Of images and ills. Uses and malaises of sublimation

Abstract

This text is published as postface to the new edition of Invention de l'hystérie. Charcot et l’iconographie photographique de l’hystérie (Macula, 2012, pp. 364-405) with the title Des images et des maux. It’s also the full version of the lecture organized by the Association Psychanalytique de France (September 24, 2011), entitled L’Usage de la sublimation. Starting from some considerations on his first book, the Author examines limits and potentials of the notion of sublimation in reference with art and artistic creation, and suggests a different way to approach it.