Abstract

CURADO, Manuel. The discovery of the unconscious in the portuguese nineteenth century. Diacrítica [online]. 2012, vol.26, n.2, pp.157-182. ISSN 0807-8967.

The notion of unconsciousness belongs to the current mapping of the inner space. Nobody knows what it is or where it resides. However, one generally believes in its autonomous existence. This essay deals with the intellectual history of the subject in the Portuguese nineteenth century. The regional nature of this approach should not be diminished because some of the European major proponents of this concept were indeed Portuguese. One should consider, for instance, the Abbot Faria, a European pioneer of the hypnotism. We analyze three aspects of the concept of the unconscious: the unconscious as a source of creativity, the manipulable unconscious, and the unconscious as a perfect state of the psyche. In particular, the contributions of Abbot Faria, Cândido de Figueiredo, Bettencourt Raposo, Miguel Bombarda and José de Lacerda will be also analyzed. Each of these authors argues for a rich and paradoxical notion of the unconscious.

Keywords : unconsciousness; consciousness; intellectual history; nineteenth century.

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