the questions asked by different playwrights. Based on the words of Christiane Page “we do not know what an author wanted to say, we are faced with what he has written, and the links that are woven between the work and its reception depend as much on its artistic approach as well as the reading which is made of it” we will thus seek to demonstrate the restrictive aspect of the Freudian interpretation of the myth of Oedipus. MethodThis article presents itself as a comparative dramaturgical analysis of the rewritings of the myth, enriched by theoretical contributions from plural disciplinary horizons: philosophical, aesthetic and anthropological. ResultsThe study of dramatic works allows us to put the Oedipus complex and its myth into perspective. The dramaturgical analysis proposes to go beyond the Freudian understanding of the myth and the character but also acts as a witness to social and societal developments and the impact of the theorization of the complex. InterpretationsThe myth, a tragedy of heredity, goes beyond the complex, depicting an Oedipus victim of destiny and himself and questioning the notion of responsibility. The myth seeks to portray human duality through the representation of an Oedipus with an ambivalent image, going beyond his popular image.