sigmund freud's collection an archaeology of the mind
sigmund freud's collection an archaeology of the mind
sigmund freud's collection an archaeology of the mind
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knowledge, while its true concern resides in its<br />
relation to a knowledge that is not known.<br />
The value <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> subject’s history in<br />
psycho<strong>an</strong>alysis is akin to <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong>re is no<br />
time in <strong>the</strong> unconscious, a timelessness intrinsic to<br />
<strong>the</strong> structure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> unconscious, not made in time<br />
but with time. In this, <strong>the</strong>refore, it is similar to St<br />
Augustine’s proposal that God did not create <strong>the</strong><br />
world in time but with time.<br />
There is not a single area <strong>of</strong> knowledge that has<br />
not been touched by Freudi<strong>an</strong> psycho<strong>an</strong>alysis,<br />
whe<strong>the</strong>r accepting <strong>an</strong>d incorporating it, or<br />
rejecting it. It seems as if psycho<strong>an</strong>alysis situates<br />
itself as <strong>an</strong> almost m<strong>an</strong>datory reference point<br />
for modernity, from literature to ethnology, from<br />
philosophy to art, moving across <strong>the</strong> laws that<br />
structure society.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> aftermath <strong>of</strong> Freud’s progressive<br />
illness <strong>an</strong>d death, <strong>an</strong>d broadly speaking, from<br />
approximately <strong>the</strong> 1930s onwards, different<br />
currents within psycho<strong>an</strong>alysis appeared; to<br />
name <strong>the</strong> most import<strong>an</strong>t ones, Annafreudism,<br />
Kleini<strong>an</strong> Psycho<strong>an</strong>alysis, Ego Psychology, Object<br />
Relations, <strong>an</strong>d Self Psychology. All <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se<br />
groups, despite <strong>the</strong>ir differences with Freud,<br />
remain within <strong>the</strong> International Psycho<strong>an</strong>alytical<br />
Association <strong>an</strong>d, strictly speaking, do not depart<br />
from <strong>the</strong> main Freudi<strong>an</strong> tenets.<br />
In distinction, a paradigm took place with<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ses introduced by Jacques Lac<strong>an</strong>, who<br />
rigorously interrogated Freud in a novel m<strong>an</strong>ner to<br />
a point that eventually led to what we consider a<br />
discontinuity with Freud’s <strong>the</strong>ories. His teachings<br />
were heavily based in a singular reading,<br />
interpretation, <strong>an</strong>d tr<strong>an</strong>sformation <strong>of</strong> Freud’s<br />
works. After being expelled from <strong>the</strong> International<br />
Psycho<strong>an</strong>alytical Association, Lac<strong>an</strong> created<br />
his own school, L’école freudienne de Paris, a<br />
school that was as much outside from <strong>the</strong> IPA as<br />
from m<strong>an</strong>y <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tenets ascribed to Freud by <strong>the</strong><br />
groups mentioned above.<br />
After Lac<strong>an</strong>’s dissolution <strong>of</strong> L’école freudienne<br />
de Paris, <strong>an</strong>d since his death in 1981, <strong>the</strong><br />
fi eld <strong>of</strong> psycho<strong>an</strong>alysis has been dispersed in<br />
several currents, <strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> which claim<br />
to be Lac<strong>an</strong>i<strong>an</strong>, <strong>an</strong>d a number <strong>of</strong> new schools<br />
<strong>an</strong>d groups br<strong>an</strong>ched <strong>of</strong>f, mainly <strong>the</strong> Freudi<strong>an</strong>-<br />
Lac<strong>an</strong>i<strong>an</strong>s <strong>an</strong>d <strong>the</strong> Lac<strong>an</strong>i<strong>an</strong>s.<br />
Lac<strong>an</strong> told us in 1980 at <strong>the</strong> Caracas seminar;<br />
I am Freudi<strong>an</strong>, it is your turn if you w<strong>an</strong>t to be<br />
Lac<strong>an</strong>i<strong>an</strong>, although, as time moved on, <strong>the</strong><br />
factual propositions in his seminars increased <strong>the</strong><br />
difference with Freud. The rationale for this shift<br />
is that, as Freud himself acknowledged, ideas in<br />
fi elds <strong>of</strong> knowledge should not be identifi ed with<br />
eternal truths. This was much <strong>an</strong>ticipated by Freud<br />
himself distinguishing psycho<strong>an</strong>alysis both from a<br />
Welt<strong>an</strong>schauung <strong>an</strong>d from religion.<br />
Indisputably, however, Freud’s relev<strong>an</strong>ce to<br />
psycho<strong>an</strong>alysis today is demonstrated as <strong>the</strong><br />
necessary reference point for <strong>an</strong>y psycho<strong>an</strong>alyst<br />
as much as for <strong>the</strong> groups <strong>an</strong>d schools mentioned<br />
above. Paraphrasing Jorge Luis Borges’ defi nition<br />
<strong>of</strong> what a classic is; Freud is strictly speaking a<br />
classic, in that he is a continuous interlocutor<br />
<strong>of</strong> those fi elds <strong>an</strong>d <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> contemporary, par<br />
excellence.<br />
It is in this context <strong>the</strong>refore, that we should<br />
perhaps ask, as <strong>the</strong> pertinent question, where<br />
is not to be found <strong>the</strong> relev<strong>an</strong>ce <strong>of</strong> Freud for<br />
psycho<strong>an</strong>alysis today?<br />
Trained in Buenos Aires, Argentina, María-Inés Rotmiler de<br />
Zentner <strong>an</strong>d Oscar Zentner are practising psycho<strong>an</strong>alysts in<br />
Melbourne. They introduced Jacques Lac<strong>an</strong> in Australia in 1977,<br />
founding The Freudi<strong>an</strong> School <strong>of</strong> Melbourne, <strong>the</strong> fi rst English<br />
speaking Lac<strong>an</strong>i<strong>an</strong> school <strong>of</strong> psycho<strong>an</strong>alysis, <strong>an</strong>d editing<br />
Papers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Freudi<strong>an</strong> School <strong>of</strong> Melbourne, <strong>the</strong> fi rst<br />
Australi<strong>an</strong> psycho<strong>an</strong>alytic publication. Both resigned from<br />
The Freudi<strong>an</strong> School <strong>of</strong> Melbourne in 1992. Since <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>y are<br />
directors <strong>of</strong> Lituraterre - space for <strong>the</strong> articulation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
psycho<strong>an</strong>alytic discourse.<br />
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