A Relational Psychoanalytic Analysis of Ovid’s “Narcissus and Echo”: Toward the Obstinate Persistence of the Relational
This article draws on relational psychoanalysis to reinterpret Ovid’s version of Narcissus and Echo as a means to reflect on the dynamics of how subjects connect to others and themselves through listening. Attuning to a long tradition of scholarship, we understand Ovid’s tale as a rich template for...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Open Philosophy |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2025-0061 |
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| author | Telios Thomas Schulz Florian |
| author_facet | Telios Thomas Schulz Florian |
| author_sort | Telios Thomas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article draws on relational psychoanalysis to reinterpret Ovid’s version of Narcissus and Echo as a means to reflect on the dynamics of how subjects connect to others and themselves through listening. Attuning to a long tradition of scholarship, we understand Ovid’s tale as a rich template for contemplating the difficulties of becoming social. We underline how both protagonists take on essential roles in each other’s transformations. While acknowledging how each actor’s unique biography creates an intrapsychic vector, we highlight the effect of their encounters in their mutual becoming. We illustrate how the relational space between them plays an essential role in their development as they overcome their unique difficulties in connecting to each other. Our relational-psychoanalytic analysis offers a surprising interpretation, namely, that Narcissus and Echo can ultimately overcome their isolation and connect through their transformation. This illustrates the potential of relational psychoanalysis as an interpretative tool that allows us to understand social dynamics as a product of a relational space in which intra-psychic representations encounter and transform each other, thus contributing to ongoing discussions on the concept of relational subjectivity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d0928836808d4df6861734c1eade3786 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2543-8875 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj-art-d0928836808d4df6861734c1eade37862025-08-20T03:08:27ZengDe GruyterOpen Philosophy2543-88752025-04-01811203310.1515/opphil-2025-0061A Relational Psychoanalytic Analysis of Ovid’s “Narcissus and Echo”: Toward the Obstinate Persistence of the RelationalTelios Thomas0Schulz Florian1School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS), University of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, SwitzerlandResearch Institute for Organizational Psychology (OPSY), University of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, SwitzerlandThis article draws on relational psychoanalysis to reinterpret Ovid’s version of Narcissus and Echo as a means to reflect on the dynamics of how subjects connect to others and themselves through listening. Attuning to a long tradition of scholarship, we understand Ovid’s tale as a rich template for contemplating the difficulties of becoming social. We underline how both protagonists take on essential roles in each other’s transformations. While acknowledging how each actor’s unique biography creates an intrapsychic vector, we highlight the effect of their encounters in their mutual becoming. We illustrate how the relational space between them plays an essential role in their development as they overcome their unique difficulties in connecting to each other. Our relational-psychoanalytic analysis offers a surprising interpretation, namely, that Narcissus and Echo can ultimately overcome their isolation and connect through their transformation. This illustrates the potential of relational psychoanalysis as an interpretative tool that allows us to understand social dynamics as a product of a relational space in which intra-psychic representations encounter and transform each other, thus contributing to ongoing discussions on the concept of relational subjectivity.https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2025-0061narcissismrelational psychoanalysisrelational unconscioussocial philosophysocial ontologyphilosophy of subjectivitycollectivity |
| spellingShingle | Telios Thomas Schulz Florian A Relational Psychoanalytic Analysis of Ovid’s “Narcissus and Echo”: Toward the Obstinate Persistence of the Relational Open Philosophy narcissism relational psychoanalysis relational unconscious social philosophy social ontology philosophy of subjectivity collectivity |
| title | A Relational Psychoanalytic Analysis of Ovid’s “Narcissus and Echo”: Toward the Obstinate Persistence of the Relational |
| title_full | A Relational Psychoanalytic Analysis of Ovid’s “Narcissus and Echo”: Toward the Obstinate Persistence of the Relational |
| title_fullStr | A Relational Psychoanalytic Analysis of Ovid’s “Narcissus and Echo”: Toward the Obstinate Persistence of the Relational |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Relational Psychoanalytic Analysis of Ovid’s “Narcissus and Echo”: Toward the Obstinate Persistence of the Relational |
| title_short | A Relational Psychoanalytic Analysis of Ovid’s “Narcissus and Echo”: Toward the Obstinate Persistence of the Relational |
| title_sort | relational psychoanalytic analysis of ovid s narcissus and echo toward the obstinate persistence of the relational |
| topic | narcissism relational psychoanalysis relational unconscious social philosophy social ontology philosophy of subjectivity collectivity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2025-0061 |
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