HC BIrrCr bIagC as CrmaIIVC

C IHC unCIICn
as CVCaCU n sCLCanatC XQCrCnCC
Lelirered on u( in Zuricb at tbe Steentb
1nteational Lo
q
ress o[1_cboana(sis
1heconceptonolthemrrorstagentroducedat ourIastcongresstlrteen
yearsago,lavngsnceLeenmoreorIessadoptedLytle!renclgroup,seems
wortlLrngngtoourattentononceagan-especaIItoda,giventleIglt
itshedsontle lunctonntleexperencepscloanaIssprovdesusolt.
!tshouIdLenoted tlat usexperencesetsusatoddsvtl anplIosopl
drectIystemmnglromtlecogiio.
Someolouma recaIl tleLelavoraI claracterstc !Legnvtltlats
expIanedLa lact olcomparatvepscloIogy. tlelumanclId,atan age
whenlesloraslortvlIe,LutloravlIenevertleIess.outdoneLtleclm-
panzeennstrumentaInteIIgence,canaIreadrecognzelsovnmageas
suchnamrror.JlsrecogntonsndcatedLtleIIumnatvemmcrol
theZ/o-1r/eluis, vlcl!lIerconsderstoexpressstuatonaIappercepton,
anessentiaImomentntleactolnteIIgence.
ndeed,tlisact,larlromexlaustingtseIl, asntlecase olamonke, n
eventuaIIacquredcontroI overtleuseIessness oltle mage, mmedateIy
gvesrise naclIdto aseries olgesturesnvlcllepIaluII experences
thereIanonslpLetveentlemovementsmadentlemageandthereIlected
environment,andLetveentlsvrtuaIcompIexandtlereaIttdupIcates
nameIy,tleclId'sovnLod, andtlepersonsandeventlngsaroundlm.
1hseventcantakepIace,asveknovlromBaIdvn'svork,lromtleage
oIsxmontlson tsrepettonlasoltengiven mepauseto reIlectupon tle
93
strikngspectacIeolanursIngnlrontolamrrorvlolasnotetmastered
94
crts
vaking,orevenstanding,LutvlotlougllednghtLsomeprop,luman
orartlca (vlat,n!rance,vecaaioiie-ll asortolvaker[over-
comes,nautterol|uLantactvt, tleconstrantsolls prop n orderto
adopta sglteanng-lorvardposton and take nannstantaneousvev
oltlemagenordertolxtnlsmnd.
nmvev,tlsactvtlasaspeclcmeannguptotleage oleglteen
montls,andreveasLothaLdnadnamsmtlatlasltlertoremanedproL-
ematcandanontoogcastructureoltlelumanvordtlatltsnvtlm
reectonsonparanoacknovedge.
tsullcestounderstandtlemrrorstagentliscontextas ou ideuii{couou,
n tle lusense anassgves to tle term:name, tle translormaton tlat
takespacentlesuL|ectvlenleassumesjassame] anmageanmagetlat
s seemng predestned to lave an ellectattlsplase,asvnessedLtle
usenanatctleorolantqut'sterm,"mago."
Jle|uLantassumptonjassom,iiou] oIlsspecuarmageLtlekindol
Lengsttrappednls motormpotence andnursngdependencetle
tte mansattleiu]ous stagetlus seemstometo manlestnanexempar
stuanontlesmLocmatrxnvlcltle1sprecptatednaprimordalorm,
prortoLengoL|ectledntledaectcoldentlcatIonvtltleotler,and
Leloreanguagerestorestot,ntleunversa,tslunctIonassuL|ect.
Jlslormvoud,moreover,lavetoLecaedtle"dea"'lvevanted
totransatetntoalamarregsterntlesensetlattvIasoLetleroot-
stockolsecondardentIcatons,tlsattertermsuLsumngtleLdnanor-
mazaton lunctons. uttle mportant pont s tlat tls lorm stuates tle
agencknovnastleego,priortotssocadetcrmnaton,nalctonadrec-
tontlatvloreverremanrreducLeloransngendvduaor, ratler,
tlatvonasmptotcaapproacltlesuL|ect'sLecomng,nomatterlov
successlutledaectcalsntlesesLvlcllemustresove,as1, lsdscor-
dancevtllsovnreat.
!orthetotaIlormollsLod,LvhclthesuL|ectantcpatesthematu-
9
rationol lspover namrage, sgventohmonasagestat,tlats, nan
exterortnvlcl,toLesure,tlslormsmoreconsttutvethanconsttuted,
Lutnvlcl, aLove a, t appearsto lm astle contour olls stature tlat
lreezes tandn a smmetr tlatreversest, n oppostontotle turLuent
movementsvthvhcltle suL|ectleesleanmatest. Jlrougltlesetvo
aspects olts appearance,tls gestatvhosepover j,rguouce] sloud Le
consderednkedtotlespeces,tlougltsmotorstesasetunrecognz-
aLesmLozestle1'smentapermanence,atthesametmeastprelgures
tsaenatngdestnation.Jlsgestatsasorepetevitltlecorrespondences
tlatuntetle7 vtltlestatueontovlclmanpro|ectslmsel,tleplantoms
!leMrrorStageasFormatveoltle1Functon

thatdomnatelm,andtleautomatonvtlvlcltlevordollsovnmak-
ngtendsto aclevelrutonnanamLguousreaton.
ndeedlormagosvloseveedlacesveanastsseeemergenourda
experenceandntlepenumLraolsmLocellectvenesstlespecuarmage
seemstoLetletlreslodoItlcvsLIevordlvetakentoaccounttlemr-
roreddspostonoltleimogo o]oue's ou lod nhaucnatonsanddreams
whetlertnvovesone'sndvidualeatures,orevenone'snlrmtesoroL|ect
pro|ecnons,orlvetakenoteoltleroeoltlemrrorapparatusntleappear-
anceoldoalles, nvlclpsclcareatesmanlesttlemsevestlataremore-
overleterogeneous.
1helacttlatagestatmalavelormatveellectsonanorgansmsattested
toLaLoogcaexpermenttlatssolarremovedlromtledeaolpscl-
calcausaIttlattcannotLrngtseltolormuatetselnsuclterms. Jle
expermentnevertleessacknovedgestlattsanecessarcondtonlortle
maturatonoltlelemaepgeon'sgonadtlattlepgeonseeanotlermemLer
oltsspecesregardessoltssextlscondtons souttersullcenttlat
thesameellectmaLeoLtanedLmerepacngamrror'sreIlectveled
neartlendvdua.Smlarntlecaseoltlemgratorocusttleslltvtln
aIamInelromtlesotartotlegregarouslormcanLeLrouglt aLout
hyexposnganndvduaatacertanstageoltsdeveopmenttotleexcu-
svevsuaactonolanmageakntotsovn,provdedtlemovementsol
thsmagcsullcentresemLetloseclaracterstcoltsspeces.Sucllacts
lal wtln a ream ollomeomorplc dentlcaton tlat s tsel suLsumed
9
6
wtlntlequestonoltlemeanngolLeautaslormatveanderogenous.
utmmetclactsunderstoodasleteromorplcdentIcatonareol|ust
asmuclnteresttousnsolarastlerasetlequestonoltlesgnlcatonol
space lor vng organsmspscloogca concepts lard seemng ess
appropraielorsleddnggltleretlantlerdcuousattemptsmadetoreduce
theselactstotle supposedsupremeavoladaptaton.YeneedLutreca
howIoger Caos (stoungandlresllromlsLreakvtltlesocoog-
ca schoo atvlclletraned)umnatedtle suL|ectvlenvtltle term
"legendarpsclastlena"lesuLsumedmorploogcammcrvtlntle
denazngellectoIanoLsessonvtlspace.
AsmseIlaveslovnlumanknovedgesmorendependenttlanan-
maknovedge Iromtle lorce ledoldesreLecauseoltle socaI daectc
thatstructureslumanknovedgeasparanoac,`Lutvlatmtststle "scant
reaty"surreastcunsatslactondenouncestleren. JlesereIlectonsead
metorecognzentlespatacapturemanlestedLtlemrrorstage,tleellect
nmanevenprortotlssocadaectcolanorgancnadequacollsnat-
uralrealtassumngvecangve somemeanngtotlevord"nature. "
crts
Jlelunctonoltlemrrorstagctlusturnsout,nmvev,toLeapartc-
uarcaseoltlelunctonolmagos,vlclstoestaLslareatonslpLetveen
an organsmandtsreator, astlesa, Letveentle 7uueueli andtle
Lmeli.
nman,lovever, tls relatonslptonaturc s ateredLacertandels-
cenceattleverleartoltleorgansm,aprmordaIscordLetraedLtle
sgnsolmaaseandmotoruncoordnatonoltleneonatamontls.JleoL|ec-
tvenotonsoltleanatomcancompetenessoltlepramdatractsandol
certanlumora resdues oltle materna organsmntlenevLorn conlrm
mvevtlatvelndnmana vertaLes,ecqc ,remaiari;y o]liri/.
97
LetusnotenpassngtlattlslactsrecognzedassuclLemLroogsts,
undertleleadng"letazaton,"asdetermnngtlesuperortoltlesocaed
lglercenters oltle centra nervous sstem, and especa oltle cereLra
cortexvlcl psclosurgca operatons v ead us to regard as tle ntra-
organcnrror.
Jlsdeveopmentsexperencedasatemporadaectctlatdecsvepro-
|ectstlendvdua'slormatonntolstor.tlemrrorstagesadramavlose
nternapressurepuslesprecptouslromnsullcenctoantcpatonand,
lortle suL|ectcaugltupn tle ure olspata dentIcaton, turns outlan-
tasestlatproceedlromalragmentedmageoltleLodtovlatvcaan
"ortlopedc"lormoltstotatandtotleInaldonnedarmorolanaen-
atngdentttlatvmarklsentrementadeveopmentvtltsrgdstruc-
ture. Jlus, tle slatterngoltle7uueueli to Lmeli crcegvesrseto an
nexlaustLlesquarngoltleego'saudts.
JlslragmentedLodanotlerexpressonlavegottenacceptedntotlc
!renclsclool'ssstemoltleoretcarelerencessreguarmanlestedn
dreamsvlentlemovementoIananass reaclesacertaneveolaggres-
sve dsntegraton oltlc ndvdua. t tlen appearsntle lorm oldscon-
nected mLs or ol organs exoscopca represented, grovng vngs and
taknguparmslornternapersecutonstlattlevsonarHeronmusBoscl
lxedloratmenpantng,ntlerascentntlellteentlcenturtotlemag-
narzentlolmodernman.ButtlslormturnsouttoLetangLleevenattlc
organc eve, ntle nes ol"lragzaton" tlatdelinetle lsterc'slantas-
matcanatom,vlclsmanlestednsclzodandspasmodcsmptoms.
Correatve,tle7 lormatonssmLozedndreamsLalortledcamp,
orevenastadum strLutng,Letveentlearenavtlntsvasandtsouter
Lorderolgrave-ptsandmarsles,tvoopposedledsolLattevleretlesuL-
| ectLogsdovnnlsquestlortleproud,remotennercastlevloselorm(some-
tmes|uxtaposedntlesamescenaro)strkngsmLozestled.Smar,
tlougllerentle mentasplere,velindlortledstructuresconstructed,the
TheMrrorStageasFormatveoltle Functon

metaphorslorvlclarsespontaneous,asldervnglromtlesuL|ect'sver
symptoms,todesgnatetlemeclansmsoloLsessveneuross.nverson,iso
9
8
laton,redupcaton,undongvlatlasLeendone,anddspacement.
utveretoLud ontlesesuL| ectve dataaonevereto somuclas
Ireetlem IromtleexperentacondtontlatmakesmevevtlemasLased
onaanguageteclniquemtleoretcalellortsvoudremanexposedtotle
chargeolapsngntotleuntlnkaLe,tlatolanaLsoutesuL|ect.Jlssvl
havesouglt. ntlepresentlpotlessgroundedn aconIIuence oloL|ec-
tivedata,amei/od o]smlolic redaciiou asmgudinggrd.
!testaLslesagenetcordernego de{uses, naccordancevtltlevsl
IormuatedLAnnareudntlelrstpartollermajorLook,andstuates(as
aganstalrcquentexpressedpre|udce)lstericarepressionandtsreturns
at amore arclacstage tlan oLscssve nverson and tssoatngprocesscs,
stuatngtleatterasprortotleparanoacaenatontlatdatesLacktotle
timeatvlcltlespecuar7 turnsintotlcsoca7.
1hs moment ar vlcl tle mirror stage comes to an end naugurates,
througldentilicatonvtltlc mago olone'ssemLaLe and tle drama ol
primorda |eaous (sovelLrougltoutLtle ClarotteBlersclooin
casesoltranstvsmnclildren)tledalectctlarvlencelortlnl tle
tosocaeaLoratedstuatons.
tsthsmomenttlatdecsvetpstlevloeollumanlnovedgejsovoirj
ntoLengmedatedLtleotler'sdesre,consttutestsoL|ectsn an aLstract
equvaenceduetocompettonlromorlerpeope,andturnstle1ntoanappa-
ratustovlclevernstinctuapressureconsttutesadanger,evenltcor-
responds to a natura maturaton process. Jle ver normazation oltlis
maturanonslencelortldependentnmanonculturanterventon,assexem-
pIedLtle lact tlat sexua oL|ectcloceisdependentupon tle Ledpus
compIcx.
ngtolmconcepton,tle term"prmarnarcssism," Lvlclana-
lytc doctrine desgnates tlc Ldna nvestment claracterstc ol tls
noment,reveasntlosevlonventedtaproloundavarenessolsemantic
latences.ButtasosledsgltontlednamcoppostonLetveentlisLdo
and sexua lLdo, an opposton tle tred to delne vlen tle nvoked
destructveandevendeatlnstnctsnordertoexpan tle oLvousreaton-
shpLetveennarcssstcLdoandtleaenating7 luncton,andtleaggres-
siveness derivng tlerelrom in a reatons vtl otlers, even in relations
invovingadoltlemostgood-Samaritanvaret.
1helactstlattleencounteredtlatexistenta negatvtvlosereat
sso vigorousprocamedL tle contemporar plilosopl olLengand
99
notlingness.
crts
!nlortunate,tlsplosoplgraspstlatnegatvtonvtlntlem-
ts ola sel'-sullcencolconscousness,vlcl,Lengoneoltspremses,
testleusonolautonomnvlcltputstslatltotleego'sconsttutve
msrecogntons.YletdravsconsderaLonLorrovngslrompscloan-
atc experence, tls nteectua exercse cumnates n tle pretense ol
groundnganexstentapscloanass.
ttleendolasocet's lstorcaenterprsetonoongerrecognzetlat
tlasanLutauttaranluncton,andgiven tlendvdua's anxet laced
vtltleconcentraton-camplormoltlesocankvloseappearanceseems
tocrovntlsellort,exstentasmcanLe|udgedontleLassoItle|ustlca-
tonstprovdeslortlesuL|ectvempassestlatdo,ndeed,resuttlerelrom.
a lreedomtlatsneverso autlentca allrmed asvlent s vtln tle
vas olaprson, a demand lorcommtment tlat expresses tle naLt oI
pure conscousness to overcome an stuaton, a voeurstc-sadstc dea-
zaton olsexua reatonslps, a personaty tlat acleves sel-reazaton
onnsucde,andaconscousnessoltleotlertlatcanonLesatsledL
Hegeanmurder.
JlesenotonsareopposedLtlevloeolanatcexperence,nsolaras
tteaclesusnottoregardtleego ascenteredontle,erce,iiou-couscioasuess
ssiem orasorganzedLtle "reatprncpe"tleexpressonolascen-
tIcLasmostlosteto tledaectc ollnovedgeLut, ratler, totakeas
ourpontoldeparturetle]auciiou o]misrecoguiiiou tlatclaracterzestleego
n a tle delensvestructures so lorceluartcuatedLnna!reud. !or,
vle lerueiuaug negaton] represents tle Latantlormoltlat luncton,ts
ellects reman arge atent as ong as tle are not umnated L some
reIlectedgltattleeveollatevleretledmanleststsel.
Jle nerta claracterstc oltle lormatonscan tlus Leunderstood as
provdngtleLroadestdelntonolneuross,|ustastlesub| ect`scaptureL
lsstuatongivesustlemostgeneralormuatonolmadnesstlelindlound
vtlntleasumvasasveastlelindtlatdealenstlevordvtltssound
andlur.
Jlesulleringsolneurossandpsclossprovdeus scloongntle pas-
sonsoltlesou,|ustastleLaancearmoltlepscloanatcscaesvlen
vecacuatetle ange oltstlreatto entrecommuntesprovdesusvtl
anamortzatonratelortlepassonsoltlect.
ttlsntersectonolnatureand cuture,sooLstnatescrutnzedLtle
antlropoogyolourtmes,pscloanassaonerecognzestlelnotolmag-
narservtudetlatovemustavasunteanevorsever.
!orsuclataskvecanlndnopromsenatrustcleeng,vevloaLare
TleMrrorStageasFormatveoItle Functon
theaggressvenesstlatunderiestleactvtesoltleplantlropst,tleide-
ast,thepedagogue,andeventlerelormer.
ntlesuL|ecttosuL|ectrecoursevepreserve,pscloanasiscanaccom-
panythepatenttotheecstatcimtoltle '/ca ori i/ai,' vleretlecpler
olhsmortadestnsreveaedtolim,Luttsnotinoursoepoverasprac-
titonerstoLrnglmtotlepontvleretletruej ourneLegins.
7oies
have !et stand the pecu!iar transIaton
adcpted n this artcIe Ior reud's 1deal1cb [e-
iJcg vthcut Iurther comment except to sa
that have nct mantaned t snce.
2. See CIaude Lvi-Strauss' essa entitIed
"L'eIIicact smbo!ique" n Feue de lbi-
ure des reliionc C777V (I 4). 527.
3. See on thIs pont, the texts that IoIIov
pages and I8O [Zcritc | 66|.