Trauma and symbolization in Edvard Munch. Art and psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis of painting

Abstract

This article examines the evolution of the concept of trauma from a psychoanalytic perspective and the psychic elaboration of the consequences of trauma through painting, taking as an example the life and work of Norwegian Edvard Munch. The traumatic experiences of artist’s childhood find their place in his art and in his vision of the world. Art allows us to «psychically work out» the effects of these catastrophic childhood experiences. The representations of childhood trauma through painting are an opportunity to give a «figurability», a meaningful representation to the traumatic experience. Thus, visual art, as a work of symbolization and psychic treatment of trauma, is a kind of bulwark against unbinding and destructiveness. With the famous painting «The Scream» by Edvard Munch, which bears the motif of repetition, we want to show the artist’s ability to choose a «positive destiny» for his traumatic experience, where the «repetition of the same» takes the form of a «working-off mechanism» aimed at gradually eliminating tension and overexcitations of traumatic origin.