ABSTRACT

Francoise Davoine has been investigating psychotic phenomena and trauma for over thirty years, in collaboration with Jean-Max Gaudilliere. In this book, she draws on her literary background to take the reader on a fascinating voyage with an unexpected but most helpful guide: Don Quixote. In her work, Davoine approaches madness not as a symptom, but rather as a place, the place where the symbolic order and the social link have ruptured. She sees the psychotic as a seeker, engaged in a form of exploration into the nature and history of this place. This brings us to the seeker Don Quixote. Davoine takes the reader into the world of the knight-errant, to describe his adventures in a fascinating new light.Cervantes, the survivor of war trauma, captivity, and all manner of misfortunes, created this hero, first and foremost, so that the tale be told.

chapter ONE|8 pages

Andante!

chapter TWO|9 pages

Cervantes, an old warrior

chapter FOUR|26 pages

First sally, first sessions

chapter SIX|34 pages

Widening of the field of war and beyond

chapter EIGHT|27 pages

Regenerating the social link

chapter NINE|15 pages

A sombre affair

chapter TEN|21 pages

History makes its entrance

chapter ELEVEN|29 pages

Farewell to arms

chapter TWELVE|8 pages

"Bella ciao! ciao! ciao!"