Talk:Little Other
In Lacanian psychoanalysis, the little other (French: l’autre, lowercase a) refers to the imaginary counterpart, specular image, or ego-like alterity through which the subject forms identifications within the Imaginary register. Introduced by Jacques Lacan, the concept is inseparable from his theories of the mirror stage, ego formation, narcissism, and imaginary rivalry. The little other is explicitly distinguished from the Big Other (l’Autre, capital A), which designates the Symbolic order of language, law, and authority.
Whereas the Big Other structures subjectivity through signifiers and symbolic law, the little other operates at the level of images, likeness, and misrecognition, shaping how the subject relates to itself and to others as reflections or rivals.
Terminology and Distinction
Lacan consistently differentiates between two senses of “other”:
- The little other (l’autre, lowercase a) belongs to the Imaginary order. It refers to specular images, alter egos, rivals, peers, and ego-level counterparts with whom the subject identifies or competes.
- The Big Other (l’Autre, capital A) belongs to the Symbolic order and refers to the locus of language, law, norms, and signifying authority that structures subjectivity but is never reducible to a concrete person or image.[1]
This distinction is fundamental: the little other is an imaginary relation of resemblance, while the Big Other is a symbolic structure of difference.
The Imaginary Register and the Mirror Stage
The concept of the little other is most clearly articulated in Lacan’s theory of the mirror stage, first presented in 1936 and later elaborated in Écrits. In the mirror stage, the infant identifies with its specular image, perceiving it as a unified and coherent whole. This image functions as the primordial little other.[2]
This identification is marked by méconnaissance (misrecognition): the image appears stable and mastered, whereas the child’s lived bodily experience is fragmented and uncoordinated. The ego is thus constituted through an alienating identification with an external image. The little other is therefore not simply another person, but the image through which the subject first apprehends itself.
Ego Formation, Narcissism, and Rivalry
Because the ego is formed through identification with the little other, imaginary relations are structurally narcissistic. The little other functions simultaneously as:
- a model for identification,
- an idealized image of unity,
- and a rival threatening that unity.
Lacan emphasizes that imaginary relations tend toward aggression and rivalry, since the other is experienced as both similar and competing. Relations governed primarily by the little other are thus characterized by jealousy, comparison, rivalry, and idealization, rather than symbolic mediation.[1]
Misrecognition and Alienation
In Lacanian theory, the little other is not a fully autonomous subject but a projection and reflection of the ego. The ego itself is alienated, since it is founded on an image that is external to the subject. The subject’s sense of self is therefore mediated by an image that never fully coincides with lived experience.
This explains why ego relations are marked by illusion, instability, and defensiveness: the subject is always trying to maintain an imaginary coherence that is structurally fragile.
Relation to the Big Other and the Symbolic
Although the little other belongs to the Imaginary, it is not isolated from the Symbolic order. Lacan’s structural models (such as Schema L) show that imaginary relations between the subject and the little other are always mediated by the Big Other, which introduces language, law, and symbolic difference.[3]
Entry into the symbolic order requires a break with imaginary wholeness. The subject must relinquish the illusion of unity promised by the little other and submit to symbolic lack and difference. Failure to distinguish properly between imaginary and symbolic relations often results in clinical impasses.
Role in Desire and Fantasy
The little other plays an important role in fantasy, particularly in relation to the objet petit a, the object-cause of desire. In fantasy formations, the little other may appear as:
- a rival who possesses the object of desire,
- an idealized figure embodying what the subject lacks,
- or a mirror-like figure through which desire is staged.
While desire is ultimately structured by the Big Other, its imaginary scenarios are frequently populated by little others who give desire a visible, image-based form.[4]
Clinical Significance
In psychoanalytic practice, many difficulties arise from imaginary fixations on little others—rivalries, identifications, idealizations, or grievances anchored at the ego level. A central task of Lacanian analysis is to help the analysand distinguish between:
- imaginary relations to little others, and
- symbolic relations structured by the Big Other.
Lacan warns that reducing the analytic relationship to an ego-to-ego interaction—treating the analyst as merely another person or rival—amounts to collapsing the symbolic into the imaginary. Proper analytic work depends on maintaining this distinction.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Evans, Dylan. An Introductory Dictionary of Lacanian Psychoanalysis. London: Routledge, 1996.
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Trans. Alan Sheridan. New York: W. W. Norton, 1977.
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book II: The Ego in Freud’s Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis (1954–1955). Trans. Sylvana Tomaselli. New York: W. W. Norton, 1991.
- ↑ Fink, Bruce. The Lacanian Subject: Between Language and Jouissance. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book XI: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. Trans. Alan Sheridan. New York: W. W. Norton, 1978.