Depression: Representations in French Prose at the Turn of the Millennium

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Yasmin Temelli
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
• Term: from 2014 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 262303395

In my book I will analyze representations of depression in French prose at the turn of the millennium beyond paradigms of the aesthetic of genius or pathology. These representations of depression function as symptoms of frictions or of the failure of the order. My study, therefore, has to examine the manner in which the system of the order is problematized by dysfunction. French novels have been selected because of the concurrence of traditional paradigms (embedding of psychoanalysis, intensified discussion of medical discourses etc.) and more recent developments (most extensive use of psychotropic drugs in Europe, significant presence of depressed anti-heroes in contemporary prose which often features autofictional traits). The project will situate the phenomenon of depression within the field of literary studies and, furthermore, will discuss the production of literature as a laboratory for reviewing based on the perspective of cultural studies. In doing so, a performativity of narrative texts will be assumed; as a consequence, the texts and its representations of depression turn into a stage for the problematization of crisis as well as the potency of subjects. The analyzed novels focus on male (anti-)heroes in particular. In this context the dismantling of gender specific constructions is an essential characteristic and thus, my study of the phenomenon of depression will contribute to recent masculinity studies based on the cultural approaches taken in the analysis. In my analysis I will show that overall societal implications of the highly topical occurrence of depression are developed and reinterpreted as resistance. Such conclusions will be linked to the current state of research in the medical field (neurosciences, psychoanalysis) and, hence, the acquired knowledge about depression due to the literary representations will be extended to a transdisciplinary negotiation. Connecting the epistemological paradigms of the three disciplines is a special feature of my approach. By applying this method I aim at exploring the complexity of depression.Additionally, the investigation promises to be a valuable contribution to the discussion of the topic for non-research groups since it is to be linked directly to the latest debates of socio-political relevance and healthcare policies.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants