Difference between revisions of "Counterpart"
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The [[counterpart]] plays an important part in the [[intrusion complex]] and in the [[mirror stage]] (which are themselves closely related. | The [[counterpart]] plays an important part in the [[intrusion complex]] and in the [[mirror stage]] (which are themselves closely related. | ||
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| + | The [[intrusion complex]] is one of the three "family complxes" which [[Lacan]] discusses in his 1938 article on the family, and arises when the child first realizes that he has sinligns, that other subjects ''like him'' participate in the family structure. | ||
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| + | The emphasis here is on likeness; the child identifies with his siblings on the basis of the recognition of bodily similarity (which depends, of course, on their being a relatively small age difference between the subject and his siblings). | ||
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| + | It is this [[identification]] that gives rise to the "imago of the counterpart."<ref>Lacan, 1938: 35-9</ref> | ||
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| + | The [[iamgo]] of the [[counterpart]] is interchangeable with the [[image]] of the [[subject]]'s own [[body]], the [[specular image]] with which the [[subject]] [[identifies]] in the [[mirror stage]], leading to the [[formation]] of the [[ego]]. | ||
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| + | This interchangeability is evident in such phenomena as [[transitivism]], and illustrates the way that the [[subject]] constitutes his [[object]]s on the basis of his [[ego]]. | ||
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| + | The [[image]] of another person's [[body]] can only be [[identified]] with insofar as it is perceived as similar to one's own [[body]], and conversely the [[counterpart]] is only recognised as a [[separate]], [[identifiable]] [[ego]] by [[projection|projecting]] one's own [[ego]] onto him. | ||
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| + | In 1955 [[Lacan]] introduces a distinction between 'the [[big Other]]' and 'the [[little other]]' (or 'the [[imaginary other]]'), reserving the latter term for the [[counterpart]] and/or [[specular image]]. | ||
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| + | The [[counterpart]] is the [[little other]] because it is not truly [[other]] at all; it is not the radical [[alterity]] represented by the [[Other]], but the [[other]] insofar as he is similar to the [[ego]] (hence the interchangeability of a and a' in [[schema L]]). | ||
Revision as of 22:24, 3 August 2006
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The term "counterpart" plays an important part in Lacan's work from the 1930s on, and designates other people in whom the subject perceives a likeness to himself (principally a visual likeness).
The counterpart plays an important part in the intrusion complex and in the mirror stage (which are themselves closely related.
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The intrusion complex is one of the three "family complxes" which Lacan discusses in his 1938 article on the family, and arises when the child first realizes that he has sinligns, that other subjects like him participate in the family structure.
The emphasis here is on likeness; the child identifies with his siblings on the basis of the recognition of bodily similarity (which depends, of course, on their being a relatively small age difference between the subject and his siblings).
It is this identification that gives rise to the "imago of the counterpart."[1]
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The iamgo of the counterpart is interchangeable with the image of the subject's own body, the specular image with which the subject identifies in the mirror stage, leading to the formation of the ego.
This interchangeability is evident in such phenomena as transitivism, and illustrates the way that the subject constitutes his objects on the basis of his ego.
The image of another person's body can only be identified with insofar as it is perceived as similar to one's own body, and conversely the counterpart is only recognised as a separate, identifiable ego by projecting one's own ego onto him.
In 1955 Lacan introduces a distinction between 'the big Other' and 'the little other' (or 'the imaginary other'), reserving the latter term for the counterpart and/or specular image.
The counterpart is the little other because it is not truly other at all; it is not the radical alterity represented by the Other, but the other insofar as he is similar to the ego (hence the interchangeability of a and a' in schema L).
- ↑ Lacan, 1938: 35-9
