Difference between revisions of "Agency"

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(Translator's Note)
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In the [[absence]] of any exact equivalent of [[Lacan]]'s [[French]] term, one is thrown back to the term used by [[Freud]]'s [[English]] translators, "[[agency]]".
 
In the [[absence]] of any exact equivalent of [[Lacan]]'s [[French]] term, one is thrown back to the term used by [[Freud]]'s [[English]] translators, "[[agency]]".
  
In [[Freud]], the reference is most often to the tree "[[agency|agencies]]" of the [[id]], [[ego]] and [[superego]].
+
In [[Freud]], the reference is most often to the three "[[agency|agencies]]" of the [[id]], [[ego]] and [[superego]].
  
 
In [[Lacan]], one must bear in mind the idea of an "[[agency|acting upon]]", even "[[agency|insistence]]," as in the title of the essay, "[[The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason Since Freud|L'instance de la letter]]".<ref>{{L}} "[[The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason Since Freud|L'instance de la lettre dans l'inconscient ou la raison depuis Freud]]." ''[[Écrits]]''. Paris: Seuil, 1966: 493-528 ["[[The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason Since Freud|The agency of the letter in the unconscious or reason since Freud]]." Trans. [[Alan Sheridan]] ''[[Écrits: A Selection]]''. London: Tavistock, 1977; New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1977: 146-78]. </ref>
 
In [[Lacan]], one must bear in mind the idea of an "[[agency|acting upon]]", even "[[agency|insistence]]," as in the title of the essay, "[[The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason Since Freud|L'instance de la letter]]".<ref>{{L}} "[[The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason Since Freud|L'instance de la lettre dans l'inconscient ou la raison depuis Freud]]." ''[[Écrits]]''. Paris: Seuil, 1966: 493-528 ["[[The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason Since Freud|The agency of the letter in the unconscious or reason since Freud]]." Trans. [[Alan Sheridan]] ''[[Écrits: A Selection]]''. London: Tavistock, 1977; New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1977: 146-78]. </ref>

Revision as of 01:33, 17 April 2009

French: instance, Instanz
Translator's Note

Lacan's use of the term "instance" goes well beyond Freud's "Instanz".

It represents, one might say, an exploitation of the linguistic possibilities of the French equivalent of Freud's German term.

In the absence of any exact equivalent of Lacan's French term, one is thrown back to the term used by Freud's English translators, "agency".

In Freud, the reference is most often to the three "agencies" of the id, ego and superego.

In Lacan, one must bear in mind the idea of an "acting upon", even "insistence," as in the title of the essay, "L'instance de la letter".[1]

See Also
References