The possible dialectic between fathers and institutions is inseparable from concepts of identity and filiation in their relation to culture. In Africa and/or the East, for example, it is regular practice to designate an individual by his or her bond of filiation (that handed down by the parents or acquired after the arrival of children) in so far as that bond ties the person concerned to ancestors or descendents. While, since its characterisation by Freud, the Oedipus complex has encountered such a success, this is not simply due to its universality, but also since it refers to transmission through filiation. Now even recent events have reminded us that filiation lies at the heart of any culture and communication, beyond the individual languages concerned, and is the main vector for such various ways of doing and saying. What relations exist between migrant fathers and institutions? Transcultural consultation is a privileged space for analysis and mediation in situations where this bond is jeopardised.
Keywords
- migration
- conflict of loyalty
- transgenerational transmission
- fathers
- institution