Threatened Caring Culture: On the Sad Topicality of the Medea Myth

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Autore principale: Marianne Leuzinger‐Bohleber
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Pubblicazione: Wiley 2026
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author Marianne Leuzinger‐Bohleber
author_facet Marianne Leuzinger‐Bohleber
Marianne Leuzinger‐Bohleber
collection Wiley Open Access
contents Threatened Caring Culture: On the Sad Topicality of the Medea Myth Marianne Leuzinger‐Bohleber International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies ABSTRACT The shameless contempt for the weak and helpless, strangers, migrants and traumatized refugees attacks continuously one of our basic motivational systems, namely to protect and care for our children and descendants. The caring system is an instinctive system anchored in evolutionary biology that ensures our survival as a species. Precisely because it is linked to basic survival strategies, it is suitable for building bridges between polarized groups in crises situations, as is briefly illustrate using the example of a dialog between a Palestinian and an Israeli scientist. On the other hand, the myth of Medea reminds us that the projection of the destruction of the transgenerative capabilities, symbolized by infanticide, onto traumatized refugees and migrant (as Medea) is as old as Western civilization itself. A case study from the MODE study illustrates that understanding the unconscious sources of destructive impulses and fantasies toward the next generation (the Medea fantasy), and working through them in the transference relationship enabled the patient to overcome her chronic depression and to develop a new sense for caring for herself and potential children, for her future. The conclusions discuss how psychoanalytic knowledge on the caring system can be brought into the interdisciplinary dialog on “end‐time fascism.” 10.1002/aps.70040 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
doi_str_mv 10.1002/aps.70040
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spellingShingle Threatened Caring Culture: On the Sad Topicality of the Medea Myth
Marianne Leuzinger‐Bohleber
International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies
Threatened Caring Culture: On the Sad Topicality of the Medea Myth Marianne Leuzinger‐Bohleber International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies ABSTRACT The shameless contempt for the weak and helpless, strangers, migrants and traumatized refugees attacks continuously one of our basic motivational systems, namely to protect and care for our children and descendants. The caring system is an instinctive system anchored in evolutionary biology that ensures our survival as a species. Precisely because it is linked to basic survival strategies, it is suitable for building bridges between polarized groups in crises situations, as is briefly illustrate using the example of a dialog between a Palestinian and an Israeli scientist. On the other hand, the myth of Medea reminds us that the projection of the destruction of the transgenerative capabilities, symbolized by infanticide, onto traumatized refugees and migrant (as Medea) is as old as Western civilization itself. A case study from the MODE study illustrates that understanding the unconscious sources of destructive impulses and fantasies toward the next generation (the Medea fantasy), and working through them in the transference relationship enabled the patient to overcome her chronic depression and to develop a new sense for caring for herself and potential children, for her future. The conclusions discuss how psychoanalytic knowledge on the caring system can be brought into the interdisciplinary dialog on “end‐time fascism.” 10.1002/aps.70040 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Threatened Caring Culture: On the Sad Topicality of the Medea Myth
topic International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies
url https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aps.70040