Difference between revisions of "Complex"

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A complex is the more- or less-repressed standardization of emotionally strong conflictual experiences. When these experiences are triggered, either by certain themes (such as new pieces of information), or emotions (in which case they are called "constellations"), the complex produces a reaction, such that the individual perceives the situation in terms of the complex (with a distortion of perception), and responds with an emotional overreaction, which mobilizes the processes of stereotyped defense.
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{{Top}}complexe{{Bottom}}
  
Carl Gustav Jung developed his concept of the complex at the same time as he was engaged in his experiments with association. It is within this context that the concept appeared for the first time, in 1904, in an essay called "Experimentelle Untersuchungen über Assoziationen Gesunder" ("The associations of normal subjects," with Franz Riklin). But he had already used the term, without any particular specificity, in his thesis of 1902.
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==Complex and Imago==
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The term "[[complex]]" occupies an important [[place]] in [[Lacan]]'s [[Works of Jacques Lacan|work]] before 1950, where it is closely related to the [[imago]].
  
When, at the turn of the century, Jung and Riklin eagerly turned to research on association in order to construct typologies, they studied what they considered normal disturbances of experience. They showed that a test subject could not uniformly form associations with ideas that were attached to highly emotionally-charged experiences and personal difficulties. They went on to hypothesize that such complexes might constitute the background of consciousness, and that in any neurosis of psychical origin, there would be a complex characterized by a particularly strong emotional charge.
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Whereas the [[imago]] designates an [[imaginary]] stereotype relating to one person, the [[complex]] is a [[whole]] constellation of interacting [[imago]]s; it is the [[internalization]] of the [[subject]]'s earliest [[structure|social structure]]s (i.e. the relationships between the various actors in his [[family]] [[environment]]).
  
Later, in 1907, Jung established that any event charged with affect gives rise to a complex and reinforces those that are already in place. Complexes act from the unconscious and can at any moment either inhibit, or on the contrary, activate conscious behavior. They reveal conflicts, but are also defined by Jung as crucial hot points of psychic life.
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A [[complex]] involves multiple [[identification]]s with all the interacting ''[[imago]]s'', and thus provides a script according to which the [[subject]] is led "to play out, as the sole actor, the drama of conflicts' between the members of his family."<ref>{{Ec}} p.90</ref>
  
In 1934, Jung summarized his theory of complexes and emphasized that, even outside of the effects of any individual constellation, complexes involve the active forces that determine the interests of everyone and thus serve as the basis for the symbol formation. This conception of complexes, which he continued to develop afterwards, led him to emphasize their creative effects. From a therapeutic perspective, this is an important aspect of his psychology and his clinical work. From it he developed the idea of promoting creative development through the integration of complexes. This idea plays a large role in many of the techniques developed by the Jungian school. Finally, it is from this insight that Jung came to see archetypes at the heart of complexes.
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==Complex and Instinct==
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In his pre-war [[work]], [[Lacan]] argues that it is because [[human]] [[psychology]] is based on the [[complex]]es, which are entirely [[cultural]] products, rather than on [[natural]] [[instinct]]s, that [[human]] [[behaviour]] cannot be explained by reference to [[biological]] givens.  
  
The experiments in association, as well as the concepts of the complex-ego, of the symbol and the archetype, imagination and emotion, and transference and counter-transference, all refer to Jung's idea that the complex is caused by the painful confrontation of the individual with the "necessity to adapt." Thus the very concept of complexes takes on an even more dynamic dimension: each one appears as an effect of the condensation and generalization of experiences that might, at any moment, be associated by analogy with a new piece of information or emotion. This is why the concept takes on decisive importance for understanding what is at play in the transference and the counter-transference.
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Nevertheless, while drawing this [[explicit]] contrast between [[complex]]es and [[instinct]]s, [[Lacan]] also recognizes that [[complex]]es may be compared to [[instinct]]s in that they make up for the [[instinct]]ual inadequacy (''insuffisance vitale'') of the [[human]] [[infant]], and argues that the [[complex]]es are propped on [[biological]] functions such as [[weaning]].<ref>{{1938}} p.32-3</ref>
  
VERENA KAST
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==Family Complexes==
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In 1938 [[Lacan]] [[identifies]] [[three]] "[[family complexes]]," each of which is the trace of a "[[psychical]] crisis" which accompanies a "[[life]] crisis."
  
See also: Castration complex; Dead mother complex; "On the History of the Psychoanalytic Movement"; Libidinal development; Ethnopsychoanalysis; Identification; Imago; Masculine protest (analytical psychology); Penis envy; Phallus; Primal fantasies; Primitive horde; Psychanalyse et Pédiatrie (psychoanalysis and pediatrics); Psychoanalysis of Fire, The; Repression; Sexual differences;Structural theories; Word association; Word-Presentation.
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===Weaning Complex===
Bibliography
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The first of these [[complex]]es is the [[weaning|weaning complex]] (''[[complexe du sevrage]]''). Taking up the [[idea]] of a "trauma of weaning," first developed by René Laforgue in the 1920s, [[Lacan]] argues that no matter how late [[weaning]] occurs, it is always perceived by the [[infant]] as coming too early.
  
    * Jung, Carl Gustav. (1902). On the psychology and the pathology of the so-called occult phenomena. In Coll. works, vol. I. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1957.
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<blockquote>"Whether [[trauma]]tic or not, [[weaning]] leaves in the [[human]] [[psyche]] a permanent trace of the [[biological]] relation which it interrupts. This life crisis is in effect accompanied by a psychical crisis, without [[doubt]] the first whose solution has a [[dialectic]]al [[structure]]."<ref>{{1938}} p.27</ref></blockquote>
    * ——. (1904). The associations of normal subjects. In Coll. works, vol. II. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul.
 
    * ——. (1907). The psychology of dementia præcox. In Coll. works, vol. III. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
 
    * ——. (1934 [1948]). A review of the complex theory. In Coll. works, vol. VIII. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
 
    * Kast, Verena. (1992). The Dynamics of Symbols: Fundamentals of Jungian Psychotherapy. (Susan A. Schwarz, Trans.). New York: Fromm International Publishing Corporation.
 
  
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===Intrusion Complex===
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After the [[weaning]] [[complex]] comes the [[intrusion complex]] (''[[complexe de l'intrusion]]''), which represents the [[experience]] that the [[child]] has when he realizes that he has siblings.  The [[child]] must then cope with the fact that he is no longer the exclusive [[object]] of his [[parents]]' attention.
  
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===Oedipus Complex===
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The [[third]] and final [[family complex]] is the [[Oedipus Complex]].  After their [[appearance]] in the 1938 paper, the [[terms]] "[[weaning complex]]" and "[[intrusion complex]]" [[disappear]] almost completely from [[Lacan]]'s [[Works of Jacques Lacan|work]].  However, the [[Oedipus complex]] remains a fundamental reference point throughout, and this is complemented by a growing interest, from 1956 on, in the [[castration complex]].
  
==new==
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==See Also==
 
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{{See}}
The term 'complex' (''complexe'') occupies an important place in Lacan's work before 1950, where it is closely related to the [[image]].
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* [[Biology]]
 
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* [[Castration complex]]
Whereas the imago designates an imaginary stereotype relating to one person, the complex is a whole constellation of interacting imagos; it is the internalisation of the subject's earliest social structures (i.e. the relationships between the various actors in his family nvironment).
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* [[Culture]]
 
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A complex involves multiple identifications with all the interacting imagos, and thus provides            a script according to which the subject is led 'to play out, as the sole actor, the drama of conflicts' between the members of his family.<ref>Ec, 90</ref>
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* [[Development]]
 
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* [[Imago]]
 
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* [[Intrusion complex]]
In his pre-war work, Lacan argues that it is because human psychology is based on the complexes, which are entirely cultural products, rather than on natural [[instinct]]s, that human behaviour cannot be explained by reference to biological givens.
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||
 
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* [[Instinct]]
Nevertheless, while drawing this explicit contrast between complexes and instincts, Lacan also recognises that complexes may be compared to instincts in that they make up for the instinctual inadequacy (insuffisance vitale) of the human infant, and argues that the complexes are propped on biological functions such as weaning.<ref>Lacan, 1938: 32-3</ref>
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* [[Nature]]
 
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* [[Oedipus complex]]
 
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||
In 1938 Lacan identifies three 'family complexes', each of which is the trace of a 'psychical crisis' which accompanies a 'life crisis'.
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* [[Structure]]
 
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* [[Subject]]
The first of these complexes is the weaning complex (complexe du sevrage).
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* [[Weaning|Weaning complex]]
 
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{{Also}}
Taking up the idea of a 'trauma of weaning', first developed by RenÈ Laforgue in the 1920s, Lacan argues that no matter how late weaning occurs, it is always perceived by the infant as coming too early.
 
 
 
 
 
Whether traumatic or not, weaning leaves in the human psyche a permanent trace of the biological relation which it interrupts.
 
 
 
This life crisis is in effect accompanied by a psychical crisis, without doubt the first whose solution has a dialectical structure. (Lacan, 1938: 27)
 
 
 
After the weaning complex comes the intrusion complex (complexe de l'intrusion), which represents the experience that the child has when he realises that he has siblings.
 
 
 
The child must then cope with the fact that he is no longer the exclusive object of his parents' attention. The third and final family complex is the [[Oedipus Complex]].
 
 
 
After their appearance in the 1938 paper, the terms 'weaning complex' and 'intrusion complex' disappear almost completely from Lacan's work (there is a brief reference to them in 1950, but little else; Ec, 141).
 
 
 
However, the Oedipus complex remains a fundamental reference point throughout, and this is complemented by a growing interest, from 1956 on, in the [[Castration Complex]].
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
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Latest revision as of 04:26, 24 May 2019

French: complexe

Complex and Imago

The term "complex" occupies an important place in Lacan's work before 1950, where it is closely related to the imago.

Whereas the imago designates an imaginary stereotype relating to one person, the complex is a whole constellation of interacting imagos; it is the internalization of the subject's earliest social structures (i.e. the relationships between the various actors in his family environment).

A complex involves multiple identifications with all the interacting imagos, and thus provides a script according to which the subject is led "to play out, as the sole actor, the drama of conflicts' between the members of his family."[1]

Complex and Instinct

In his pre-war work, Lacan argues that it is because human psychology is based on the complexes, which are entirely cultural products, rather than on natural instincts, that human behaviour cannot be explained by reference to biological givens.

Nevertheless, while drawing this explicit contrast between complexes and instincts, Lacan also recognizes that complexes may be compared to instincts in that they make up for the instinctual inadequacy (insuffisance vitale) of the human infant, and argues that the complexes are propped on biological functions such as weaning.[2]

Family Complexes

In 1938 Lacan identifies three "family complexes," each of which is the trace of a "psychical crisis" which accompanies a "life crisis."

Weaning Complex

The first of these complexes is the weaning complex (complexe du sevrage). Taking up the idea of a "trauma of weaning," first developed by René Laforgue in the 1920s, Lacan argues that no matter how late weaning occurs, it is always perceived by the infant as coming too early.

"Whether traumatic or not, weaning leaves in the human psyche a permanent trace of the biological relation which it interrupts. This life crisis is in effect accompanied by a psychical crisis, without doubt the first whose solution has a dialectical structure."[3]

Intrusion Complex

After the weaning complex comes the intrusion complex (complexe de l'intrusion), which represents the experience that the child has when he realizes that he has siblings. The child must then cope with the fact that he is no longer the exclusive object of his parents' attention.

Oedipus Complex

The third and final family complex is the Oedipus Complex. After their appearance in the 1938 paper, the terms "weaning complex" and "intrusion complex" disappear almost completely from Lacan's work. However, the Oedipus complex remains a fundamental reference point throughout, and this is complemented by a growing interest, from 1956 on, in the castration complex.

See Also

References