The value of ephemeralness. Approaches to the concept of melancholy

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to illustrate why melancholy occupies a privileged place in our cultural heritage. After more than two thousand five hundred years, it continues to raise a growing interest as evidenced by the diverse exhibitions dedicated to this millenarian affection, the profusion of essays or the various congresses in which this subject have been addressed. In our journey, we will analyse some of the reasons that make melancholy a rich, ambiguous and complex term, we will go back to the protohistory of the concept, we will examine the founding texts that helped achieve its consideration as central feature of the human condition and, finally, we will outline from the questions that Kristeva raises about Freud’s On Transience the relationship between beauty and melancholy.