Melancholy

landscape as metaphor of the soul, moon stairway at the sea, Caspar David Friedrich, oil on canvas, 1822

melancholy designates a condition the heavy courage, sadness, possibly. the mourning (with preceded event), the sense of cloudy or the depression regarding humans, its psychological and physical arrangement. The term can designate also the effect or the character of a work of art, a landscape or a situation. The term is already antique.

Regarding a psychological arrangement or a disease picture the term melancholy is in 20. Century to a large extentreplaced by the term of the depression. In the term of the melancholy however a range of meanings swings also, which developed over the centuries in the area of conflict of philosophy, medicine, psychology, religion, literature, art and music.

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melancholy in the medicine

the historical development of the melancholy has its starting point in the antique Humoralpathologie (or four-juice teachings), those the Greek physician Hippokrates of Kós (around 400 v.Chr.) is attributed. He explained melancholia (Greek: μελαγχολια) as a surplus to black, burned Galle, that in the blood pours (μελας, melas, “black”, + χολη, cholé, “Galle”).

Galen (2. Century n.Chr.), that the medicalKnowledge of its time summarized and the conceptions of the Hippokratiker followed, saw the origin of the melancholy likewise in a surplus to black Galle, one of the four body juices or humores, which are produced in the spleen and the testicles. It determines that in the temper teachingsA character of the Melancholiker and corresponds to the autumn, the adult age, the afternoon and in the medieval view with the constellations balance, with the element earth, scorpio, contactor.

The melancholy is seen throughout negative in the literature at that time. Only one fragment with thatTitle “XXX, 1”, occasionally the Aristoteles assigned, probably however written by Theophrast, expressed itself than only antique certification also positively over the melancholy, where this becomes the condition for the “göttlichen insanity” (mania). Why are all outstanding men whether philosophers, statesmen, poets or artists,obviously Melancholiker been? This thought should later the stupidity 18. and 19. Century strongly affect.

In the Renaissance particularly the view became popular, the Melancholiker would stand under the influence of the planet Saturn by the writings of Ficino and Agrippa.

With the discoverythe Blutkreislaufs 1628 by the English researcher William Harvey did not correspond this theory for the physical origin of the melancholy any longer to the scientific conditions of the time. The term and its associations exerted however, exactly like the four-juice teachings, further influence on the most diverse fields of knowledge.

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Melancholy in the psychology

Cesare Lombroso: : Genius and insanity in their relations with the law with the criticism and to history (ital. Genio e follia, 1864)

in its essay mourning and melancholy of 1917 distinguishes victory mouth Freud the melancholy from the mourning:It is characterized by the fact that the reduction of the self feeling is not repaired by the positive mourning work.The melancholy is mentally excellent by a deeply painful detuning, an abolition of the interest in the external world, by the loss of the dear ability, by the inhibition of each achievement and thoseReduction of the self feeling, which expresses itself in self reproaches and self insults and increases up to the illusionful expectation of the punishment. Freud sees these destructive aspects as a cause for the Suizidgefährdung of the Melancholiker.

In the today's discussion the term of the melancholy is nearly complete by that the depressionreplaced. It is the endogenously psychotische depression, which comes the melancholy at the nähesten.

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melancholy in the religion

in the Middle Ages became known the melancholy as monk illness . It is called on Latin acedia and is a frequent topic in the theologicalLiterature, for example with Thomas's von Aquin in the Summa Theologica (particularly question 35). It was considered at the same time as one of the seven death sins. In the protest anti-mash 16. Century experienced the melancholy then a certain reinterpretation: It did not apply any longer primarily than those which can be avoidedSin, but as a temptation of the devil, which the Gläubige must exist like an examination. Straight occasional sinking in despair conditions appeared to the seriousness of the own faith before this background as a confirmation. On the other side one also destructive Kraft that recognizedMelancholy and recommended means as therapy of religious such as prayers or religious of songs and lay scatter by music (after the Biblical model of David and Saul) and cheerful society. Also the personal experience of Luther , who became to attack frequently from heavy courage, played style screen endRole. Luther and its successors from the Protestant Orthodoxie 16. Century in numerous comfort writings with the melancholy argued. In starting from the second half the 16. Century using propaganda of the Gegenreformation the melancholy was called therefore frequently typical illness of the Protestanten.

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philosophy and art science

of references:

Quotation it lies in heavy courage something unexplainable. Who has wrong or grief, it knows why he is sad or bekümmert. One asks a heavycourageous, which the reason of itsHeavy courage is, which presses as load on it, then he will answer: I white it, I cannot explain it. In it the infinity the heavy courage lies. That answer is quite correct; because as soon as humans know the reason, those is repaired heavy courage. Dahingegen is with mourning it did not repair the wrong at all with the fact that he knows, why he carries wrong.

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screen end art

the representation of the melancholy and Melancholi often projects the internal heavy courage into the external world. This can be the detection of the even in a landscape, in a room, in a allegorischen orsymbolic area. In 16. Century coins/shapes Dürers puzzling woodcut Melencolia I the allegorische inventory of the melancholy representation for many following epochs.

Apart from the melancholischen agreement of the soul with a landscape, in particular in the romance, are many far areas and landscapes, often also a strangely aimlessor shifted perspective whether with Lucas Cranach the older one, EDP pool of broadcasting corporations Munch or Giorgio de Chirico.

Famous “melancholy” - pictures
A.Dürer
L.Cranach d.A.
C.D.Friedrich
A.Böcklin
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music

Robert Burton: Anatomie der Melancholie (1621)
Robert Burton: Anatomy of the melancholy (1621)
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literature

  • Jean Starobinski: The melancholy in the mirror
  • Julia Kristeva: Soleil noir
  • Jon Fosse: Melancholy
  • Raymond Klibansky, Erwin Panofsky and Fritz Saxl: Saturn and melancholy - studies for the history of nature philosophy and medicine, the religion and the art. Frankfurt A.M. 1990.
  • Riser, Johann Anselm: Melancholy, Diätetik and comfort.Concepts of the melancholy therapy in 16. and 17.Jahrhundert. Heidelberg 1996.
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Wiktionary: Melancholy - word origin, synonyms and translations
 

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