Changes

[[Lacan ]] places a special emphasis on the [[role ]] of the [[image]], defining [[identification ]] as “the transformation that takes [[place ]] in the [[subject ]] when he assumes an iamge” (E, 2). To “assume” an image is to recognize oneself in the image, and to appropriate the iamge as oneself.

[[Imaginary ]] identification is the [[mechanism ]] by which the ego is created in the [[mirror ]] [[stage]]; it belongs absolutely to [[the imaginary ]] [[order]]. When the [[human ]] [[infant ]] sees its [[reflection ]] in the mirror, it [[identifies ]] with that image. The [[constitution ]] of the ego by identification with something which is [[outside ]] the subject is what “structures “[[structures]] the subject as a rival with himself” (E, 22) and thus involves [[aggressivity ]] and [[alienation]]. The [[mirror stage ]] constitutes the ‘primary ‘[[primary identification]],’ and gives [[birth ]] to the [[ideal ]] ego.