Oedipus Complex, Oedipal Pact and Social Pact: the Insurrection of Oedipus in Hélio Pellegrino
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This article addresses the thought of Hélio Pellegrino, highlighting his singular contribution to psychoanalysis through the development of a critical and innovative reflection on the oedipus complex, the oedipal pact, and the social pact.Pellegrinopsychoanalyst, poet, and essayistis among the most prominent figures of twentieth-century Brazilian psychoanalysis and belongs to the fourth generation of the international psychoanalytic movement.His trajectory was marked by a commitment to the democratisation of access to psychoanalysis and the struggle against social injustice.The articulation between psychoanalysis and the Brazilian historical context underpins his critique of authoritarian institutions, revealing the ethical dimension of his clinical practice.The concept of the oedipal pact, as formulated by Pellegrino, reflects the structuring function of the Law, emphasising reciprocity and equality as foundational to the civilising process.Throughout the text, the author analyses how this perspective contributes to the understanding of the structuration of human desire, processes of subjectivation, and the formation of both psychic and social symptoms, positioning itself as a critique of the traditional psychiatric model and the conservatism prevalent within psychoanalytic institutions.Hélio Pellegrino is recognised among the key figures of Brazilian psychoanalysis and is one of the few Brazilian psychoanalysts with a dedicated entry in the Dictionnaire de la psychanalyse by Élisabeth Roudinesco and Michel Plon.Moreover, his essay Complexo de Édipo, Pacto Edípico e Pacto Social is catalogued in the Sigmund Freud Library in London, translated into English as Oedipus Complex, Oedipal Pact, and Social Pact.This fact reaffirms Pellegrino's international relevance, establishing him as a reference not only within the Brazilian context but also on the global psychoanalytic stage.The inclusion of his work in the Freud Library collection symbolises the recognition of his theoretical contributions to psychoanalysis, especially concerning the articulation between psyche, culture, and social institutions.
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4410355280