Back to Table of Contents
continuity and discontinuity. An “asymmetric co-writing circuit between the baby and her caregiver” develops. Guerra describes the "Six paths of meaning" of the symbolization concept: 1. Relationship with a desire to separate. It is part of the history of becoming a subject, because the subject can only constitute itself when separating from the other. 2. The interaction between presence and absence . It is the presence of a concrete object combined with the memory of the absence of a cathected object. 3. The use of aggressiveness to induce a cut, a rupture. Guerra considers it a valid metaphor of the subjective constitution: without the use of some aggression, the separation from the other cannot be achieved. (This idea is based on the concept of the death drive as disintegrative, Green 1999, p. 185) 4. The cut from the object implies a division of the object itself, and this also implies a division of spaces (topics) (p.86). 5. Symbolization is not possible without an experience of separation- displacement in space. Metaphorization -the displacement of one thing into another- is the axis of the multiple substitutions that constitute the basis of symbolization. 6. The usage of a “concrete object ” as witness of a relationship (p. 87). Based on these points, Guerra describes the fort-da game of Freud’s grandson (Freud 1920, p. 13-17, above) as an experience that symbolizes the intertwining of four figures, fundamental to the creation of psychic life: “rhythm, gaze, word, and play" (p.90) and he asks himself: "can the baby carry on a process of intrapsychic elaboration work in the absence of the object, without having gone through some form of intersubjective encounter in symbolizing presence?” (p.89). This description draws on Winnicott’s comments, which Guerra reports as: "the boy's game had the meaning of message addressed to another person who was present, capable of linking and translating the message. Transformation from the bodily act to a ludic symbol, by means of the psychic attention and verbalization (of the analyst). " (p. 91); "The other’s use of words and gaze become fundamental elements in order to establish the ‘as if’ and the representational process, and for symbolization to take place" (p.93). To quote Guerra: “A fragile, contradictory, polychromatic, changing and malleable fabric will be formed, all along “representation” (in presence-absence); it will actually give the title to the “work”: “symbolization process” (p.94). Most recently, Guerra, in his book (2020) and film “From the meeting of glances to the pleasure of playing together”, focuses on the early proto-symbolizations that occur during the infans stage in the parent–child relationship and culminate with a speaking subject who can speak in the singular first person.
904
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online