Changes

communication (communication) Most theories of communication  offered by modern linguistics are characterised by two important features.  Firstly, they usually involve a reference to the category of intentionality,  which is conceived of as coterminous with consciousness (e.g. Blakemore,  1992: 33). Secondly, they represent communication as a simple process in  which a message is sent by one person (the addresser) to another (the  addressee) (e.g. Jakobson, 1960: 21).  However, both these features are put into question by the specific experience  of communication in psychoanalytic treatment. Firstly, SPEECH is revealed to  possess an intentionality that goes beyond conscious purpose. Secondly, the  speaker's message is seen to be not merely directed at another but also at  himself; 'in human speech the sender is always a receiver at the same time'  (S3, 24). Putting these two points together, it can be said that the part of the  speaker's message which is addressed to himself is the unconscious intention  behind the message. When speaking to the analyst, the analysand is also addressing a message to himself, but is not aware of this. The task of the analyst is to enable the analysand to hear the message he is unconsciously addressing to himself; by interpreting the analysand's words, the analyst permits the analysand's message to return to him in its true, unconscious dimension. Hence Lacan defines analytic communication as the act whereby  'the sender receives his own message from the receiver in an inverted form' (Ec, 41).