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Lacan Introduction Part X (Repetition, Repression, and

Regression) by Kevin Boileau
January 4, 2013 by kcbepis

Today, I’d like to continue our discussion about Lacan’s 3rd fundamental concept in
psychoanalysis, which involves the constellation of repression, repetition, and regression.
Recall that the basic problem is a) to construct an adequate philosophy of mind and b) if
that construction involves both conscious and unconscious elements, to provide a cogent
account of how they are joined.

Lacan replaces Freud’s notion that repetition is a compulsion accomplished to master

neurosis by the notion that it [the symptom] is a metaphor for an untranslated unconscious
message. Temporally, Lacan also replaces Freud’s idea that reminiscence and clarification
are salubrious by focusing on the present. This phenomenological notion he borrows from
Kierkegaard’s notion of identity, asserting that the moi relives itself every instant (this idea
is dangerously close to Sartre’s theory about the fixation of the bedrock of the ego through
early fixations of value and self-identity which play out in sado-masochistic life ontologies)
through rememoration processes. Also, in contrast to Freud’s notion that repetition is a
manifestation of the death instinct, Lacan views it as a triumph (stemming from the mirror
stage) over death (through the drive toward constancy). We can see here how the Other A
returns over and over again in each moment as an integral element in infinite quest for
identity. Finally, we can see how the repressed part of the self constantly seeks itself
through cultural and social expression by repeating itself over and over. A Hegelian way of
understanding identity is through the tension between moi fixations and the infinite series of
substitutions that operate through Desire. Aristotle’s idea that the whole is contained in the
part and Sartre’s idea that the ontological structure of a human is preserved from moment
to moment in identity choices are, therefore, “repeated” in Lacan’s theory of identity.

Instead of repression being a part of Freudian-type symptoms that are compromise

formations, Lacan interprets repression as a two-level fracturing of conscious life. Primary
repression is a fixed, primary signifying chain that gets set during and before the mirror
stage. In contrast to Freud, it is neither sexuality nor affect that is repressed; instead, it is
the earliest representations of desire toward the original Other. Secondary repression acts
as a screen of sorts of the first, and creates an unconscious barrier between consciousness
and perception, which leads to a misrecognition of the self. Because the original repression
is hidden, the moi self is always being denied and acts, therefore, as a principle of negation
(which can be explained as part of a Hegelian dielectic, in my opinion). More intriguing is
the notion that primary repression and secondary repression move in divergent directions,
displacing affect in the primary repressed representation from what is happening in
conscious experience. However, notwithstanding this displacement, primary repression
conditions secondary repression, thereby creating two representational dimensions. These
repressions can be recognized often by repetitions, heavy emotional valence, and irruptions
in speech by both the sender of the communication and the receiver. Furthermore, there is
an isomorphism between both the unconscious and conscious realms because each signifier
appears and functions in both of these systems. Thus secondary repression is essential to
psychic health and represents a balance between being a [psychotic] slave to the Other’s
desire, and [inadequate?] repression that results in injurious moral and legal infractions.
Conscious texts can be decoded in order to entertain a hermeneutics of primordial desire.

Another connection between conscious and unconscious systems is regression, whose link is
the signifier which transposes itself from primary to secondary repression, operative in two
dimensions. Instead of the Freudian [biological] idea that regression is an instinctual
response to frustration, Lacan shows that it operates at the level of meaning [that is trans-
responsive between levels of repression and trans-temporal in relation to the Other’s
desire]. Regression is,under this view, a reaction to an interpersonal situation that triggers
the internalized Other (A). It is a symptom of the dialectic between the moi and the original
Other that plays itself out in consciousness in the present. It is often detectable through
aggressive strategies that restore unity to the threatened moi part [of the self]. In our next
segment, we will address Lacan’s 4th fundamental concept of psychoanalysis, which
involves transference and resistance. After that, we will explore Lacan’s theory of cognition
and his view on the relation between sense and sign.

Kevin Boileau, Ph.D.

Core Faculty, Existential Psychoanalytic Institute & Society
Lacan Studies Seminar Group
31 Fort Missoula Road, Suite 4
Missoula, Montana 59804
episworldwide.com