A comparison of Proust's two versions of his grandmother's death shows the change in the narrator's point of view on the loss of a loved one and, in particular, the partial abandonment of anti-traumatic theories. At the same time, a clinical vignette shows the shift of orientation of a causal theory transformed by the long paths of analytical work supported by literature. Works of art also have a reflexive function for the analyst. The detour via a work of culture helps him in his counter-transference.