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[[Schema L]] <ref>[[French]]: ''[[schéma L]]''</ref> ==Jacques Lacan== ==Formalization==The various '"[[schemata]]' " that begin to appear in [[Lacan]]'s [[work ]] in the 1950s are all attempts to [[formaliseformalize]] by means of [[diagrams ]] certain aspects of [[psychoanalytic theory]].

The [[schemata]] all consist of a [[number ]] of points connected by a number of vectors.

==Algebra==Each point in a [[schema]] is designated by one of the [[symbol]]s of [[Lacan]]ian [[algebra]], while the vectors how the [[structure|structural relations ]] between these [[symbol]]s.

This [[schema]] is designated "''L' '" because it resembles the upper-[[case ]] Greek ''lambda''.<ref>{{Ec}} p.53</ref>

[[Lacan ]] first introduces the [[schema]] in 1955, and it occupies a central [[place ]] in his work for the next few years.<ref>{{S2}} p.243</ref>

Two years later, [[Lacan]] replaces this version of the [[schema]] with a newer, "simplified [[form]]."<ref>{{Ec}} p.548; {{E}} p.193</ref>

==Readings==Although [[schema L]] allows many possible readings, the main point of the [[schema]] is to demonstrate that the [[symbolic]] relation (between the [[Other]] and the [[subject]]) is always blocked to a certain extent by the [[Imaginaryimaginary]] axis (between the [[ego]] and the [[specular image]]).

Because it has to [[pass ]] through the [[imaginary]] "wall of [[language']], " the [[discourse]] of the [[Other]] reaches the [[subject]] in an interrupted and [[inversion|inverted form]]. (see [[communication]])

==Treatment==This is of [[practical ]] importance in the [[treatment]], since the [[analyst]] must usually intervene in the [[symbolic]] [[order]] rather than in the [[imaginary]].

Thus the [[schema]] also shows the [[position ]] of the [[analyst ]] in the [[treatment]]:

<blockquote>"If one wants to position the [[analyst]] within this [[schema]] of the [[subject]]'s [[speech]], one can say that he is somewhere in A. At least he should be. If he enters into the coupling of the [[resistance]], which is just what he is taught not to do, then he speaks from a' and he will see himself in the [[subject]]."<ref>{{S3}} p. 161-2</ref></blockquote>

At least he should ==Intersubjective Relations==By positioning different elements in the four empty loci of the [[schema]], [[schema L]] can beused to analyze various sets of relations encountered in [[psychoanalytic treatment]].

If he enters into the coupling of the [[resistance]], which is just what he is taught not to do, then he speaks from a' and he will see himself in the [[subject]]. <ref>{{S3}} 161-2</ref> By positioning different elements in the four empty loci of the [[schema]], [[schema L]] can be used to analyse various sets of relations encountered in [[psychoanalytic treatmen]]t.  For example [[Lacan]] uses it to [[analyse ]] the relations between [[Dora]] and the other [[people ]] in her story, <ref>{{S4}} p.142-3</ref> and also to analyse the relations between the various people in the case of the young [[homosexual]] [[Woman]].<ref>{{S4}} p.124-33</ref>.

Thus it illustrates the [[decentering]] of the [[subject]], since the [[subject]] is not to be located only at the point marked '''S''', but over the [[whole ]] [[schema]].

<blockquote>"He is stretched over the four corners of the [[schema]]."<ref>{{E}} p.194</ref></blockquote>

==Other Schemata==In addition to [[schemaL]] L there are several other [[schemata]] that appear in [[Lacan]]'s work <ref>schema R - see E, 197; ([[schemaR]] ; schema I - see ;<ref>{{E}} p. 197, 212; </ref> the two [[schemata]]of [[Sade - see ]]<ref>{{Ec, }} p.774 and Ec, 778</ref>. )

All of these [[schemata]] are transformations of the basic [[quaternary]] of [[schemaL]] L, on which they are based.

However, unlike [[schema L]], which serves as a constant point of reference for [[Lacan]] in the period 1954-7, each of these [[schemata]] only appears once in [[Lacan]]'s work.

By the [[time ]] the last of these [[schemata]] (the [[schemata]] of [[Sade]]) appear, in 1962, the [[schemata]] have already ceased to play an important part in [[Lacan]]'s [[discourse]], although it can be argued that they lay the groundwork for [[Lacan]]'s more rigorous [[topological]] work in the 1970s.

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[[Category:Jacques [[Lacan]]]]