The intermingling of imagination and reality. Thoughts on Chasseguet-Smirgel's theory of the unconscious

Journal/Book: Psyche Z Psychoanal Anwend. 2000; 54: Rotebuhlstrasse 77, D-7004 9 Stuttgart 1, Germany. Klett-Cotta Verlag. 599-618.

Abstract: The intermingling of imagination and reality. Thoughts on Chasseguet-Smirgel's theory of the unconscious. - In Chasseguet-Smirgel's view psychic structuring takes place with the help of unconscious images of father and mother making it possible to separate the pre-oedipal maternal world from the oedipal world of the father. Both in the interpretation of the way these images relate to the real parents and in the absence of a distinction between fantasized and real developments Chasseguet-Smirgel's approach involves an intermingling of imagination and reality. The author sees one of the reasons behind this in the tendency toward a dichotomization of the psychic apparatus: there is no ego that could reconcile the id and the super-ego.

Note: Article More A, Univ Hannover, Inst Psychol, Welfengarten 1, D-30167 Hannover, GERMANY

Zurück | Weiter