The Failed Struggle for Recognition in Peter Abelard’s Autobiographical Letter Historia calamitatum

Year 2019, Volume: 13 Issue: 2, 205 - 219, 31.12.2019

Ana İrimescu Morariu

Abstract

In this article, I intend to use the struggle for recognition paradigm in order to provide a new interpretation of Abelard’s autobiographical letter, Historia Calamitatum, through a psychological analysis of the author’s personality and his physical and psychological traumata. My working hypothesis is that Abelard’s desperate need to be recognized as an exceptional human being set him on a course that led to an unsuccessful rebellion which, in turn, provoked some of the unjust acts directed against him in both his personal and public life. Unable to align his negative qualities with the (positive) perception Abelard had of himself, he systematically projected his envy and jealousy onto others. After several traumatic events, he felt stripped of his dignity and incapable of maintaining control over his life. However, the struggle to restore his good name led to antagonistic and inimical confrontations with others, and these confrontations produced more rejection time and again.

Keywords

self-narrative, dispositional envy, psychological trauma, emotional struggle, mutual recognition

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