“To Brush History against the Grain”: An Essay on Unconscious Ownership of Guilt and Identifications1

For a 2015 biannual conference in Istanbul I initially planned to present a paper focused on the relationship between history, cultural theory and psychoanalysis, which Walter Benjamin explored in Theses On the Philosophy of History.2 The main theme of the meeting was ‘Enduring History’, with abundant references to massacres and genocides, and the timing of the event coincided with 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, so I accordingly altered my presentation. Though Benjamin's world of thought was intimately linked with hideous historical and social situations. Ultimately a victim of Nazism himself, Benjamin's entire career was devoted to examination of the social preconditions and roots of destructive forces, catastrophes and barbarism and to a quest for a salvation from them.

In ‘On the Concept of History’, Benjamin dwells on a painting by Paul Klee of an angel of history (thesis IX). As she drifts into the future the angel of history stares back in horror with eyes and mouth agape and wings outstretched. She inexorably is pulled forward as if caught in a stormy whirlpool, and even as the catastrophes mount, the angel's desire to restore the dead to life and to reassemble the broken pieces is thwarted (Benjamin, 2007). It is a defining image in terms of relating Benjamin's notions of history and culture to psychoanalysis. Images such as the bathetic angel of history are valuable in stimulating psychoanalytic thought. Hence, I stick to a Benjamin quote as the title; To Brush History against the Grain!

Even a scan of the paragraph in which Benjamin's quote (thesis VII)3 appears will show how Benjamin's thought can have an enriching effect for psychoanalytic reflection,