Bearing the discomfort: An autoethnography on Weltschmerz

Ince, Amelia

Abstract

Weltschmerz (welt ‘world’ + schmerz ‘pain’) is a German term with universal significance. It denotes a sense of pain, despondency and anger that comes from existing in the world as we know it. There has been little psychological research on Weltschmerz, yet with recent global events casting a light on human and ecological suffering, it seems that the concept might show us how to conceptualise distress in context. The Covid-19 pandemic provides a backdrop to this research and has become embedded in my interrogation and understanding of Weltschmerz.

The thesis is the product of an autoethnographic journey, which uses my subjectivity, conversations with community members, and cultural artefacts, to reflect socio-politicised locations of Weltschmerz. As Weltschmerz may be becoming on the intersection of self and culture/society, autoethnography provides the means to consider an “ethnographic wide-angle lens, focusing outward on social and cultural aspects of …personal experience; then,… look inward, exposing a vulnerable self that is moved by and may move through, refract, and resist cultural interpretations…” (Ellis & Bochner, 2000, p.739). The fluid and ambiguous boundary between myself and the world is examined to tussle with the complexity of where Weltschmerz may derive from, summoning Jungian knowledges around the collective unconscious and archetypes (1963; 1968b) and Kleinian object relations (1975a; 1975b).

My autoethnography champions a counselling psychology perspective that promotes the exploration of elusive affects, depth psychology, creative pursuit in research and practice (Douglas et al., 2016) and upholds community psychology principles that interrogate social justice, marginalisation, and ideological milieu (Douglas et al., 2016; Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2010).

Implications for mainstream psychology’s pathologising conceptualisation of distress are raised, with Weltschmerz positioned to encourage discourse which does not further medicalise mental health but recognises distress as a response to existing within a relational world. Counselling psychology practices are discussed to consider how to support clients, and practitioners (myself included), bear the discomfort of Weltschmerz.

Citation

Ince, A. Bearing the discomfort: An autoethnography on Weltschmerz. (Thesis). University of the West of England. Retrieved from https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10993346

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jul 31, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 22, 2024
• Keywords: Weltschmerz; autoethnography; object-relations; collective unconscious; counselling psychology; community psychology; de-medicalised distress
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10993346
• Award Date: Jan 22, 2024