Difference between revisions of "Memory"
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| + | {{Top}}mémoire{{Bottom}} | ||
| − | The term "[[memory]]" | + | ==Jacques Lacan== |
| + | The term "[[memory]]" is used in two different ways in [[Lacan]]'s [[Works of Jacques Lacan|work]]. | ||
| − | ==Symbolic | + | ==Symbolic Order== |
In the 1950s, [[memory]] is understood as a phenomenon of the [[symbolic order]], related to the [[signifying chain]]. | In the 1950s, [[memory]] is understood as a phenomenon of the [[symbolic order]], related to the [[signifying chain]]. | ||
| + | ==Recollection== | ||
It is related to the concepts of [[remembering]] and [[recollection]], and opposed to [[imaginary]] reminiscence. | It is related to the concepts of [[remembering]] and [[recollection]], and opposed to [[imaginary]] reminiscence. | ||
| − | === | + | ==Biology and Psychology== |
| − | |||
[[Lacan]] makes it clear that his concept of [[memory]] is not a [[biological]] or [[psychology|psychological]] one. | [[Lacan]] makes it clear that his concept of [[memory]] is not a [[biological]] or [[psychology|psychological]] one. | ||
<blockquote>"The memory which interests psychoanalysis is quite distinct from what psychologists speak of when they display its mechanism to us in an animate being in an experiment."<ref>{{S3}} p.152</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>"The memory which interests psychoanalysis is quite distinct from what psychologists speak of when they display its mechanism to us in an animate being in an experiment."<ref>{{S3}} p.152</ref></blockquote> | ||
| + | ==Symbolic History of the Subject== | ||
For [[psychoanalysis]], [[memory]] is the [[symbolic]] [[history]] of the [[subject]], a [[chain]] of [[signifier]]s linked up together, a "signifying articulation."<ref>{{S7}} p.223</ref> | For [[psychoanalysis]], [[memory]] is the [[symbolic]] [[history]] of the [[subject]], a [[chain]] of [[signifier]]s linked up together, a "signifying articulation."<ref>{{S7}} p.223</ref> | ||
| − | Something is memorable and | + | Something is [[memory|memorable]] and [[memory|memorized]] only when it is "registered in the signifying chain."<ref>{{S7}} p. 212</ref> |
| − | + | In this sense, the [[unconscious]] is a sort of [[memory]],<ref>{{S3}} p. 155</ref> since "what we teach the subject to recognize as his unconscious is his history."<ref>{{E}} p. 52</ref> | |
| − | == | + | ==Psychoanalysis== |
| − | In the 1960s [[Lacan]] reserves the term "memory" for the [[biological]] or [[physiological]] concept of [[memory]] as an organic property.<ref>{{Ec}} p.42</ref> | + | The phenomena associated with [[memory]] which most interest the [[analyst]] are those moments when something goes wrong with [[memory]], when the [[subject]] cannot [[recollection|recall]] a part of his [[history]]. |
| + | |||
| + | It is the fact that he can forget, that a [[signifier]] can be elided from the [[signifying chain]], that makes the [[psychoanalytic]] [[subject]] distinctive.<ref>{{S7}} p.224</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Biology and Psychology== | ||
| + | In the 1960s [[Lacan]] reserves the term "[[memory]]" for the [[biological]] or [[physiological]] concept of [[memory]] as an organic property.<ref>{{Ec}} p. 42</ref> | ||
It thus no longer designates the [[symbolic]] [[history]] of the [[subject]] which is the concern of [[psychoanalysis]], but something which lies outside [[psychoanalysis]] altogether. | It thus no longer designates the [[symbolic]] [[history]] of the [[subject]] which is the concern of [[psychoanalysis]], but something which lies outside [[psychoanalysis]] altogether. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==See Also== | ||
| + | {{See}} | ||
| + | * [[Biology]] | ||
| + | * [[Recollection]] | ||
| + | || | ||
| + | * [[Signifier]] | ||
| + | * [[Signifying chain]] | ||
| + | || | ||
| + | * [[Subject]] | ||
| + | * [[Symbolic]] | ||
| + | {{Also}} | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
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[[Category:Concepts]] | [[Category:Concepts]] | ||
[[Category:Terms]] | [[Category:Terms]] | ||
| + | {{OK}} | ||
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| + | __NOTOC__ | ||
Revision as of 18:49, 24 August 2006
| French: mémoire |
Jacques Lacan
The term "memory" is used in two different ways in Lacan's work.
Symbolic Order
In the 1950s, memory is understood as a phenomenon of the symbolic order, related to the signifying chain.
Recollection
It is related to the concepts of remembering and recollection, and opposed to imaginary reminiscence.
Biology and Psychology
Lacan makes it clear that his concept of memory is not a biological or psychological one.
"The memory which interests psychoanalysis is quite distinct from what psychologists speak of when they display its mechanism to us in an animate being in an experiment."[1]
Symbolic History of the Subject
For psychoanalysis, memory is the symbolic history of the subject, a chain of signifiers linked up together, a "signifying articulation."[2]
Something is memorable and memorized only when it is "registered in the signifying chain."[3]
In this sense, the unconscious is a sort of memory,[4] since "what we teach the subject to recognize as his unconscious is his history."[5]
Psychoanalysis
The phenomena associated with memory which most interest the analyst are those moments when something goes wrong with memory, when the subject cannot recall a part of his history.
It is the fact that he can forget, that a signifier can be elided from the signifying chain, that makes the psychoanalytic subject distinctive.[6]
Biology and Psychology
In the 1960s Lacan reserves the term "memory" for the biological or physiological concept of memory as an organic property.[7]
It thus no longer designates the symbolic history of the subject which is the concern of psychoanalysis, but something which lies outside psychoanalysis altogether.
See Also
References
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p.152
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book VII. The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, 1959-60. Trans. Dennis Porter. London: Routledge, 1992. p.223
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book VII. The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, 1959-60. Trans. Dennis Porter. London: Routledge, 1992. p. 212
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p. 155
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 52
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book VII. The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, 1959-60. Trans. Dennis Porter. London: Routledge, 1992. p.224
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p. 42
