Abstract

This article argues that the Paul Ricœur’s conception of figurative language can be taken as a model for an aesthetic dimension in his reading of psychoanalysis, namely his reading of the « work of image » in Freud’s theory of interpretation. This claim will be put forward by using the theories of metaphor and image stemming from his work, and following the hypothesis according to which the figurative phenomena of language form the basis for a kind of métaphoricité present in the works of art. The paper undertakes to reassemble also Ricœur’s defense of the Freud’s psychoanalysis as reflection on art. The pertinence of this defense is analyzed under the aegis of Ricœur’s theorization about the art and aesthetic experience its importance to the formative role of imagination and metaphor.