Published in 1936, the mirror stage was lacans first formal contribution to the field of psychoanalysis. Lacan believes that this stage is a part of a machinelike process of our psychological growth that reinforces his belief in paranoiac knowledge 1286, which is to say that he believes the formation of self that we experience while looking in a mirror is part of. The idea of the mirror stage is an important early component in lacan s critical reinterpretation of the work of freud. Lacan calls this stage of child development the mirror stage 1285. In this video, i explore the theory behind psychoanalyst jacques lacan s the mirror stage. T he conception of the mirror phase which i introduced at our last congress, years ago, has since become more or less established in the practice of the french group. The mirror stage as formative of the function of the i as. Lacan s early theory, including the mirror stage, centers on the imaginary register. Lacans ideas about the formation of the i developed over time in conjunction with his other elaborations of freudian theory. In order to recognize myself, i have to be separate from my self. But were i to build on these subjective data alonewere i to so.
Doc summary of lacans the mirror stage as formative of. In the second place, it typifies an essential libidinal relationship with the bodyimage. Congress in marienbad an unpublished paper on the origins of the ego in the mirror phase of. My intention in this article is to evaluate lacan s theory of the mirror stage in accordance with current philosophy of mind theories and findings from the field of psychology. It happens through the identification with the mirror and with the other. Theresa thompson english 7010 spring 2011 jacques lacan. Introduction to jacques lacan, module on psychosexual.
In the first place, it has historical value as it marks a decisive turningpoint in the mental development of the child. The conception of the mirrorphase which i introduced at our last congress, years ago, has since become more or less established in the. This is the first of two articles looking at the theory of the mirror stage in lacans work. Jacques lacan, the mirror stage free download as pdf file.
Dec 20, 2019 lacan, jacques, lo stadio dello specchio come formatore della funzione lacan, jacques, il seminario, ed. Drawing on work in physiology and animal psychology, lacan proposes that human infants pass through a stage in which an external image of the body reflected in a mirror. I think it nevertheless worthwhile to bring it again to your attention, especially today, for the light that it sheds on the formation of the i as we experience it in psychoanalysis. The mirror stage as formative of the function of the i. Lacan explains that the mirror stage is a phenomenon to which i assign a twofold value. Mirror stage 27f relies on the comparison of the child and the spectator as similarly positioned, and the standard interpretation of lacan s early conception of the gaze as subjective mastery over the imaginary realm and investment of the viewer in the screen image.
Drawing on work in physiology and animal psychology, lacan proposes that human infants pass through a stage in which an external image of the body reflected in a mirror, or represented to the infant. File type pdf my teaching jacques lacan my teaching jacques lacan psychotherapy jacques lacan jacques lacan was frances most famous psychoanalyst, who. I am led, therefore, to regard the function of the mirror stage as a paaicular case of the function. This occurrence between the child, the childs reflection and his progression is what lacan calls the mirror stage. Like the real, lacan stressed the ongoing nature of the mirror stage throughout our lives as we constantly strive for this ideali. This imago is shown in shakespeares play richard ii in act 4 scene 1 where he smashes the mirror, a representation of him losing his kingship which was his ideal self. Jacques lacan the mirror stage as formative in the. For lacan, this act marks the primordial recognition of ones self as i, although at a point before entrance into language and the symbolic order. Although alienation is an essential characteristic of all subjectivity, psychosis represents a more extreme form of alienation. Mirror stage artikel zum spiegelstadium bei no subject encyclopedia for lacanian psychoanalysis. The cult of lacan freud, lacan and the mirror stage richard webster. The young childs identification with his own image what lacan terms the ideali or ideal ego, a stage that occurs anywhere from 618 months of age.
Mirror stage and instance of the letter the mirror stage the. To stay at this more general metapsychological level for a little while longer, lacan eventually forges, partly on the basis of the mirror stage, a distinction between the ego moi and the subject sujet, a word freighted with philosophical baggage lacan knowingly adds this word and its philosophical vocabulary to analytic discourse. The conception of the mirror phase which i introduced at our last congress, thirteen years ago, has since become more or less established in the practice of the french group. Lacan refers to this conference in the first sentence of the essay. Lacans concept of mirror stage by nasrullah mambrol on april 22, 2016 5.
This stage, which lacan terms the mirror stage, was a central moment in your development. The idea of the mirror stage is an important early component in lacan s reinterpretation of the work of freud. Through the mirror image the child is introduced into the imaginary order. Until 1966, when, at the age of 65, he published his ecrits, very few people outside a small group of parisian intellectuals were aware of his existence. One of many of lacans focal points and references throughout the reading is that of the gestalt theory, which has great relevance in accordance to the mirror stage but also challenges its beliefs. Introduction to jacques lacan, module on psychosexual development.
The career of jacques lacan is one of the most remarkable phenomena in twentieth century intellectual history. In 1936 lacan delivered at the 14th international psychoanalytic. The mirror stage is based on the belief that infants recognize themselves in a mirror literal or other symbolic contraption which induces apperception the turning of oneself into an object that can be viewed by the child from outside themselves from the age of about six months. Lacans concept of mirror stage literary theory and criticism. Lacan the mirror stage jacques lacan psychoanalysis. Lacan s mirror stage can be understood as an ironic version of this theology. Where to begin1 jane gallop the work of the french psychoanalyst jacques lacan has had a tremendous and unsettling effect on the disciplines known in france as the human sciences. Jun 10, 2016 jacques lacan was frances most famous psychoanalyst, who came up with the intriguing concept of the mirror phase. In the early stages of his career, from 192653, lacan progressed from conventional psychiatric treatment to gradual inclusion of clinical psychoanalysis. The mirror stage entails a libidinal dynamism ecrits 2 caused by the young childs identification with his own image what lacan terms the ideali or ideal ego. In other words, in order to arrive from the 1936 developmental theory of the mirror stage to the 1949 structural theory of the mirror stage, lacan had to pass through the two papers. It has excited an enormous amount of interest among his followers and the essay he devoted to it was written and. Giacomo contri, torino, einaudi, free download lacan on madness madness yes you can t pdf.
Initially, lacan proposed that the mirror stage was part of an infants development from 6. Its also essential reading for anyone interested in lacan due to the prevalence of the mirror stage s concepts found throughout his entire oeuvre. Pdf my intention in this article is to evaluate lacans theory of the mirror stage in accordance with current philosophy of mind theories and findings. The mirror phase was defined in 1936 by jaques lacan, a postfreudian psychoanalyst, who explained how the imaginary misrecognition situates the agency of the ego, before its social determination, in a fictional direction. The mirror stage as formative of the function of the i no. Translated by alan sheridan with a foreword by malcolm bowie. He has translated several of lacans works into english.
His books and ideas had a significant impact on critical theory, literary theory, philosophy, sociology, feminist theory, film theory and clinical psychoanalysis. In reading the following 1936 notes, it is good to keep in mind that in his 1938 article lacan identifies three family complexes each of which is the trace of a psychical crisis. The mirror stage as formative of the function of the i as revealed in psychoanalytic experience. The mirror stage as formative of the function 79 metaphors for which arise spontaneously, as if deriving from the subjects very symptoms, to designate the mechanisms of obsessive neurosis. Pdf is lacans theory of the mirror stage still valid. Since art imitates life, an in depth exploration of the way that these scenes play out can illuminate how lacan s abstract theories might look in the real life formation of identity and in malefemale relations. Defending lacan from his numerous detractors, past and present, bailly guides the reader through lacan s canon, from lobjet petit a to the mirror stage.
Introduction to lacan s theory of anxiety as the sensation of the desire of the other, through the story of the praying mantis and the example of phobia. Introduction to jacques lacan, module on psychosexual development 2. Pdf the mirror stage as formative of the function of the i as. Delivered on july 17, 1949, in zurich at the sixteenth. In his paper titled mirror stage 1949, lacan expounds the concept of the mirror stage that occurs between 618 months of a childs development, when the child begins to draw rudimentary distinction between the self and the other, as it encounters its image in the mirror. The mirror stage as formative of the function of the i as revealed in psychoanalytic experience by.
As raymond tallis has accurately written, the theory of the mirror stage is regarded as the cornerstone of lacan s oeuvre. Lacan, jacques internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Lacan can account for this through his analysis of the mirror stage. Published in 1936, the mirror stage was lacan s first formal contribution to the field of psychoanalysis. He presented a paper on the mirror stage on august 3, 1936, at a conference of the international psychoanalytical association in marienbad. The key observation of lacans essay concerns the behaviour. Notes on the 2 versions 1936 and 1949 of lacan s mirror. This is the first of two articles looking at the theory of the mirror stage in lacan s work. Apr 22, 2016 home literary criticism lacans concept of mirror stage. This is usually seen as the main text on the mirror stage theory, but there. For lacan, this act marks the primordial recognition of ones self as i, although at a. Where to begin1 jane gallop the work of the french psychoanalyst jacques lacan has had a tremendous and unsettling effect on the disciplines known in france as the human sciences, that is, on both what we call the humanities and what we call the social sciences. Extimacy lacan coined the term extimacy to designate the nature of this alienation, in which alterity inhabits the innermost core of the subject.
Jacques lacan has 105 books on goodreads with 24126 ratings. A psychoanalytic reading of frankenstein shows the reader that. This is a summary of the version of lacan s paper presented in the norton anthology of theory and criticism, 2001. The essay was reprinted in the french publication of ecrits in 1966. This is intended as an aide for students of literary criticism, to make it easier for them to comprehend a source often considered. Although it may seem strange at first to analyze mary shelleys frankenstein from a psychoanalytic perspective, the founder of psychoanalysis, sigmund freud, and french psychoanalyst jacques lacan theories of the mirror stage and the oedipal complex enable frankenstein to be read as a novel embracing psychoanalytic theories. Jacques lacan jacques lacan19011981\the mirror stage as. Lacans concept of mirror stage literary theory and. Jacques marie emile lacan 1901 1981 was a french psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. This experiment inverts lacan s emphasis on the operations and agents of subjectivity and looks at the components of framing that can be found in the media film, theater, literature, architecture, etc. Lacans reinterpretation of freud, with the central focus on language, brought about a poststructuralist turn to psychoanalytic theory.
Robert louis stevenson, jacques lacan, rouben mamoulian, strange case. This first part looks at the presentation of the mirror stage as we find it in the ecrits, specifically in the 1949 paper, the mirror stage as formative of the function of the i as revealed in psychoanalytic experience. Scribd is the worlds largest social reading and publishing site. Jacques lacan, the mirrorphase as formative of the function. He has translated several of lacan s works into english. The presence of jacques lacans mirror stage and gaze in. To stay at this more general metapsychological level for a little while longer, lacan eventually forges, partly on the basis of the mirror stage, a distinction between the ego moi and the subject sujet, a word freighted with philosophical baggagelacan knowingly adds this word and its philosophical vocabulary to analytic discourse. Jacques lacan the mirror stage in this video, i explore the theory behind psychoanalyst jacques lacan s the mirror stage. The argument which he goes on to develop is far from being merely an incidental fragment of his work. Lacan insists that the ego is based on an illusory image of the wholeness and mastery as the child in the mirror stage cannot wholly gain mastery and control over its body, in spite of its sense of bodily anatomy and in that sense still fragmented and it is the function of the ego to maintain this illusion of coherence and mastery. In this clear, wideranging primer, lionel bailly demonstrates how lacan s ideas are still vitally relevant to contemporary issues of mental health treatment. Lacans mirror stage terry gamels writing portfolio. Lacanian psychoanalysis literary theory and criticism.
What lacan means by the mirror stage english literature essay. Lacan s conception of the mirror stage has been called his most famous and significant contribution to the field of psychoanalysis. The mirror stage as formative of the function as revealed in psychoanalytic experience eiga erity. Lacans article the mirror stage as formative of the i 1936, 1949 lays out the parameters of a doctrine that he never foreswore, and which has subsequently become something of a poststructuralist mantra. Sep 22, 2016 in this video, i explore the theory behind psychoanalyst jacques lacan s the mirror stage.