A History of Violence. Récit de mon entretien avec Léon

Résumé Fr En

Hospitalisé après une tentative de suicide qu’il dénie, Léon refuse de voir en face sa violence envers sa compagne, qui l’a quitté. Ces deux dénis vont avec un troisième, celui de la violence de son père, notamment envers son petit frère, qui a alors été placé. L’entretien met au jour son idéalisation du père, qui s’est suicidé lorsque Léon était enfant, et son deuil impossible suivi d’une identification surmoïque.

Having been hospitalized after a suicide attempt he denies, Léon refuses to admit his violence against his wife who has left him. These two denials conjoin with a third one: the violence of his father against his younger brother, who has been placed in a foster home. During the clinical interview, it has become clear that he had idealized his father who committed suicide when he was a child and that, unable to deal with the grief, he had internalized a superego identification with the deceased.