Against the prevailing current of Freudian theory, which cites maternal excess in the mother-daughter relation, this work will show that it is relevant to speak of paternal control in cases where the absolute demand for excellence sets up a closed system dedicated to the athletic project. One of the consequences of the internalized mandate to become a champion is the freezing of the adolescent process. The sport of tennis, which is marked by a noticeable frequency of father-daughter pairings, will serve as an example.
Between fetishizing a body that has become a gauge of the subject’s value, and maintaining play as a way to obtain narcissistic and libidinal satisfaction, sports have become a source of investment where the subject, the social and the political meet. Using the biography of Andre Agassi, the famous tennis player of the 1990’s, we will explore the different aspects of parental control – in this case, a father’s – of the psychical fate of a top athlete.
Adolescence, 2014, 32, 2, 259-272.
Revue semestrielle de psychanalyse, psychopathologie et sciences humaines, indexée AERES au listing PsycINFO publiée avec le concours du Centre National du Livre et de l’Université de Paris Diderot Paris 7