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The term '==Mirror Stage==In the [[fragmented bodymirror stage]]' (the [[Frenchinfant]]:''corps morcelé'') is introduced by sees its [[Jacques Lacanreflection]] in his discussion of the [[mirror ]] as a [[whole]]/[[synthesis]], and this [[perception]] causes, by contrast, the [[perception]] of its own [[body]] (which [[lack]]s [[motor coordination]] at this [[stage]]) as [[division|divided]] and [[fragmentation|fragmented]].

==Critical DictionaryEgo Formation==In his early paper on the [[mirror stage]] (1949), [[Lacan]] refers to the [[imago]] of the [[fragmented body]], or [[image]]s of [[castration]] and evisceration, which express the [[subject]]'s feeling that the [[body]] [[lack]]s any substantial [[unity]]. The resultant [[anxiety]] stimulates the [[subject]]'s [[identification]] with the complete [[image]] in the [[mirror]], but the [[fragmented body]] always poses a [[threat]] to its [[unity]]. According to [[Lacan]], the [[imago]] of the [[fragmented body]] reappears when the [[analysis]] touches upon or provokes the [[aggressivity]] of the [[analysand]], and its [[existence]] helps to explain [[hysteria|hysterical]] [[symptom]]s such as [[paralysis]] of the limbs and the '[[phantom limb]]' [[syndrome]] in which an amputee feels [[pain]] in a limb that has been removed.  ==Mirror Stage and Ego Formation==In the [[mirror stage]] the [[infant]] sees its [[reflection]] in the [[mirror]] as a [[whole]]/[[synthesis]], and this [[perception]] causes, provoked by contrast, the [[perception]] of its own [[body]] (which [[lack]]s [[motor coordination]] at this [[stagefeeling]]) as [[division|divided]] and [[fragmentation|fragmented]].  The [[anxiety]] provoked by this feeling of [[fragmentation]] fuels the [[identification]] with the [[specular image]] by which the [[ego]] is [[formation|formed]].

The However, the [[anticipation]] of a synthetic [[ego]] is henceforth constantly threatened by the [[memory]] of this [[sense ]] of [[fragmentation]], which manifests itself in "[[images ]] of castration, emasculation, mutilation, dismemberment, dislocation, evisceration, devouring, bursting open of the body" which haunt the [[human ]] [[imagination]].<ref>{{E}} p.11</ref>

==Transference==These [[image]]s typically appear in the [[analysand]]'s [[dream]]s and associations [[free association|association]]s at a [[particular ]] [[phase ]] in the [[treatment]] - namely, the [[moment ]] when the [[analysand]]'s [[aggressivity]] emerges in the [[negative ]] [[transference]].

This moment is an important early [[sign]] that the [[treatment]] is progressing in the [[right ]] direction, i.e. towards the disintegration of the rigid [[unity]] of the [[ego]].<ref>{{L}} "[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Some Reflections on the Ego]]", ''Int. J. [[Psycho]]-[[Anal]].'', vol. 34, 1953 [1951b]: 13</ref>

==Illusion of Synthesis==In a more general sense, the [[fragmented body]] refers not only to [[image]]s of the [[physical ]] [[body]] but also to any sense of [[fragmentation]] and disunity:

<blockquote>"He [the [[subject]]] is originally an inchoate collection of desires - there you have the [[true ]] sense of the expression fragmented body."<ref>{{S3, }} p.39</ref></blockquote>

Any such sense of disunity dis[[unity]] threatens the [[illusion]] of [[synthesis]] which constitutes the [[ego]].

When a [[hysteria|hysterical]] [[paralysis]] affects a limb, it does not respect the [[physiological ]] [[structure ]] of the nervous [[system]], but instead reflects the way the [[body]] is [[divided ]] up by an '"imaginary anatomy'".

In this way, the [[fragmented body]] is "revealed at the [[organic ]] level, in the lines of fragilization that define the anatomy of [[phantasy]], as exhibited in the schizoid and spasmodic [[symptoms ]] of hysteria."<ref>{{E, }} p. 5</ref> ==Surrealism==The [[image]] of the [[fragmented body]] does not derive from [[Freud]].[[Lacan]] himself compares it to the [[hallucination|hallucinatory]] [[image|imagery]] of Hieronymus Bosch; it has been suggested that Lacan's [[imago]] is influenced by Hans Bellmer's [[photograph|photographs]] of a dismembered and rearranged doll.<ref>Bowie, Malcolm. ''Lacan''. London: Fontana, 1991.</ref>They are inspired by the artist's sexual obsession with a young girl and appeared in a surrealist journal to which Lacan contributed.Bowie's suggestion is therefore highly plausible, and provides a reminder of Lacan's debt to [[surrealism]].

{{See}}* [[mirror stageAggressivity]]* [[bodyAnxiety]]* [[lackCastration]]||* [[fragmentationEgo]]* [[anxietyGestalt]]* [[specular imageHysteria]]||* [[egoImaginary]]* [[aggressivityImago]]* [[illusionLack]]||* [[imaginaryMirror stage]]* [[transferenceSpecular image]]* [[hysteriaTransference]]{{Also}}

[[Category:EgoOK]]