Original scientific paper
The Philosophy of Madness and the Poetics of Mania: Literature and Philosophy of the Middle East
Jurica Grgić
; University of Zagreb
Abstract
In his two-volume work Omnicide: Mania, Fatality, and the Future-in-Delirium (2019) and Omnicide II: Mania, Doom, and the Future-in-Deception (2023), Jason Bahbak Mohaghegh explores how various writers from the Middle East manifest themes of mania, madness, fatality, obsession, delirium, and the apocalypse in their works. Mohaghegh's approach to understanding mania goes beyond traditional psychiatric and psychoanalytic definitions, rejecting simplified and reductive categorizations and emphasizing its multifaceted nature. In these works, Mohaghegh develops an alternative understanding of mania, focusing on its aesthetic and existential potential. Instead of viewing mania exclusively as a symptom of mental illness, he sees it as a creative and radical force, deeply rooted in literary and philosophical inquiry. Drawing on a methodology that blends critical analysis with fragmentary, poetic insights, Mohaghegh develops a new discourse on madness and its manifestations. He makes a compelling case for the importance of poetry and alternative modes of thinking, especially in an era where humanity faces the threat of its own extinction. Ultimately, Mohaghegh's work challenges established notions of rationality, normality, pathology, and everyday reality, urging the reader to confront the existential significance of mania and its relationship to destruction, creativity, and apocalyptic thought. Omnicide is not merely a study of mental illness or madness, but a profound meditation on the nature of human experience in an increasingly unstable world. These books do not just function as a mere catalog of manias derived from the works of the highlighted poets and writers; instead, they serve as a kind of existential archive, inviting the reader to reflect on the limits of human understanding, the relationship between madness and destruction, and on the possibility of a new view of reality.
Keywords
mania; madness; normality; psychosis; reality; psychoanalysis; Sigmund Freud; Friedrich Nietzsche; Middle Eastern literatures
Hrčak ID:
338356
URI
Publication date:
15.11.2025.
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