Spacing Freud: Space and Place in Psychoanalytic Theory

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Spacing Freud: Space and Place in Psychoanalytic Theory Spacing Freud: Space and Place in Psychoanalytic Theory by Nicholas Dion A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department for the Study of Religion University of Toronto © Copyright by Nicholas Dion 2012 Spacing Freud: Space and Place in Psychoanalytic Theory Nicholas Dion Doctor of Philosophy Centre for the Study of Religion University of Toronto 2012 Abstract This project is interested in developing a spatial reading of Sigmund Freud’s work to understand how psychoanalysis employs a variety of different spatial categories. Proceeding by way of a close and analytical reading of Freud’s texts, I begin by surveying theories of space coming from both philosophy and geography before applying these understandings to consider Freud’s use of topographical metaphors, the formation of the subject as presented through descriptions of the fort-da game and the oceanic feeling, and Freud’s description of the limits of phantasy and reality. Freud’s writings on religion figure prominently here. I conclude by examining the deployment of individual relations through social space in Freud’s writings and the link between place and character laid out in Moses and Monotheism. The result demonstrates the importance of space in a number of aspects of Freudian psychoanalysis and frames Freud as a thinker with important contributions to make to the spatial turn in the humanities and social sciences. ii Acknowledgments Before beginning, I want to take a moment to thank the many parties whose participation made this project possible. Fittingly, this project is a tale of two ‘places’, of Montreal and Toronto. The ideas put forth in these pages owe much to Dr. Maurice Boutin, who supervised my M.A. work at McGill University and first introduced me both to psychoanalysis and to Sloterdijk’s spherology. Without his breadth of knowledge and adventurous intellect, I would not have sought out these literary traditions that lie well outside the Anglophone academy. I also owe a great debt of gratitude to Drs. James DiCenso and Marsha Hewitt, who received me warmly in Toronto and contributed ideas, revisions, and numerous hours of conversation in their supervision of this project. I have learned much from their close familiarity with the psychoanalytic tradition. Together with Dr. Amira Mittermaier, all three remained flexible and open-minded in allowing me the latitude to explore new ideas which, one many occasions, seemed strange and foreign to them. I also wish to thank my colleagues at the University of Toronto, who responded to my ideas on a number of formal and informal occasions. I especially thank Bonnie de Bruijn and Barbara Greenberg, with whom I was fortunate enough to explore the vagaries of Freudian psychoanalysis. Had I come to the University a year earlier or a year later, my personal and educational experience would have suffered much by their absence. Finally, I offer a personal word of thanks to my family, whose support was unfailing in this venture, and to my wife, Jessica, who tread the doctoral path alongside me. With you by my side, I can only imagine the ‘places’ we will go. iii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................................................III INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 1 A SPATIAL PSYCHOLOGY.................................................................................................................................... 4 2 WHY DOES SPACE MATTER?.............................................................................................................................. 5 3 INROADS: PETER SLOTERDIJK’S SPHEROLOGY....................................................................................... 7 3.1 VOLUME I: BUBBLES (BLASEN)............................................................................................................................... 9 3.2 VOLUME II: GLOBES (GLOBEN) .......................................................................................................................... 10 3.3 VOLUME III: FOAM (SCHÄUME) .......................................................................................................................... 12 4 WHEREFORE FREUD?.......................................................................................................................................... 13 4.1 FREUD AMONG THE GEOGRAPHERS ..................................................................................................................... 15 4.2 REJOINDER: FELICITY CALLARD AND PAUL KINGSBURY .................................................................................. 18 5 LAYOUT..................................................................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 1: WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SPACE?.................................................................................................. 26 1 CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHY.................................................................................................................................. 28 1.1 PLATO’S TIMAEUS: SPACE AS RECEPTACLE ........................................................................................................ 28 1.2 ARISTOTLE’S PHYSICS: PLACE AS BOUNDARY.................................................................................................... 30 2 ENLIGHTENMENT PHILOSOPHY.................................................................................................................... 31 2.1 DESCARTES........................................................................................................................................................... 31 2.2 KANT: A PRIORI SPACE AND THE RETURN OF THE BODY................................................................................... 33 3 HEIDEGGER............................................................................................................................................................. 36 3.1 THE EARLY HEIDEGGER: BEING AND TIME ......................................................................................................... 38 3.2 THE LATE HEIDEGGER: DWELLING..................................................................................................................... 42 4 BACHELARD: A PSYCHIC PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPACE.................................................................... 45 5 POST-STRUCTURALIST PHILOSOPHY.......................................................................................................... 49 5.1 FOUCAULT ............................................................................................................................................................ 49 5.2 CERTEAU............................................................................................................................................................... 52 6 SPACE AND SOCIAL THEORY........................................................................................................................... 53 iv 6.1 LEFEBVRE ............................................................................................................................................................. 54 6.2 TUAN..................................................................................................................................................................... 55 6.3 HARVEY ................................................................................................................................................................ 57 6.4 SOJA ...................................................................................................................................................................... 58 6.5 MASSEY ................................................................................................................................................................ 59 CHAPTER 2: ABOVE/BELOW: FREUD’S TOPOGRAPHIES OF THE MIND................................................ 63 1 ANTECEDENTS TO THE FIRST TOPOGRAPHY (1895-1900) .................................................................... 64 1.1 THE PROJECT FOR A SCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY..................................................................................................... 68 1.2 THE STUDIES ON HYSTERIA .................................................................................................................................. 71 2 THE FIRST TOPOGRAPHY (1900-1920)............................................................................................................ 75 2.1 THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS ........................................................................................................................ 75 2.1.1 The Space of the Dream .............................................................................................................................. 75 2.1.2 The Dream-work: Displacement and Condensation ................................................................................. 76 2.1.3 The Model of the Psyche ............................................................................................................................. 79 2.1.4 The Addition of the Preconscious..............................................................................................................
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