Page 147 - DENG501_LITERARY_CRITICISM_AND_THEORIES

Unit 13: The Insistence of the Letter in the Unconscious—Jacques Lacan: An Introduction

Mirror Stage Notes
Lacan's first official contribution to psychoanalysis was the mirror stage, which he described as
"formative of the function of the I as revealed in psychoanalytic experience." By the early 1950s, he
came to regard the mirror stage as more than a moment in the life of the infant; instead, it formed
part of the permanent structure of subjectivity. In "the Imaginary order," their own image
permanently catches and captivates the subject. Lacan explains that "the mirror stage is a
phenomenon to which I assign a twofold value. In the first place, it has historical value as it marks
a decisive turning-point in the mental development of the child. In the second place, it typifies an
essential libidinal relationship with the body-image".
As this concept developed further, the stress fell less on its historical value and more on its
structural value. In his fourth Seminar, "La relation d'objet," Lacan states that "the mirror stage is
far from a mere phenomenon which occurs in the development of the child. It illustrates the
conflictual nature of the dual relationship."
The mirror stage describes the formation of the Ego via the process of objectification, the Ego being
the result of a conflict between one's perceived visual appearance and one's emotional experience.
This identification is what Lacan called alienation. At six months, the baby still lacks physical co-
ordination. The child is able to recognize themselves in a mirror prior to the attainment of control
over their bodily movements. The child sees their image as a whole and the synthesis of this image
produces a sense of contrast with the lack of co-ordination of the body, which is perceived as a
fragmented body. The child experiences this contrast initially as a rivalry with their image, because
the wholeness of the image threatens the child with fragmentation—thus the mirror stage gives
rise to an aggressive tension between the subject and the image. To resolve this aggressive tension,
the child identifies with the image: this primary identification with the counterpart forms the Ego.
Lacan understands this moment of identification as a moment of jubilation, since it leads to an
imaginary sense of mastery; yet when the child compares their own precarious sense of mastery
with the omnipotence of the mother, a depressive reaction may accompany the jubilation.
Lacan calls the specular image "orthopaedic," since it leads the child to anticipate the overcoming
of its "real specific prematurity of birth." The vision of the body as integrated and contained, in
opposition to the child's actual experience of motor incapacity and the sense of his or her body as
fragmented, induces a movement from "insufficiency to anticipation." In other words, the mirror
image initiates and then aids, like a crutch, the process of the formation of an integrated sense of
self.
In the mirror stage a "misunderstanding" (méconnaissance) constitutes the Ego-the "me" (moi)
becomes alienated from itself through the introduction of an imaginary dimension to the subject.
The mirror stage also has a significant symbolic dimension, due to the presence of the figure of the
adult who carries the infant. Having jubilantly assumed the image as their own, the child turns
their head towards this adult, who represents the big Other, as if to call on the adult to ratify this
image.
Other/Otherness
While Freud uses the term "other", referring to der Andere (the other person) and "das Andere"
(otherness), under the influence of Alexandre Kojève, Lacan's use is closer to Hegel's.
Lacan often used an algebraic symbology for his concepts: the big Other is designated A (for
French Autre) and the little other is designated a (italicized French autre). He asserts that an
awareness of this distinction is fundamental to analytic practice: "the analyst must be imbued with
the difference between A and a, so he can situate himself in the place of Other, and not the other."
Dylan Evans explains that:
1. The little other is the other who is not really other, but a reflection and projection of the Ego. He
[autre] is simultaneously the counterpart and the specular image. The little other is thus entirely
inscribed in the imaginary order.
2. The big Other designates radical alterity, an other-ness which transcends the illusory otherness
of the imaginary because it cannot be assimilated through identification. Lacan equates this

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