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{{TopTopp}}[[complexe ]] de castration{{Bottom}} 

[[Freud]] first described the [[castration complex]] in 1908, arguing that the [[child]] -- on discovering the [[biology|anatomical]] [[sexual difference|difference between the sexes]] -- the [[presence]] or [[absence]] of the [[penis]] -- makes the assumption that this [[sexual difference|difference]] is due to the [[female]]'s [[penis]] having been cut off.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|On the Sexual Theories of Children]]". 1908. [[SE]] IX. p. 207</ref>  ===Infantile Theory===In his view, the [[castration complex]] is the [[moment ]] when one "[[castration complex|infantile theory]]" -- that every [[human]] [[being]] has a [[penis]] -- is replaced by a new one -- that [[female]]s have been [[castrated]]. The consequences of this new [[castration complex|infantile theory]] are different in the [[boy]] and in the [[girl]].  The [[boy]] fears that his own [[penis]] will be cut off by the [[father]] ([[castration]] [[anxiety]]), while the [[girl]] sees herself as already castrated (by the [[mother]]) and attempts to deny this or to compensate for it by seeking a [[child]] as a [[substitute ]] for the [[penis]] . These [[unconscious]] representations, in [[phantasy]], cover over the lack at the heart of being in the Other and allow the subject to imagine (feel) as though they are special or fulfilled (not [[penis envylacking]]). Fear of [[psychic]] castration is thus met with a phantasy which positions the subject as not lacking which props up the ego as being of central importance.

The [[castration complex]] affects both [[sex]]es because its [[appearance ]] is closely linked with the [[castration complex|phallic phase]], a moment of [[development|psychosexual development]] when the [[child]], whether [[boy]] or [[girl]], [[knows ]] only one [[penis|genital organ]] - the [[male]] one.  This [[phase ]] is also known as the [[castration complex|infantile genital organisation]] because it is the first moment when the [[drive|partial drive]]s are [[unified ]] under the primacy of the [[genital ]] organs.   It thus anticipates the [[genital|genital organisation]] proper which arises at [[development|puberty]], when the [[subject]] is aware of both the [[male]] and the [[female]] [[biology|sexual organ]]s.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|The Infantile Genital Organization]]." 1923. [[SE]] XIX. p. 141</ref>

[[Freud]] argued that the [[castration complex]] is closely linked to the [[Oedipus complex]], but that its [[role ]] in the [[Oedipus complex]] is different for the [[boy]] and the [[girl]].  ===Boy===In the [[case ]] of the [[boy]], the [[castration complex]] is the point of exit from the [[Oedipus complex]], its terminal crisis; because of his [[fear]] of [[castration]] -- often aroused by a [[fear|threat]] -- the [[boy]] renounces his [[desire]] for the [[mother]] and thus enters the [[development|latency period]]. ===Girl===In the case of the [[girl]], the [[castration complex]] is the point of entry into the [[Oedipus complex]]; it is her resentment of the [[mother]], whom she blames for depriving her of the [[penis]], that causes her to redirect her [[libido|libidinal]] [[desire]]s away from the [[mother]] and onto the [[father]].  Because of this [[sexual difference|difference]], in the case of the [[girl]] the [[Oedipus complex]] has no definitive terminal crisis comparable to the [[boy]]'s.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|The Dissolution of the Oedipus Complex]]," 1924. [[SE]] XIX p. 173</ref>

<!-- ===Treatment===--><!-- [[Freud]] came to see the [[castration complex]] as a [[universal ]] phenomenon, one which is rooted in a basic "[[rejection ]] of [[femininity]]" (''Ablehnung der Weiblich-keit'').  It is encountered in every [[subject]], and represents the ultimate [[limit ]] beyond which [[psychoanalytic treatment]] cannot go.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|Analysis Terminable and Interminable]]," 1937. [[SE]] XXIII. p. 211</ref>-->

<!-- ===Fantasy of the Mutilation of the Penis===--><!-- [[Lacan]] -- who talks more often [[about ]] "[[castration]]" than the "[[castration complex]]" -- does not discuss the [[castration complex]] very much in his early [[work]].  He dedicates a few paragraphs to it in his article on the [[family]], where he follows [[Freud]] in [[stating ]] that [[castration]] is first and foremost a [[fantasy]] of the mutilation of the [[penis]].  [[Lacan]] [[links ]] this [[fantasy]] with a [[whole ]] series of [[fantasy|fantasies]] of [[bodily ]] dismemberment which originate in the [[image]] of the [[fragmented body]]; this [[image]] is contemporary with the [[mirror stage]] (six to eighteen months), and it is only much later that these [[fantasy|fantasies]] of dismemberment coalesce around the specific [[fantasy]] of [[castration]].<ref>{{L1938}} 1938. p.44</ref> -->

<blockquote>"It is not until the mid-1950s that the [[castration complex]] comes insoluble by any reduction to play a prominent role in [[Lacan]]'s [[seminars|teaching]], primarily in [[the seminar of 1956-7biological]]givens."<ref>{{E}} p. 282</ref></blockquote>

It is in this [[seminar]] that [[Lacan]] identifies [[castration complex|castration]] as one of three forms of "[[lack|lack of object]]", the others being [[frustration]] and [[privation]].  Unlike [[frustration]] -- which is an [[imaginary]] [[lack]] of a [[real]] [[object]] -- and [[privation]] -- which is a [[real]] [[lack]] of a [[symbolic]] [[object]], [[castration complex|castration]] is defined by [[Lacan]] as a [[symbolic]] [[lack]] of an [[imaginary]] [[object]]; [[castration complex|castration]] does not bear on the [[penis]] as a [[real]] [[biology|organ]], but on the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 219</ref> [[Lacan]]'s account of the [[castration complex]] is thus raised out of the dimension of simple [[biology]] or [[biology|anatomy]]:  <blockquote>"It is insoluble by any reduction to biological givens."<ref>{{E}} p. 282</ref></blockquote> ===Oedipus Complex===Following [[Freud]], [[Lacan]] argues that the [[castration complex]] is the pivot on which the whole [[Oedipus complex]] turns.<ref>{{S4}} p. 216</ref> However, whereas [[Freud]] argues that these two [[complex]]es are articulated differently in [[boy]]s and [[girl]]s, [[Lacan]] argues that the [[castration complex]] always denotes the final moment of the [[Oedipus complex]] in both sexes.  ===Three Times===[[Lacan]] divides the [[Oedipus complex]] into three "[[Oedipus complex|times]]".<ref>{{S5}}; [[Seminar]] of 22 January 1958</ref> # In the first time, the [[child]] perceives that the [[mother]] [[desire]]s something beyond the [[child]] himself - namely, the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]] -- and then tries to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]] (see [[preoedipal phase]]). # In the second time, the [[imaginary]] [[father]] intervenes to deprive the [[mother]] of her [[object]] by promulgating the [[incest taboo]]; properly speaking, this is not [[castration complex|castration]] but [[privationsexes]].

[[Lacan]] [[divides]] the [[Oedipus complex]] into three "[[Oedipus complex|times]]".<ref>{{S5}}; [[Seminar]] of 22 January 1958</ref># In the first [[time]], the [[child]] perceives that the [[mother]] [[desire]]s something beyond the [[child]] himself - namely, the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]] -- and then tries to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]] (see [[preoedipal phase]]).# In the second time, the [[imaginary]] [[father]] intervenes to deprive the [[mother]] of her [[object]] by promulgating the [[incest taboo]]; properly [[speaking]], this is not [[castration complex|castration]] but [[privation]]. # [[castration complex|Castration]] is only realised realized in the [[third ]] and final time, which represents the "[[dissolution]]" of the [[Oedipus complex]]. It is then that the [[real]] [[father]] intervenes by showing that he really possesses the [[phallus]], in such a way that the [[child]] is [[forced]] to abandon his attempts to be the [[phallus]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 208-9, 227</ref>

It <!-- ==Two Operations== --><!-- From this account of the [[Oedipus complex]], it is then clear that [[Lacan]] uses the term "[[castration]]" to refer to two different operations. --><!-- ===Castration of the Mother===<!-- [[Lacan]] often uses the term "[[realcastration complex|castration]] " to [[fatherspeak]] intervenes by showing that he really posesses of the [[phalluscastration complex|castration]]-- or, in such a way that more precisely, the "[[privation]]" -- of the [[mother]]. In the [[first time]] of the [[childOedipus complex]] , "the mother is forced to abandon his attempts to be considered, by both sexes, as possessing the phallus, as the [[phallusphallic]]mother."<ref>{{S4E}} p. 208282</ref> By promulgating the [[incest taboo]] in the [[second time]], the [[imaginary]] [[father]] is seen to deprive her of this [[phallus]]. However, [[Lacan]] himself often uses these [[terms]] interchangeably, speaking both of the [[privation]] of the [[mother]] and of her [[castration complex|castration]].<!-- ===Castration of [[the Subject]]=== -9-><!-- This is [[castration complex|castration]] proper, 227<in the [[sense]] of being a [[symbolic]] [[act]] which bears on an [[imaginary]] [[object]]. Whereas the [[castration complex|castration]]/ref[[privation]] of the [[mother]] which comes about in the second time of the [[Oedipus complex]] negates the verb "to have" -- the [[mother]] does not have the [[phallus]], the [[castration complex|castration]] of the [[subject]] in the [[third time]] of the [[Oedipus complex]] negates the verb "to be" -- the [[subject]] must [[renounce]] his attempts to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]]. -->

===Two Operations===From this account of the [[Oedipus complex]], it is clear that [[Lacan]] uses the term "[[castration]]" to refer to two different operations. ====Castration of the Mother====[[Lacan]] often uses the term "[[castration complex|castration]]" to speak of the [[castration complex|castration]] -- or, more precisely, the "[[privation]]" -- of the [[mother]]. In the [[first time]] of the [[Oedipus complex]], "the mother is considered, by both sexes, as possessing the phallus, as the phallic mother."<ref>{{E}} p.282</ref>  By promulgating the [[incest taboo]] in the [[second time]], the [[imaginary]] [[father]] is seen to deprive her of this [[phallus]].  However, [[Lacan]] himself often uses these terms interchangeably, speaking both of the [[privation]] of the [[mother]] and of her [[castration complex|castration]]. ====Castration of the Subject====This is [[castration complex|castration]] proper, in the sense of being a [[symbolic]] [[act]] which bears on an [[imaginary]] [[object]].  Whereas the [[castration complex|castration]]/[[privation]] of the [[mother]] which comes about in the second time of the [[Oedipus complex]] negates the verb "to have" -- the [[mother]] does not have the [[phallus]], the [[castration complex|castration]] of the [[subject]] in the third time of the [[Oedipus complex]] negates the verb "to be" -- the The [[subject]] must renounce his attempts to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]].   In renouncing his attempts to be the [[object]] of the [[mother]]'s [[desire]], the [[subject]] gives up a certain ''[[jouissance]]'' which is never regained despite all attempts to do so: <blockquote>"Castration means that ''jouissance'' must be refused so that it can be reached on the inverted ladder (''l'èchelle renversè'') of the [[Law]] of [[desire]]."<ref>{{E}} p. 324</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>"[This] relationship to the phallus . . . is established without regard to the anatomical difference of the sexes."<ref>{{E}} p. 282</ref></blockquote> !-- ====Lack of the Mother==== -->On a more fundamental level, the term [[castration complex|castration]] may also refer not to an "operation" -- the result of an [[intervention ]] by the [[imaginary]] or [[real]] [[father]] -- but to a [[state ]] of [[lack]] which already [[exists ]] in the [[mother]] prior to the [[subject]]'s [[birth]]. This [[lack]] is evident in her own [[desire]], which the [[subject]] perceives as a [[desire]] for the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]].  That is, the [[subject]] realises at a very early [[stage ]] that the [[mother]] is not [[lack|complete]] and [[autonomy|self-sufficient]] in herself, nor fully [[satisfied]] with her [[child]] (the [[subject]] himself), but [[desire]]s something else.  This is the [[subject]]'s first [[perception ]] that the [[Other]] is not [[lack|complete]] but [[lack]]ing.

<!-- ==="Normalizing Effect"===Both forms of The [[castration complex]] presents the [[subject]] with a [[choice]]: to accept [[castration complex|castration]] or to deny it. [[Lacan]] argues that it is only by accepting (or "assuming") [[castration complex|castration]] that the [[subject]] can reach a degree of [[psyche|psychic]] [[perversion|normality]]. In other [[words]], the assumption of [[castration complex|castration]] has a "[[normalizing effect]]". This [[normalising effect]] is to be [[understood]] in terms of both [[motherpsychopathology]] ([[clinic]]al [[structure]]s and [[symptom]]s) and [[sexual identity]].-->===Clinical Structures===It is the [[refusal]] of [[castration complex|castration]] that lies at the root of all [[neurosis|psychopathological]] [[subjectstructure]]) present the s. However, since it is [[subjectimpossible]] with a choice: to accept [[castration complex|castration]] or entirely, a completely "normal" [[position]] is never achieved. The closest to deny such a position is the [[neurosis|neurotic]] [[structure]], but even here the [[subject]] still [[defends]] himself against the [[lack]] in the [[Other]] by repressing [[awareness]] of [[castration complex|castration]]. This prevents the [[neurotic]] from fully assuming his [[desire]], since "itis the assumption of castration that creates the lack upon which desire is instituted."<ref>{{Ec}} p. 852</ref>

[[Lacan]] argues that it is only by accepting (or "assuming") [[castration complex|castration]] that the [[subject]] can reach a degree of psychic normality.  In other words, the assumption of [[castration complex|castration]] has a "normalising effect".  This normalising effect is to be understood in terms of both [[psychopathology]] ([[clinic]]al [[structure]]s and [[symptom]]s) and [[sexual identity]]. ====Castration and Clinical Structures====It is the refusal of [[castration complex|castration]] that lies at the root of all [[neurosis|psychopathological]] [[structure]]s.  However, since it is impossible to accept [[castration complex|castration]] entirely, a completely "normal" position is never achieved. The closest to such a position is the [[neurosis|neurotic]] [[structure]], but even here the [[subject]] still defends himself against the [[lack]] in the [[Other]] by repressing awareness of [[castration complex|castration]].  This prevents the [[neurotic]] from fully assuming his [[desire]], since "it is the assumption of castration that creates the lack upon which desire is instituted."<ref>{{Ec}} p. 852</ref> =====Perversion=====A more radical [[defencedefense]] against [[castration complex|castration]] than [[repression]] is [[disavowal]], which is at the root of the [[perversion|perverse]] [[structure]].  =====Psychosis===== The [[psychotic]] takes the most extreme path of all; he completely repudiates [[castration complex|castration]], as if it had never existed.<ref>{{S1}} p. 53</ref> This [[repudiation ]] of [[castration complex|symbolic castration]] leads to the [[return ]] of [[castration complex|castration]] in the [[real]], such as in the [[form ]] of [[hallucinations]] of [[fragmented body|dismemberment]] (as in the case of the [[Wolf Man]]) or even [[self]]-mutilation of the [[real]] [[genital|genital organ]]s. ====Castration and Sexual Identity====It is only by assuming [[castration complex|castration]] (in both senses) that the [[subject]] can take up a [[sexual difference|sexual position]] as a [[man]] or a [[woman]].  The different modalities of refusing [[castration complex|castration]] find expression in the various forms of [[perversion]].