RADICAL PSYCHOANALYSIS Only by the method of free-association could Sigmund Freud have demonstrated how human consciousness is formed by the repression of thoughts and feelings that we consider dangerous. Yet today most therapists ignore this truth about our psychic life. This book offers a critique of the many brands of contemporary psychoanalysis and psychotherapy that have forgotten Freud’s revolutionary discovery. Barnaby B. Barratt offers a fresh and compelling vision of the structure and function of the human psyche, building on the pioneering work of theorists such as André Green and Jean Laplanche, as well as contemporary deconstruction, feminism, and liberation philosophy. He explores how “drive” or desire operates dynamically between our biological body and our mental representations of ourselves, of others, and of the world we inhabit. This dynamic vision not only demonstrates how the only authentic freedom from our internal imprisonments comes through free-associative praxis, it also shows the extent to which other models of psychoanalysis (such as ego-psychology, object-relations, self-psychology, and interpersonal-relations) tend to stray disastrously from Freud’s original and revolutionary insights. This is a vision that understands the central issues that imprison our psychic lives—the way in which the reflections of consciousness are based on the repression of our innermost desires, the way in which our erotic vitality is so often repudiated, and the way in which our socialization oppressively stifles our human spirit. Radical Psychoanalysis restores to the discipline of psychoanalysis the revolutionary impetus that has so often been lost. It will be essential reading for psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, mental health practitioners, as well as students and academics with an interest in the history of psychoanalysis. Barnaby B. Barratt has practised psychoanalysis in Michigan and now in South Africa. He was Professor of Family Medicine and Psychiatry at Wayne State University, and is now Senior Research Associate at the University of Witwatersrand’s Institute for Social and Economic Research. His previous work includes Psychic Reality and Psychoanalytic Knowing (Routledge, 1984), Psychoanalysis and the Postmodern Impulse (Routledge, 1993) and What is Psychoanalysis? 100 Years after Freud’s ‘Secret Committee’ (Routledge, 2013). “This brilliantly conceptualized and carefully constructed argument that psycho - analysis must return to Freud’s most revolutionary method is not simply timely, but essential to the growth of psychoanalytical theory and practice.” Christopher Bollas, from the Foreword “This book is full of passion, a cri de coeur by a committed psychoanalyst. Dr Barratt advocates a return to Freud different from Lacan’s. He goes further—searching for roots that even Freud forgot because of his need for scientific respectability. Barratt reminds us that the cornerstone of psychoanalysis is Freud’s method of free- association, which opens and exposes the repressed unconscious that is rooted in the flesh—the way of listening to our drives, which are virtually infinite vectors of freedom of thought. One should read this book!” Marilia Aisenstein, Paris Psychoanalytic Society “Free-association is the radical psychoanalytic clinical position that Dr Barratt faces head on and with subtle complexity of technique, philosophy and history. Skillful descriptions of Freud’s theory building and metapsychology together with a constant gaze on the ethics of psychoanalysis are woven together in a rethought history that becomes the reader’s constant companion. For Barratt interpretation must always be subordinated to the ongoing quest for a free-associative matrix. This is a tour-de-force!” Dr Jonathan Sklar, British Psychoanalytic Society “Radical Psychoanalysis underlines Freud’s emphasis on the method of free- association as what is essential, central and defining for psychoanalysis. It is, as the author puts it, ‘a method that uniquely discloses, and to a certain extent undoes, the repressiveness of human self-consciousness.’ Dr Barratt rightly calls his text a manifesto which urges us to commit existentially to the method of free-association. Its liberatory intent succeeds—reading it moves us into the ‘workplay’ of lived experience at its center. Laplanche and Green to whom the book is dedicated would be pleased.” Dr Jonathan House, American Psychoanalytic Association RADICAL PSYCHOANALYSIS An essay on free-associative praxis Barnaby B. Barratt First published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2016 Barnaby B. Barratt The right of Barnaby B. Barratt to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him/her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Names: Barratt, Barnaby B., 1950– author. Title: Radical psychoanalysis : an essay on free-associative praxis / Barnaby B. Barratt. Description: 1 Edition. | New York : Routledge, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2015045895| ISBN 9781138954847 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138954854 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781315666723 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Psychoanalysis. | Postmodernism—Psychological aspects. | Freud, Sigmund, 1856–1939. Classification: LCC BF173 .B205 2016 | DDC 150.19/52—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015045895 ISBN: 978-1-138-95484-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-95485-4 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-66672-3 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Florence Production, Stoodleigh, Devon, UK. May all beings be happy and free; may these writings contribute to the happiness and freedom of all beings. In appreciation of the contributions of André Green (1927–2012) and Jean Laplanche (1924–2012), whose scholarship and independence of thought should be a model for every genuine psychoanalyst. This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Foreword by Christophe Bollas ix 1 Introductory note 1 2 What is radical psychoanalysis? 5 3 Freudian roots I 15 4 Freudian roots II 27 5 Sampling free-associative discourse 39 6 Textual analysis and the dogma of interpretation 49 7 The lessons of the method: Psychic energy 59 8 The lessons of the method: Theorizing praxis 67 9 The lessons of the method: Triebe and psychic reality 77 10 On the paramount significance of our psychosexualities 91 11 The necessity of the psychoanalyst 109 viii Contents 12 Resisting praxis: Notes on clinical and theoretical retreats 123 13 What is freeing about free-associative praxis? 141 Notes 157 References 191 Acknowledgments 221 About the author 223 Index 225 FOREWORD This brilliantly conceptualized and carefully constructed argument that psycho- analysis must return to Freud’s most revolutionary method—the free associating psychoanalys and the free listening psychoanalyst—is not simply timely, but essential to the growth of psychoanalytical theory and practice. Dr Barratt explores the place of this praxis in the history of ideas and methods, integrates the many sources of free association—biological, neuronal, hormonal—linked to the drives that generate representation, and challenges psychoanalysts to note that however tempting it is to use the freely associated as the material of interpretation, it is the act of free association itself that supersedes its epistemic yield. Barratt does not simply call for a return to Freud, he returns to Freud’s texts in German applying his own radical read to these texts, giving them an entirely new meaning, radiant with clinical implications for the future of psychoanalytical practice. He also returns us to those thinkers who have influenced his creative turn of thought: To André Green, Jean Laplanche, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva. His review of their work, however, is not a removed scholarly exercise, but a passionate read that drives not simply his prose but shows the reader how he forges his own unique vision of clinical praxis. For decades, many of us have followed Barratt’s writings drawn by his remark- able idiom of thinking—reflecting his life in England, India, the United States, Thailand, and now South Africa—and his education in philosophy, psychoanalysis, and human sexuality. This is a book of inestimable value. It is profound, moving, compelling, and illuminating. Christopher Bollas October 2015 This page intentionally left blank 1 INTRODUCTORY NOTE Das Jungsche Argument ‘ad captandam benevolentiam’ ruht auf der allzu optimistischen Voraussetzung, als hätte sich der Fortschritt der Menschheit, der Kultur, des Wissens, stets in ungebrochener Linie vollzogen. Als hätte es niemals Epigonen gegeben, Reaktionen und Restaurationen nach jeder Revolution, Geschlechter, die durch einen Rückschritt auf den Erwerb einer früheren Generation verzichtet hätten. The Jungian argument, which he makes