French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Green, The Work of the Negative
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
André Green, The Work of the Negative
Paris: Éditions de Minuit, "Reprises" collection, 2011.
EAN 9782707321633
416 p.
Price: 12 EUR
Publisher's Description:
Coined by Hegel, introduced to psychoanalysis by Lacan reinterpreting Freud, and subsequently forgotten by him, the work of the negative has resurfaced in recent years. André Green highlights the work of the negative in Freud's thought under aspects to which it is not ordinarily linked: dream-work or mourning, identification, etc. From a clinical perspective, it can be argued that the Freudian trajectory extends from neurosis as the "negative of perversion" in its early stages, to the masochism underlying the "negative therapeutic reaction," which testifies to the pessimism of his final years, but whose mystery is somewhat clarified when one recognizes in it the style characteristic of non-neurotic structures—borderline cases.
The work of the negative, as envisaged here, groups together the heterogeneous forms of repression, foreclosure, disavowal, and negation. It allows us both to grasp the unity that brings them together and to recognize the mark of their intervention by distinguishing their effects, as these are the best reference points for the structure of the subject and determine the outcome of the analysis.
However, one must guard against attributing an exclusively pathological meaning to the work of the negative. The negative, through repression and sublimation, marks the most general condition: it is necessary to say "no" to the excess drive in order to belong to the human community. How is it that this "no" becomes, for some, a refusal to live humanly under the sway of a destructive negativity?
Table of Contents
Introducing the Negative in Psychoanalysis – 1. Aspects of the Negative: Semantic, Linguistic, Psychic – 2. Hegel and Freud: Elements for a Comparison That Is Not Self-Evident – 3. Traces of the Negative in Freud's Work – 4. Death Drive, Negative Narcissism, De-objectalizing Function – 5. Masochism(s) and Narcissism in the Failures of Analysis and the Negative Therapeutic Reaction – 6. Splitting: From Disavowal to Disengagement in Borderline Cases – 7. The Work of the Negative and the Hallucinatory (Negative Hallucination) – 8. Sublimation: From the Fate of the Sexual Drive to the Service of the Death Drive – On a Ridgeline – Appendices – Publication References.
Excerpt
Proponents of the negative in psychoanalysis form a family whose members are not joined by any organic link. They come together around a certain way of thinking that they share. Indeed, there exists a kind of familiarity among them that makes them recognize each other immediately, not in relation to a defined doctrinal position, but by a turn of mind that identifies them in their way of approaching problems or seeking the most interesting path to address them. It is also through the resistance they offer to another category of opponents that the group they represent can best be defined, for nothing would be less obvious than to claim that they share common viewpoints on the answers to be given to certain questions.
It is not easy to make psychoanalysts themselves understand what the category of the negative in psychoanalysis corresponds to, even though they are its primary witnesses. When we use current concepts to illustrate their references to an obvious or allusive negativity, we run a strong risk of doubling the abstraction inherent in any concept, thereby further obscuring what we wanted to clarify by theorizing it. Perhaps the major difficulty lies in the fact that psychoanalysis, unlike philosophy, does not operate solely on the level of ideas—which are assumed to possess their own coherence and consistency and can therefore be considered in themselves, limited only by intellectual rigor. The psychoanalytic approach, on the other hand, always refers to an experience that presents itself first from the angle of its positivity and the constraints thereof.
This important study by psychoanalyst André Green investigates the foundational role of negation within psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice. Tracing the concept from its Hegelian roots through its complex assimilation and subsequent neglect in Freudian and Lacanian thought, the author re-evaluates the mechanisms of repression, disavowal, and sublimation. The volume addresses central questions concerning psychic structure, examining how the human capacity to say no to excessive drive forces governs both healthy acculturation and pathological developments, such as destructive negativity and the negative therapeutic reaction.
Rooted in the French psychoanalytic tradition, the book offers clinicians and researchers a rigorous framework for understanding non-neurotic structures, including borderline cases and negative narcissism. By grouping heterogeneous defensive forms under the unifying concept of the negative, Green provides valuable reference points for analyzing the limits of cure and the nuances of the death drive. It serves as an essential resource for students of psychoanalysis, philosophy, and modern intellectual history seeking to deepen their grasp of psychic functioning beyond conventional symptom-based diagnoses.