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The [[preoedipal phase]] is the [[stage]] of [[psychosexual development]] prior to the [[formation ]] of the [[Oedipus complex]].

The term emerges very late in [[Freud]]'s [[work]], in the context of his [[discussion ]] of [[female sexuality]].<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|Female Sexuality]]," 1931b. [[SE]] XXI, 223.</ref>

Before [[Lacan]], the [[preoedipal phase]] was usually represented as a '''[[dual relation]]''' between [[mother]] and [[child]] existing prior to any [[third]] term which could mediate it. However, [[Lacan]] argues that such an approach has the disadvantage of rendering the [[concept ]] unthinkable in [[psychoanalytic theory]].

[[Psychoanalysis]] deals exclusively with [[structure]], which requires a minimum of [[three]] [[terms]], and thus a [[preoedipal phase]] which is represented as a purely [[dual relation]] "cannot be conceived of in [[analytic ]] terms."<ref>{{E}} p. 197</ref> The [[child]] is never completely alone with the [[mother]], since there is always a [[third]] term.<ref>{{S4}} p. 240-1</ref> Hence when [[Lacan]] speaks of a [[preoedipal phase]], he presents it not as a [[dual relation]] but as a [[triangle]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 81</ref>

The third element in the [[preoedipal]] [[triangle]], which mediates the [[dual relation]] between the [[mother]] and the [[child]], is the [[phallus]], an [[imaginary]] [[object ]] which circulates between [[them ]] in a series of exchanges. In the [[seminar]] of 1957-8 [[Lacan]] speaks of this [[Imaginary]] [[triangle]] not as a [[preoedipal phase]] but as the first '[[time]]' of the [[Oedipus complex]]. Whether described as [[preoedipal]], or as a [[moment ]] in the [[Oedipus complex]] itself, the [[imaginary]] [[triangle]] of [[mother]], [[child]] and [[phallus]] arises when the [[infant]] perceives a [[lack]] in the [[mother]]. The [[infant]] realises that the [[mother]] is not completely [[satisfied]] with him alone, but [[desire]]s something else (the [[phallus]]). The [[child]] then seeks to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]], which involves him in a [[seductive]] [[game]] of [[lures]] in which the [[child]] "is never really there at the [[place]] where he is, and is never completely [[absent]] from the [[place]] where he is not."<ref>{{S4}} p.193; {{S4}} p. 223-4</ref>

In the [[seminar]] of 1956-7, where [[Lacan]] analyzes the [[case]] of [[Little Hans]],<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-Year-Old Boy]]," 1909. [[SE]] X, 3.</ref> he shows how, for a while, this game is [[satisfying]] for [[Hans]], and argues that there is [[nothing ]] inherent in it that would put an end to this [[preoedipal phase]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 226</ref> However, at some point something else intervenes which introduces a discordant note of [[anxiety]] into the [[game]]. This "something else" is the first stirring of the [[drive]], which manifests itself in ''[[infantile ]] [[masturbation]]''.<ref>{{S4}} p. 225-6</ref> The [[intervention ]] of the [[real ]] [[organ ]] in this way transforms the [[imaginary]] [[triangle]] into a [[death|deadly]] [[game]], an [[impossible]] task, in which the [[child]] is completely prey to the [[arbitrary ]] [[desire]] of the omnipotent devouring [[mother]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 69, 195</ref> The [[child]] is only saved from this [[death|deadly]] [[game]] by the intervention of the [[father]] as a fourth term, the [[father]] who rightfully claims possession of the [[phallus]] on the basis of a [[symbolic]] [[law]].

The interest of the [[preoedipal phase]] for [[Lacan]] does not only lie in its function in paving the way for the [[Oedipus complex]], but also in the fact that all the [[perversion]]s have their origin in this [[phase]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 193</ref> [[Perversion]] always involves some kind of [[identification]] with [[another ]] term in the [[preoedipal]] [[triangle]], whether it be the [[mother]], or the [[imaginary]] [[phallus]] (or both, as in [[fetishism]]).