Fever and Fervor: The Seductions, Dynamics, and Travails of War Discourse

Abstract

This article addresses the seductions, dynamics, and consequences of war discourse from psychoanalytic and theological perspectives. Following a brief definition and description of war discourse, I argue that war discourse and the narratives of exceptionalism manifest an existential insecurity that keeps people captive to the seductions of this type of discourse. Relying on psychoanalytic concepts, I contend that war discourse functions as a transformational object, transforming shared existential anxiety and insecurity into hostility and aggression. This existential anxiety results, in part, from an unstable, idealized identity that is rooted in a paranoid-schizoid mode of organizing experience and maintained by rationalization, moralization, projection, and denial. From a theological perspective, I argue that war discourse signifies the presence of idolatry and totalizing faith.