History Beyond Trauma

About the Author(s)

Françoise Davoine obtained an Agregation in classics (French literature, Latin and Greek) in 1966, followed by a doctorate in sociology in 1981, before becoming a psychoanalyst. She worked for thirty years as a psychoanalyst in public psychiatric hospitals in France, and as an external consultant and is currently in private practice. She was a Professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Movements, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris, where she and Jean-Max Gaudillière conducted a weekly seminar on 'Madness and the Social Link'. She has also made numerous presentations at the Austen Riggs Center in Massachusetts (USA), as well as elsewhere in the US, in England, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Switzerland. Dr Davoine is the author of many articles and books, including La Folie Wittgenstein, Mother Folly, and History Beyond Trauma (with Jean Max Gaudillière).

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Jean-Max Gaudillière became a psychoanalyst and member of the Ecole Freudienne in Paris when he discovered the impact of the historical catastrophies reflected in the symptoms of patients confined to asylums. In the weekly seminar called 'Madness and the Social Link', held for forty years at the EHESS with Françoise Davoine, Gaudillière combined his clinical work with the exploration of literary works dealing with the madness of war, written by authors like Kenzaburo Oe, Tonni Morrison, Strindberg, Feydeau, Pat Barker, Bion, Musil, Rabelais, Kerouac and Kurt Vonnegut and others. He often referred to the Greek authors of antiquity, whose work he knew intimately. He published numerous articles and gave many conferences. A member of the ISPS US and Erikson Scholar at Austen Riggs Center, he is the co-author of two books written with Françoise Davoine: History Beyond Trauma and A Word to the Wise. He died in March 2015.