Article published in:
Language and Dialogue
Vol. 7:3 (2017) ► pp. 432–451

The elusive transpositions

A situational, dialogical and sociological account of psychoanalysis

| University of Montréal (Canada)

Freud’s canonical account portrays the birth of psychoanalysis as the result of an inner observation of oneself located beyond the reach of social requirements. Yet an account of psychoanalytic theory that locates it in the context of the relationships in which it is used shows that the image of the intrapersonal relationship created by this theory, is actually a transposition of an interpersonal relationship: the portraying of an intrapersonal relationship thus offers a way to define a situation of interaction between social partners. This transposition allows different strategies of actions, which organize interactions by gauging them against norms of modern ‘contractual’ societies. In this way, the situational and dialogical account developed here locates psychoanalysis in its historical and social context.

Keywords: contract, drive theory, psychoanalysis, situational, theory of repression
Article outline
  • 1.An intellectualist account
    • 1.1The tamed will and the wild impulse
    • 1.2A new way of interacting
  • 2.A situational account
    • 2.1Carrying out Voloshinov’s research program
    • 2.2Genesis of the theory: Resistance from Bernheim to Freud
    • 2.3Structure of the theory: The author of an action and her witness
    • 2.4The requirements embedded in the theory
  • 3.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 27 November 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.7.3.06lam
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