The violent no

Abstract

We propose to analyse the increasing manifestations of violence in our society, connecting it to the tendence to deny one’s self violence which, according to psychoanalysis, is a necessary condition for constituting the subject. This approach is related to the expectations raised by contemporary social imaginary, narcissistic par excellence, which leads subjects to deny manifestations associated with displeasure, suffering, or being disagreeable. It is very difficult for the contemporary subject to place itself as a reference for the others who depend on him (husband or wife, children, pupils, etc.). When subjects try to avoid facing this fundamental violence, they are exposed to unbearable helplessness and may see the destruction, the annihilation of the other as the alternative to assert their own singularity and relieving their pulsional tensions.