![Still from Lars von Trier’s Melancholia.
Giorigo Agamben writes:
[M]elancholia presents a relationship to its origin that is especially difficult to explain. Freud does not conceal his embarrassment before the undeniable proof that, although mourning follows a loss that has really occurred, in melancholia not only is it unclear what object has been lost, it is uncertain that one can speak of a loss at all. “It must be admitted,” Freud writes, with a certain discomfort, “that a loss has indeed occurred, without it being known what has been lost.” Shortly thereafter, in an attempt to gloss over the contradiction posed by a loss without a lost object, Freud speaks of an “unknown loss” or of an “object-loss that escapes consciousness.” In fact, the examination of the mechanism of melancholia, as described by Freud and Abraham, shows that the withdrawal of libido is the original datum, beyond which investigation can go no further; if we wish to maintain the analogy with mourning, we ought to say that melancholia offers the paradox of an intention to mourn that precedes and anticipates the loss of the object.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx1imuyttH1qb9yj1o1_1280.jpg)
Still from Lars von Trier’s Melancholia.
Giorigo Agamben writes:
[M]elancholia presents a relationship to its origin that is especially difficult to explain. Freud does not conceal his embarrassment before the undeniable proof that, although mourning follows a loss that has really occurred, in melancholia not only is it unclear what object has been lost, it is uncertain that one can speak of a loss at all. “It must be admitted,” Freud writes, with a certain discomfort, “that a loss has indeed occurred, without it being known what has been lost.” Shortly thereafter, in an attempt to gloss over the contradiction posed by a loss without a lost object, Freud speaks of an “unknown loss” or of an “object-loss that escapes consciousness.” In fact, the examination of the mechanism of melancholia, as described by Freud and Abraham, shows that the withdrawal of libido is the original datum, beyond which investigation can go no further; if we wish to maintain the analogy with mourning, we ought to say that melancholia offers the paradox of an intention to mourn that precedes and anticipates the loss of the object.
