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==Jacques Lacan==
===Paper==Early Work=====The concept of the [[mirror stage]] (also translated in [[English]] as "[[mirror stage|the looking-glass phase]]") was the subject of is [[Lacan]]'s first official important contribution to [[psychoanalysis|psychoanalytic theory]], when he propounded the concept to the at an [[mirror stage|Fourteenth International Psychoanalytical CongressIPA]] conference at [[mirror stage|Marienbad]] in 1936 (the original 1936 paper was never published, but a rewritten version appeared in 1949).
===Development===While apparently quite simple, the concept of the [[mirror stage]] takes on an ever-increasing complexity during the course of [[Lacan]]'s [[Jacques Lacan:Bibliography|work]], as he takes it up and reworks it in various different contexts. =Child Psychology==Child Psychology===
The "[[mirror stage|mirror test]]" was first described by the French psychologist and friend of [[Lacan]], Henri Wallon, in 1931, although [[Lacan]] attributes its discovery to Baldwin.<ref>{{E}} p.1</ref>
The six-month-old child differs from the chimpanzee of the same age in that the former becomes fascinated with its reflection in the [[mirror]] and jubilantly assumes it as its own [[image]], whereas the chimpanzee quickly realizes that the [[image]] is illusory and loses interest in it.
=====Structure of Subjectivity=====Lacan's concept of the [[mirror stageLacan]] (as opposed to Wallon's "[[mirror stage|mirror test]]") is far more than a mere experiment: concept of the [[mirror stage]] represents a fundamental aspect of the [[structure]] of [[subjectivity]].
Whereas in 1936-49, [[Lacan ]] seems to see it is a [[development|stage]] which can be located at a specific [[time]] in the [[development]] of the [[child]] with a beginning (six months) and an end (eighteen months),<ref>{{E}} p.5</ref> by the end of this period there are already signs that he is broadening the concept.
By the early 1950s [[Lacan]] no longer regards it simply as a moment in the life of the [[infant]], but sees it as also representing a permanent [[structure]] of [[subjectivity]], the paradigm of the [[imaginary]] [[|imaginary order]]; it is a stadium (''stade'') in which the [[subject]] is permanently [[captation|caught]] and [[captation|captivated]] by his own [[image]]:
<blockquote>[the mirror stage is] a phenomenon to which I assign a twofold value. In the first place, it has historical value as it marks a decisive turning-point in the mental development of the child. In the second place, it typifies an essential libidinal relationship with the body-image.<ref>{{L}} 1951b. "[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Some Reflections on the Ego]]," ''Int. J. Psycho-Anal.'', vol. 34, 1953: 14</ref></blockquote>
=====Dual Relationship=====
As Lacan further develops the concept of the [[mirror stage]], the stress falls less
on its "[[development|historical value]]" and ever more on its [[structure|structural value]].
<blockquote>The mirror stage is far from a mere phenomenon which occurs in the development of the child. It illustrates the conflictual nature of the dual relationship.<ref>{{S4}} p. 17</ref></blockquote>
=====Ego Formation=====
The [[mirror stage]] describes the formation of the [[ego]] via the process of [[identification]]; the [[ego]] is the result of [[identifying]] with one's own [[specular image]].
=====Prematurity of Infant=====
The key to this phenomenon lies in the [[helplessness|prematurity]] of the [[human]] [[infant|baby]]: at six months, the baby still lacks coordination.
However, its visual system is relatively advanoed, which means that it can recognize itself in the mirror before attaining control over its bodily movements.
The [[baby]] sees its own [[image]] as [[gestalt|whole]], and the [[dialectic|synthesis]] of this [[image]] produces a sense of contrast with the uncoordination of the body, which is experienced as a [[fragmented body]]; this contrast is first felt by the [[infant]] as a rivalry with its own [[image]], because the [[gestalt|wholeness]] of the [[image]] threatens the subject with [[fragmentation]], and the [[mirror stage]] thereby gives rise to an [[aggressivity|aggressive tension]] between the [[subject]] and the [[specular image|image]].
In order to resolve this [[aggressivity|aggressive tension]], the [[subject]] [[identifies]] with the [[image]]; this [[identification|primary identification]] with the [[counterpart]] is what forms the [[ego]].
The moment of [[identification]], when the [[subject]] assumes its [[image]] as its own, is described by [[Lacan]] as a moment of jubilation,<ref>{{E}} p. 1</ref> since it leads to an [[imaginary]] sense of [[master|mastery]]:
<blockquote>[the child's] joy is due to his imaginary triumph in anticipating a degree of muscular co-ordination which he has not yet actually achieved.<ref>{{L}} 1951b. "[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Some Reflections on the Ego]]," ''Int. J. Psycho-Anal.'', Vol. 34, 1953: 15; {{S1}} p. 79</ref></blockquote>
However, this jubilation may also be accompanied by a depressive reaction, when the [[child]] compares his own precarious sense of [[mastery]] with the omnipotence of the [[mother]].<ref>{{Ec}} p. 345; {{S4}} p. 186</ref>
=====Ideal Ego=====
This [[identification]] also involves the [[ideal ego]] which functions as a promise of future [[gestalt|wholeness]] which sustains the [[ego]] in [[time|anticipation]].
The [[mirror stage]] shows that the [[ego]] is the product of [[méconnaissance|misunderstanding]] ([[méconnaissance]] and the site where the [[subject]] becomes [[alienation|alienated]] from himself.
=====Imaginary and Symbolic=====
It represents the introduction of the [[subject]] into the [[imaginary order]].
The moment after the [[subject]] has jubilantly assumed his [[image]] as his own, he turns his head round towards this adult, who represents the [[big Other]], as if to call on him to ratify this [[image]].<ref>{{L}} ''[[Seminar X|Le Séminaire. Livre X. L'angoisse, 1962-3]]''. Unpublished. Seminar of 28 November 1962</ref>
=====Narcissism=====
The [[mirror stage]] is also closely related to [[narcissism]], as the story of [[Narcissus]] clearly shows (in the Greek myth, [[Narcissus]] falls in [[love]] with his own reflection).
=====See Also==
{{See}}
* [[Aggressivity]]
* [[Alienation]]
* [[Biology]]
||
* [[Captation]]
* [[Ego]]
* [[Gestalt]]
||
* [[Ideal ego]]
* [[Identification]]
* [[Imaginary]]
||
* [[Master]]
* [[Narcissism]]
* [[Other]]
||
* [[Psychology]]
* [[Specular image]]
{{Also}}
=====References=====
<references/>
* "[[Le stade du miroir comme formateur de la fonction du Je]]." ''[[Écrits]]''. Paris: Seuil, 1966: 93-100 ["[[The mirror stage as formative of the function of the I]]." Trans. [[Alan Sheridan]]. ''[[Écrits: A Selection]]''. London: Tavistock, 1977; New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1977: 1-7].
[[Category:Imaginary]]
[[Category:Development]]
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