Cain's Act: The Origins of Hate

by Massimo Recalcati, Will Schutt (Translator)

Overview

From one of Italy’s most renowned philosophers and psychoanalysts, an urgent and stirring reflection on violence, morality, and our relationship with the Other

What lies at the foundation of human history and society? According to Massimo Recalcati, it is not love for one’s neighbor, as preached by Jesus in the Gospels, but the brutality, jealousy, and violence depicted in the story of Cain and Abel.

As timely as it is brilliant, this essay examines Cain’s murderous act through the lens of psychoanalysis, showing how delusions of self-sufficiency and individual perfection lie at the deepest roots of fear and violence in our societies.

True completeness can only be achieved through others—not despite them. This, argues Recalcati, is the lesson of Cain, one that resonates powerfully in our time.

“Recalcati explores the most fundamental of questions—for Cain, Abel, and every human being: can we believe in love?”—La Stampa

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609458164
Publisher:	Europa Editions, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/06/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Massimo Recalcati is a psychoanalyst and author who teaches at the universities of Pavia and Verona. His numerous books have been translated in several languages. His latest book to appear in English was The Night in Gethsemane (Europa, 2020). He lives and works in Milan.

Will Schutt is the author of Westerly (the Yale Series of Younger Poets) and translator, most recently, of Carlo and Renzo Piano’s Atlantis: A Journey in Search of Beauty (Europa, 2020), Andrea Marcolongo’s The Ingenious Language (Europa, 2019) and Starting from Scratch (Europa, 2022), and My Life, I Lapped It Up: Selected Poems of Edoardo Sanguineti.

Table of Contents

Introduction 13

In the Beginning Was Cain 23

Creation 29

Breaking the Law 35

Becoming God: The Promise of the Jealous Serpent 39

Nakedness Exposed 47

God's Law 51

The Second Transgression: Violence and Envy 55

The Intruder: Cain and Narcissus 63

God's Choice 71

The Fascination of Hatred 77

Brotherhood, Mourning, and Responsibility 85

Cain's Legacy 93

Notes 99

Editorial Reviews

10/24/2022

The biblical story of Cain and Abel reveals the dark side of human nature, posits psychoanalyst Recalcati (The Night in Gethsemane) in this esoteric analysis. “The Bible shows how violence makes manifest the perverse and narcissistic character of human desire: our drive to destroy alterity, our aspiration to become divine, our desire to be God,” Recalcati contends, providing a psychoanalytic take on Cain’s murder of his brother and suggesting that sin arises from an inherent human drive to see oneself as self-contained and complete. Recalcati defines “true sin” as the desire of humans to be equal to God, who by definition “does not know the negative, lacerating experience of lack.” For Recalcati, Cain’s jealousy of Abel’s superior offerings to God stands in for a basic impulse in which the recognition of difference (“lack”) produces a desire to eliminate the “Other” so as to make oneself “absolute.” The ideas stimulate, but the discussions of how Freud’s and Lacan’s concepts of the “mirror stage” and ego apply to Cain are bound to go over the heads of readers not steeped in psychoanalytic theory. Still, this provides plenty to ponder. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Cain’s Act and Massimo Recalcati

“The ideas stimulate... Cain’s Act provides plenty to ponder.”—Publishers Weekly

“Although a succinct monograph, this book is a carefully deliberative and stimulating study of ethics—people’s approach to others, violence, and the underpinning drives of human life... A rich interpretation with a depth of ethical implications, expressed clearly in Will Schutt’s translation.”—Library Journal

“A brilliant, stirring analysis.”—La Stampa on The Night in Gethsemane

“A book that reads in less than two hours but stays with you forever.”—Il Foglio on The Night in Gethsemane

“Lively and sharp . . . An invitation to look positively at the loneliness of human experience.”—Lettera on The Night in Gethsemane

From the Publisher

10/01/2022

Although a succinct monograph, this book is a carefully deliberative and stimulating study of ethics—people's approach to others, violence, and the underpinning drives of human life. In this book, psychoanalyst Recalcati (The Night in Gethsemane) reflects on the early texts in Genesis surrounding Cain's killing of his brother Abel. While the framework employed draws on the tools of psychoanalysis and sometimes dominates the discussion, this book is respectful and serious about interpreting the biblical text. This allows for a fertile interaction between modern and ancient narratives, which creates space for meaningful thought about the roots of people's fears and motivations when they notice differences in others. It also provokes theological consideration about the nature of God in Genesis. In these particular stories, God is not a violent deity but one who shows curious restraint when interacting with Cain. He communicates with and protects Cain, rather than continuing the cycle of violence through retribution. VERDICT Though brief, this book is a rich interpretation with a depth of ethical implications, expressed clearly in Will Schutt's translation.—Zachariah Motts

Library Journal