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In conversation with psychoanalyst Luigi Zoja we embark on the search for the father in classical narrative, film and society. By Marco Zigiotti

This interview with psychoanalyst Luigi Zoja complements my previous interview on the representation of fathers in Hollywood. It provides what I thought an important historical and psychological overview of fatherhood and provides a much needed insight into the narrative which takes the father as its main characters.
Marco Zee-Jotti - In your book you chart the rise and fall of the father over the millenia but stress that its role is essential for our society. What is, or was, ‘a father’?

Luigi Zoja - The father in this culture had a function as an educator, which was both private, and public. Within the family, as an educator, he did not have a very different function to that of the mother (even in the traditional form of patriarchy). Outside the family the father had to play a role, let’s say a Darwinian role, that is, life is a fight and you, children, especially the males - who were supposed to become the hunter, the provider, the bread-winner - have to win. In this second role competition and aggression are more important than love (as opposed to inside the family).