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"[[repetition ]]" (rÈpÈtition[[Fr]]. ''[[répétition]]'') [[Freud]]'s most important discussion of the "[[repetition compulsion ]]" (''[[Wiederholungszwang]]'') occurs in ''[[Beyond the Pleasure Principle]] '' (1920g1920) where he links it to the concept of the [[death drive]]. Freud posited the existence of a basic compulsion to repeat in order to explain certain clinical data: namely, the tendency of the subject to expose himself again and again to distressing situations. It is a basic principle of psychoanalysis that a person is only condemned to repeat something when he has forgotten the origins of the compulsion, and that psychoanalytic treatment can therefore break the cycle of repetition by helping the patient remember (see [[Acting Out]]).

In Lacan's pre-1950s work[[Freud]] posited the [[existence]] of a basic [[compulsion to repeat]] in order to explain certain clinical data: namely, the concept of repetition is linked with that tendency of the [[complexsubject]] - an internalised social structure which the subject repeatedly to expose himself again and compulsively re-enacts. At this time Lacan often translates Freud's Wiederholungszwang as automatisme de rÈpÈtition, a term borrowed from French psychiatryagain to distressing situations. <ref>Pierre Janet, GaÎtan Gatian de ClÈrambault</ref>

While Lacan never completely abandons the term automatisme de rÈpÈtition, in the 1950s he increasingly uses the term 'insistence' (Fr. instance) to refer to the repetition compulsion. Thus repetition It is -- now defined -- as the insistence a basic principle of [[psychoanalysis]] that a person is only condemned to repeat something when he has forgotten the signifier, or the insistence origins of the signifying chaincompulsion, or and that [[psychoanalytic treatment]] can therefore break the insistence cycle of the letter (l'instance de la lettre); '[[repetition is fundamentally ]] by helping the insistence of speech.'<ref>S3, 242</ref> Certain signifiers insist on returning in the life of the subject, despite the resistances which block them. In [[schema Lpatient]] [[remember]], repetition / insistence is represented by the axis A-S, while the axis a-a' represents the resistance (or 'inertia') which opposes repetition.

The repetition compulsion manifests itself in analytic treatment in the In [[transferenceLacan]]'s pre-1950s work, whereby the analysand repeats in his relationship to the analyst certain attitudes which characterised his earlier relationships with his parents and others. Lacan lays great emphasis on this concept of [[Symbolicrepetition]] aspect is linked with that of transference, distinguishing it from the [[Imaginarycomplex]] dimension of transference (- an internalised social [[structure]] which the affects of love [[subject]] repeatedly and hate)compulsively re-enacts.<ref>(S8, 204</ref> However, Lacan points out that although the repetition compulsion manifests itself perhaps most clearly in the transference, it is not in itself limited to the transference; in itself, 'the concept of repetition has nothing to do with the concept of transference.'<ref>Sll, 33</ref>

At this time [[Lacan]] often translates [[Freud]]'s ''[[Wiederholungszwang]]'' as ''[[automatisme de répétition]]'', a term borrowed from [[French]] [[psychiatry]].<ref>Pierre Janet, GaÎtan Gatian de ClÈrambault</ref> -- While [[Lacan]] never completely abandons the term ''[[automatisme de répétition]]'', in the 1950s he increasingly uses the term "[[insistence]]" ([[Fr]]. ''[[instance]]'') to refer to the [[repetition compulsion]].  Thus [[repetition]] is -- now defined -- as the [[insistence]] of the [[signifier]], or the [[insistence]] of the [[signifying chain]], or the [[insistence]] of the [[letter]] (''l'instance de la lettre''). <blockquote>"Repetition is fundamentally the insistence of speech."<ref>{{S3}} p.242</ref></blockquote> Certain [[signifier]]s insist on returning in the life of the [[subject]], despite the [[resistance]]s which block them.  In [[schema L]], [[repetition]] / [[insistence]] is represented by the axis A-S, while the axis ''a''-''a''' represents the [[resistance]] (or 'inertia') which opposes [[repetition]]. -- In the 1960s, [[repetition]] is redefined as the return of ''[[jouissance]]'', an excess of [[enjoyment]] which returns again and again to [[transgress]] the limits of the [[pleasure principle]] and seek [[death]].<ref>{{S17}} p.51</ref> -- The [[repetition compulsion]] manifests itself in [[treatment|analytic treatment]] in the [[transference]], whereby the [[analysand]] repeats in his relationship to the [[analyst]] certain attitudes which characterised his earlier relationships with his parents and others.  [[Lacan]] lays great emphasis on this [[symbolic]] aspect of [[transference]], distinguishing it from the [[imaginary]] dimension of [[transference]] (the [[affect]]s of [[love]] and [[hate]]).<ref>{{S8}} p.204</ref>  However, [[Lacan]] points out that although the [[repetition compulsion]] manifests itself perhaps most clearly in the [[transference]], it is not in itself limited to the [[transference]]; in itself, "the concept of repetition has nothing to do with the concept of transference."<ref>{{S11}} p.33</ref> [[Repetition ]] is the general characteristic of the [[signifying chain]], the manifestation of the [[unconscious ]] in every [[subject]], and [[transference ]] is only a very special form of [[repetition ]] (i.e. it is [[repetition ]] within [[psychoanalytic treatment]]), which cannot simply be equated with the [[repetition compulsion ]] itself. <ref>S8, 208</ref> ==See Also==* [[Death drive]]* [[Transference]] ==References==<references/>