The New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center Scientific Presentation
“M ssing: The Art of Remembering the Vanished.”
Presented by Julia Reineman, Ph.D.
Commentary by Molly Rothenberg Ph.D.
Friday, Sept. 14, 2012
8:00-10:00 P.M.
3624 Coliseum Street
Using Argentina’s “Dirty War” (1976-1983) as the backdrop, the speaker will explain the connection between
photography and loss, and how photographs function as linking objects between the living and the dead or
missing. She will discuss how the absence of “reality-testing” of the lost object in Argentina has created a type
of pathological melancholia, or what the author refers to as “Real” mourning. She will also introduce the works
of several Argentinean artists and analyze an exhibit which essentially creates a “proof of absence,” and
disrupts the politically created discourse/collective memories.
Educational Objectives:
1. Recognize the connection between photography and loss and how photography serves as a linking object
between the living and the dead/missing.
2. Understand the ways in which the absence of “reality-testing” severely complicates the mourning process.
3. Appreciate how artists from Argentina have captured in a profound manner, the ongoing process of
mourning.
Recommended reading:
Reineman, J.T. “Between the Imaginary and the Real: Photographic Portraits of Mourning and of Melancholia in
Argentina.” International Journal of Psychoanalysis 92.5 (October 2011): 1241-61.
Additional Reading:
Plotkin, M.B. (2001). Freud in the Pampas: The emergence and development of a psychoanalytic culture in Argentina.
Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. (Preface & Intro).
Robben, Antonius. “The Assault on Basic Trust: Disappearance, Protest, and Reburial in Argentina.” Cultures Under
Siege: Collective Violence and Trauma. Ed. Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco and Antonius Robben. Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, 2000. 70-101.
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for
Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of the American Psychoanalytic Association and the New Orleans
Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing
medical education for physicians.
The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.
Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters of this CME program have
any relevant financial relationships to disclose.
Psychologists and Social Workers may receive credit for this activity with a CME certificate.
Fee for CME certificates: $30 for NOBPC members and $50 for non-members.