Grappling with the Obstructive Object in the Neapolitan Novels of Elena Ferrante: A Reflection Based on the Work of Michael Eigen
A presentation by:
Marlene Goldsmith, Ph.D.
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2024
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
$30 for 2 CEs
$15 without CEs
Abstract
All female protagonists in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels bear deep wounds, having lived through periods, if not lifetimes, grappling with severe psychological breakdown and paralysis. Ferrante’s “biggest worry…is to…reach the true story of the wound” (Ferrante, 2016, p..308). Michael Eigen also addresses this wound in its bi-play with a more healing force. He writes that “The wound that never heals meets the fire that never goes out…. “ (Eigen, 2001, p. 165). The wound centers around conflicts with obstructive objects as well as related difficulties with projective identification and toxic nourishment. Michael Eigen’s elaboration of these interrelated concepts, especially as implicitly and explicitly described in his books, Toxic Nourishment and Damaged Bonds, provides a unique perspective from which to comprehend the suffering of Ferrante’s protagonists. The obstructive object manifests itself in numerous dynamic forms in the characters’ lives. It comes into play in relationships with parents, friends, spouses, and even the city and neighborhood (rione). This presentation is divided into five parts. The first part will concentrate on Eigen’s work. The following four parts will explicate each one of the relational areas in dialogue with that work, focusing upon two protagonists from Ferrante’s Novels: Elena Greco and Rafaela (Lila) Cerullo. It will be shown that the obstructive object is not only an idiosyncratic phenomenon but also one that is interfused within a wider psychosomatic and sociocultural matrix passed down from generation to generation.
Learning Objectives:
Following this presentation, participants will be able to:
1) Define the concepts of obstructive object, projective identification, and toxic nourishment.
2) Explain the obstructive object as a multidimensional phenomenon interfused with the wider psychosomatic and sociocultural matrix passed down from generation to generation.
About our Presenter:
Marlene Goldsmith, Ph.D., is a retired clinical psychologist, who was in private practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has researched, lectured, and published in her field. Her work has appeared in such publications as the Psychoanalytic Review and the volume Living Moments: On the Work of Michael Eigen. As the former Contributing Editor of a blog on perfume and the arts, she was awarded the 2011 Fragrance Foundation Award for editorial excellence in fragrance coverage for one of her articles. Her writings brought to light the significance of artistic renderings of perfume in the works of such artists as Colette, Pierre Bonnard, and John Singer Sargeant. Her poetry has appeared in Voices from the Attic, The Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, Bear River Review, and an international collection archived by the Serbian Academy of Arts and Science. In 2011 one of her poems was awarded honorable mention by the Tupelo Press Spring Poetry Project Contest.
References
Daws, L. and Cohen, K. S. (2024) (Eds.): Primary Process Impacts and Dreaming the Undreamable Object in the Work of Michael Eigen, New York: Routledge*
Eigen, M. (2001). Damaged Bonds. London: Karnac.
Ferrante, E. (2016). Frantumaglia (A. Goldstein, Trans.). New York: Europa
Editions (Original work Published 2016).
Goldsmith, M. (2024). Grappling With the Obstructive Object in the Neapolitan Novels of Elena Ferrante: A Reflection Based on the Work of Michael Eigen. In Daws, L. and Cohen, K. S. (Eds.): Toxic Nourishment and Damaged Bonds in the Work of Michael Eigen: Working with the Obstructive Object, New York: Routledge.
*This is a companion volume to the one that contains Dr. Goldsmith’s chapter on Grappling with the obstructive object.
Continuing Education - Psychologists
Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education programs for psychologists. Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center maintains responsibility for the program and its content.
Social Workers, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, LPCs: The Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Centers is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center maintains responsibility for the program and its content. The Pennsylvania Board of Social Work approves of credits issued by APA sponsors. Therefore, the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center is able to offer continuing education credits to social workers and counselors per Pennsylvania Code, Section 49.
Notice for Out-of-State Students:
In the state of Pennsylvania, Social Workers and Councilors can seek re-licensing using continuing education credits awarded by the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center (PPC) by virtue of PPC's accreditation by the American Psychological Association (APA). Many states have similar laws and/or regulations. If you are applying for training or participating in a program at the PPC and you reside in another state, you can call your State's licensing agency or review your state law to determine if the PPC continuing education credits will be accepted.
This program is being offered for 2.0 continuing education credits.
Participants must pay tuition fee, sign in, attend the entire seminar, and complete an evaluation in order to receive a certificate of completion. Participants not fulfilling these requirements will not receive a certificate. Partial credit is not available.
Need more information?
Call Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center @ 412-661-4224 or email: [email protected]