Scene

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French: scène

Sigmund Freud

Freud borrowed the expression "another scene" (German: eine andere Schauplatz) from G.T. Fechner, and used it in The Interpretation of Dreams, stating that "the scene of action of dreams is different from that of waking ideational life."[1]

This led Freud to formulate the idea of "psychical locality".

However, Freud emphasized that this concept of locality is not to be confused with physical locality or anatomical locality, and Lacan takes this as a justification for his own use of topology.[2]

Lacan makes repeated reference to Fechner's expression in his work;[3] the "other scene" is, in Lacanian terms, the Other.

Jacques Lacan

Fantasy

Lacan also uses the term "scene" to denote the imaginary and symbolic theatre in which the subject plays out his fantasy, which is built on the edifice of the real (the world).

The scene of fantasy is a virtual space which is framed, in the same way that the scene of a play is framed by the proscenium arch in a theatre, whereas the world is a real space which lies beyond the frame.[4]

Acting Out and the Passage to the Act

This notion of scene is used by Lacan to distinguish between acting out and passage to the act.

The former still remains inside the scene, for it is still inscribed in the symbolic order.

Lacan uses the term "scene" to distinguish between "acting out" and the "passage to the act."

It is said that the process of acting out remains inside the scene, inscribed in the symbolic order.

The passage to the act, however, is an exit from the scene, is a crossing over from the symbolic into the real; there is a total identification with the other and hence an abolution of the subject.[5]

Perversion

The fantasy scene is also an important aspect in perversion.

The pervert typically stages his enjoyment in terms of some highly stylised scene, and according to a stereotypical script.

See Also

References

  1. Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900a. SE V. p. 535-6
  2. Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 285
  3. Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 193
  4. Freud, Sigmund. Le Séminaire. Livre X. L'angoisse, 1962-63, unpublished. Seminar of 19 December 1962.
  5. Freud, Sigmund. Le Séminaire. Livre X. L'angoisse, 1962-63, unpublished. Seminar of 16 January 1963.