« Une impression posthume des sensations d’autrefois » : le jeu nostalgique dans La Décadence latine de Joséphin Péladan
“Une impression posthume des sensations d’autrefois”: Games of Nostalgia and Mysticism in Joséphin Péladan's La Décadence latine

Summary/Abstract: For the psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, playing constitutes a “positive value of illusion” which, for the adult as well as the child, allows access to reality in a way that is gradual and bearable. Although better known for his concept of the transitional object for children, Winnicott makes the claim for an essential role played by transitional phenomena at all stages of life, particularly in artistic creation. This article seeks to read together the psychology of Winnicott, especially Playing and Reality (1971) and Joséphin Péladan’s La Décadence latine (1884 & seq.), a little-known and poorly studied work of decadent literature. Through his use of a nostalgic gaze on history, Péladan transforms it into a counter-cultural fantasy, an act of resistance to the present. He creates for himself an alternative to history which acts as an “illusory experience” – a half game, half remaking of reality – allowing him to overcome the moral decadence that he laments. Thus, Péladan opposes his new arc of history to the fears he has about the end of the Latin race, effectively rewriting the world à rebours.

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