Un’antropologia dello scandalo. Dispositivi magico-rituali e psicologia in Ernesto de Martino

We recognize the presence of a dialogue with psychoanalysis in the entire intellectual production of Ernesto de Martino. Both the literature on trauma, and the relation between symbols and the psychoanalytical technique are grounds to measure the cultural functioning of magical devices. For de Martino, myth is a true story where we might catch sight of man’s attempt to protect himself from the negative. From the reality of magic powers until psychopathologies, his work aims to reflect on the scandal of the encounter with the Other that allow us to reach the real human purpose: to construct a new humanism.