Back to Table of Contents
that has been previously perceived. The term mental representation is used synonymously with ‘psychic representation’, ‘mental image’, ‘memory image’ and ‘mnemic image’. It underscores the distinction between external reality and ‘psychic reality’, reminding one that the mental imagos of self and objects are mental constructs: all objects are only ‘object representations’ and so is self only an amalgam of diverse ‘self-representations’. Construction of such representations is affected by the degree of drive activity and the level of ego maturity at the time when the representation is formed, the prevalent socio-cultural idiom, and the ‘objective’ qualities of the object. Overall, North American Psychoanalytic Dictionaries view representations as crucial aspects of any concept of having to do with building and organizing psychic structure. Therefore, in the context of psychic structure formation, the conceptual framework includes terminology such as ‘symbolic representations’ and/or ‘internalized representations’ (See separate entries SYMBOLIZATION, INTERNALIZATION). Japanese Psychoanalytic Dictionary (Okonogi, Kitayama, Ushijima, Kano, Kinugasa et al. 2002) carries a definition of representation by Rikihachiro Kano (p 413). He defines representation in both philosophy and psychology as “what is conceived in the mind.” It includes perceptual representations that arise when the object is present, memory representations that are reproduced through recollection, and imaginative representations generated by imagination. Representations differ from concepts and ideas in that they are sensory and concrete . In psychoanalysis, the focus is on the capacity to evoke an image of something that is not actually present in reality. It refers either to the relatively enduring mental image of something previously perceived (perception) or to the process through which such an image is constructed (acquired). Among internationally recognized European psychoanalytic dictionaries and encyclopedias , The International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (Mijolla, 2005), where each entry is written by one or two authors, includes two entries related to ‘representation’: Representability and Representation of affect . Representability is defined as a sensory capacity of the psychic apparatus that makes it possible for an object that is absent to be made present in the form of an image. It is active in the process of hallucination, artistic creation, and the dream work, where latent and abstract thoughts are transformed into visual images. The term representation of affect can be defined as that which constitutes the medium for the affect’s expression, in a sense serving as its vehicle in mental dynamics. In the The Language of Psycho-Analysis by Jean Laplanche and Jean-Betrand Pontalis (1967, 1973), Representability is defined as a requirement imposed on the dream- thoughts, which undergo selection and transformation such as to make them capable of being represented by images–particularly visual images.
747
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online