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Father
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{{Top}}père{{Bottom}}[[Image:Kida_f.gif|right|frame|[[Kid A In Alphabet Land]]]]==Jacques Lacan=====History===From very early on in his [[Works of Jacques Lacan|work]], [[Lacan]] lays great importance on the [[role]] of the [[father (pËre) ]] in [[psychic structure]]. In his 1938 [[article on the family]], he attributes the importance of the [[Oedipus complex]] to the fact that it combines in the [[figure]] of the [[father]] two almost conflicting functions: the ''protective function'' and the ''prohibitive function''. He also points to the contemporary social decline in the [[paternal metaphor|paternal]] [[imago]] as the [[cause]] of current [[treatment|psychopathological]] peculiarities.<ref>{{1938}} p. 73</ref> The [[father]] continues to be a constant theme of [[Lacan]]'s [[work]] thereafter.
<blockquote>"The [[true]] function of the Father... is fundamentally to unite (and not to set in opposition) a desire and the Law."<ref>{{E}} p.321</ref></blockquote>
<!-- Although the [[symbolic]] [[father]] is not an actual [[subject]] but a position in the [[symbolic order]], a [[subject]] may nevertheless come to occupy this position, by virtue of exercising the [[paternal function]]. Nobody can ever occupy this position completely.<ref>{{S4}} p.205, 210, 219</ref> However, the [[symbolic]] [[father]] does not usually intervene by virtue of someone incarnating this function, but in a veiled fashion, for example by being mediated by the [[discourse]] of the [[mother]]. -->
The [[symbolic]] [[father]] is the fundamental element in the [[structure]] of the [[symbolic order]]; what distinguishes the [[symbolic order]] of [[culture]] from the [[imaginary order]] of [[nature]] is the inscription of a line of [[male]] descendence. The [[symbolic]] [[father]] is also referred to as the [[Name-of-the-Father]]. By [[structuring]] descendence into a series of generations, patrilineality introduces an [[order]] "whose structure is different from the [[natural]] order."<ref>{{S3}} p. 320</ref> The [[symbolic]] [[father]] is also the [[dead]] [[father]], the [[father]] of the [[primal horde]] who has been murdered by his own sons. It is the [[absence]] of the [[symbolic]] [[father]] which characterizes the [[essence]] of the [[psychotic]] [[structure]].
<!-- The [[presence]] of the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]] as a third term in the [[preoedipal phase|preoedipal]] [[imaginary|imaginary triangle]] indicates that the [[symbolic]] [[father]] is already functioning at the [[preoedipal phase|preoedipal stage]]; behind the [[symbolic]] [[mother]], there is always the [[symbolic]] [[father]]. -->
==The Imaginary Father==
The [[imaginary]] [[father]] is an [[imago]], the composite of all the [[imaginary]] constructs that the [[subject]] builds up in [[fantasy]] around the figure of the [[father]]. This [[imaginary]] [[construction]] often bears little [[relationship]] to the [[father]] as he is in [[reality]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 220</ref> The [[imaginary]] [[father]] can be construed as an ideal [[father]],<ref>{{S1}} p.156</ref><ref>{{E}} p.321</ref> or the opposite, as "the father who has fucked the kid up."<ref>{{S7}} p.308</ref>
<!-- In the former guise, the [[imaginary]] [[father]] is the prototype of [[God]]-[[figures]] in [[religion]]s, an all-powerful protector. In the latter role, the [[imaginary]] [[father]] is both the terrifying father of the [[primal horde]] who imposes the [[incest]] [[taboo]] on his sons,<ref>[[Freud]] 1912-3</ref> and the [[agent]] of [[privation]], the [[father]] whom the daughter blames for depriving her of the [[symbolic]] [[phallus]], or its equivalent, a [[child]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 98</ref> In both guises, though, whether as the [[ideal]] [[father]] or as the [[father|cruel]] [[father|agent]] of [[privation]], the [[imaginary]] [[father]] is seen as omnipotent.<ref>{{S4}} pp. 275-6</ref> -->
[[Psychosis]] and [[perversion]] both involve, in different ways, a reduction of the [[father|symbolic father]] to the [[father|imaginary father]].
==[[The Real]] Father==
===Agent of Castration===
While [[Lacan]] is quite clear in defining what he means by the [[father|imaginary father]] and the [[father|symbolic father]], his remarks on the [[father|real father]] are quite obscure.<ref>{{S4}} p. 220</ref> [[Lacan]]'s only unequivocal formulation is that the [[father|real father]] is the agent of [[castration]], the one who performs the operation of [[symbolic]] [[castration]].<ref>{{S17}} p. 149</ref><ref> {{S7}} p. 307</ref>
<!-- ===Biological Father=== Apart from this, [[Lacan]] gives few other clues [[about]] what he means by the phrase. In 1960, he describes the [[father|real father]] as the one who 'effectively occupies' the [[mother]], the "Great Fucker",<ref>{{S7}} p.307</ref> and even goes on to say, in 1970, that the [[father|real father]] is the spermatozoon, though he immediately qualifies this [[statement]] with the remark that nobody has ever [[thought]] of himself as the son of a spermatozoon.<ref>{{S17}} p.148</ref> On the basis of these comments, it seems possible to argue that the [[father|real father]] is the [[biological]] [[father]] of the [[subject]]. However, since a degree of uncertainty always surrounds the question of who the [[biological]] [[father]] really is ('"pater semper incertus est", while the [[mother]] is "certissima"'; <ref>{{F}} 1909c. [[SE]] IX, 239<ref> it would be more precise to say that the [[subject|real father]] is the man who is said to be the [[subject]]'s [[biological]] [[father]]. The [[father|real father]] is thus an effect of [[language]], and it is in this [[sense]] that the adjective [[real]] is to be [[understood]] here: the [[real]] of [[language]], rather than the [[real]] of [[biology]].<ref>{{S17}} p.147-8</ref> -->
===Intervention in the Oedipus Complex===
The [[father|real father]] plays a crucial role in the [[Oedipus complex]]; it is he who intervenes in the third '[[time]]' of the [[Oedipus complex]] as the one who [[castrate]]s the child (see [[castration complex]]). This [[intervention]] saves the child from the preceding [[anxiety]]; without it, the child requires a [[phobia|phobic]] [[object]] as a [[symbolic]] [[substitute]] for the [[absent]] [[father|real father]].
<!-- The intervention of the [[father|real father]] as agent of [[castration]] is not simply equivalent to his [[physical]] presence in the [[family]]. As the [[case]] of [[Little Hans]] indicates,<ref>{{F}} 1909c. [[SE]] IX, 239<ref> the [[father|real father]] may be physically [[present]] and yet fail to intervene as agent of [[castration]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 212, 221</ref> Conversely, the intervention of the [[father|real father]] may well be felt by the [[child]] even when the [[father]] is physically [[absent]]. -->
{{OK}} e The imaginary father The imaginary father is an imago, the composite of all the imaginary constructs that the subject builds up in fantasy around the figure of the father. This imaginary construction often bears little relationship to the father as he is in reality (S4, 220). The imaginary father can be construed as an ideal father (Sl, 156; E, 321), or the opposite, as 'the father who has fucked the kid up' (S7, 308). In the former guise, the imaginary father is the prototype of God-figures in religions, an all-powerful protector. In the latter role, the imaginary father is both the terrifying father of the primal horde who imposes the incest taboo on his sons (see Freud, 1912-13), and the agent of PRIVATION, the father whom the daughter blames for depriving her of the symbolic phallus, or its equivalent, a child (S4, 98; see Figure 7 and S7, 307). In both guises, though, whether as the ideal father or as the cruel agent of privation, the imaginary father is seen as omnipotent (S4, 275-6). Psychosis and perversion both involve, in different ways, a reduction of the symbolic father to the imaginary father. e The real father While Lacan is quite clear in defining what he means by the imaginary father and the symbolic father, his remarks on the real father are quite obscure (see, for example, S4, 220). Lacan's only unequivocal formula- tion is that the real father is the agent of castration, the one who performs the operation of symbolic castration (Sl7, 149; see Figure 7 and S7, 307). Apart from this, Lacan gives few other clues about what he means by the phrase. In 1960, he describes the real father as the one who 'effectively occupies' the mother, the 'Great Fucker' (S7, 307), and even goes on to say, in 1970, that the real father is the spermatozoon, though he immediately qualifies this statement with the remark that nobody has ever thought of himself as the son of a spermatozoon (Sl7, 148). On the basis of these comments, it seems possible to argue that the real father is the biological father of the subject. However, since a degree of uncertainty always surrounds the question of who the biological father really is ('"pater semper incertus est", while the mother is "certissima"'; Freud, 1909c: SE IX, 239), it would be more precise to say that the real father is the man who is said to be the subject's biological father. The real father is thus an effect of language, and it is in this sense that the adjective real is to be understood here: the real of language, rather than the real of biology (Sl7, 147-8). The real father plays a crucial role in the Oedipus complex; it is he who intervenes in the third 'time' of the Oedipus complex as the one who castrates the child (see CASTRATION COMPLEx). This intervention saves the child from the preceding anxiety; without it, the child requires a phobic object as a symbolic substitute for the absent real father. The intervention of the real father as agent of castration is not simply equivalent to his physical presence in the family. As the case of Little Hans indicates (Freud, 1909b), the real father may be physically present and yet fail to intervene as agent of castration (S4, 212, 221). Conversely, the intervention of the real father may well be felt by the child even when the father is physically absent. == [[Kid A In Alphabet Land]] == [[ImageCategory:Kida_f.gif |right|frameDevelopment]]'''Kid A In Alphabet Land Fumigates Another Furious Foe - The Ferocious Father!''' Is That Your Penis Or Your Anus? It's Your Phallus, 'Cause You're A Phallacy, You Philanderer! You Were Always Such A Mother-Fucker, But You Know That, Don't You? Dad, You're Dead![[Category:Kid A In Alphabet LandSymbolic]]{{KIDA}}