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Thesis

French

ID: <

10670/1.an2lqd

>

Where these data come from
"I become another person" : religion conversion psychopathology and biographical recreation in the evangelicalism : on a psychopathology of religious fact

Abstract

This research investigates, from a clinical perspective, the processes of adhesion to evangelical Protestant religions (that of Pentecostal Christians in particular). In France, this religious fact is growing and developing among immigrant populations. Historically, Evangelicalism installs itself in socially disadvantaged backgrounds and shows the polymorphic and adaptive capacity to espouse cultural singularities and accord itself to the subjectivity processes of different groups. It’s a transcultural phenomenon that relies on Christian notions such as conversion and gifts of the Holy Spirit (glossolalia, prophecy, cure with the hands, etc.). In order to study the psychic work involved in adhesion to evangelical Protestantism, we first consider the social sciences, which since their foundation have explored religious phenomenon and their psychological components. The bibliographical exploration about the Protestant Reformation and Evangelism underlines the importance of conversion, to which expressions such as “born again” or “become another person” are frequently repeated by evangelicals. We consider conversion as a religious technique of biographical re-creation. Then, from a psychodynamic (psychoanalytical) standpoint, we review psychopathology and psychoanalytic literature in their views of religion and religiosity: the fundamental milestone is that the religious object is anchored in the foundations of the psychic life. We have interviewed converted persons (some of them had been treated by psychosocial professionals) so as to analyze their narratives and discursive activities with methods and theories from hermeneutic phenomenology and narrative psychology. We conclude our discussion by addressing the relevance of reflecting about the psychopathology of the religious fact, which we identify as an ethical and epistemological disposition for the clinician. Concurrently, this research suggests a need for more hospitality towards this religious object, which is present in the pathos and in the psychic work of the construction of the “self” in language.

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