Objet Petit a
Encyclopedia
In the psychoanalytic
theory of Jacques Lacan
, objet petit a (object little-a) stands for the unattainable object of desire. It is sometimes called the object cause of desire. Lacan always insisted that the term should remain untranslated, "thus acquiring the status of an algebraic sign." (Écrits).
'The "a" in question stands for "autre" (other), the concept having been developed out of the Freudian "object" and Lacan's own exploitation of "otherness."
pointed to the origins of object (a) in Freud's 'lost object...the function that Freud discovered in the Three Essays...and that Karl Abraham
made the crux of his theory of development from which he derived the first premises of the "partial object"'.
Thereafter, according to Miller, Melanie Klein
'located the partial object at the centre of psychic economy...hence it was that Winnicott glimpsed the transitional object.' That long prehistory of object relations 'is what Lacan sums up, condenses, justifies and constructs with object a.'
of phantasy as the object of desire sought in the other...a deliberate departure from British Object Relations psychoanalysis'.
In 1957, in his Seminar Les formations de l'inconscient, Lacan introduces the concept of objet petit a as the (Kleinian) imaginary part-object, an element which is imagined as separable from the rest of the body. In the Seminar Le transfert (1960–1961) he articulates objet a with the term agalma (Greek, an ornament). Just as the agalma is a precious object hidden in a worthless box, so objet petit a is the object of desire which we seek in the Other
.
In the Seminars L'angoisse (1962–1963) and The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis
(1964), objet petit a is defined as the leftover, the remnant left behind by the introduction of the Symbolic in the Real. This is further elaborated in the Seminar The Other Side of Psychoanalysis (1969–1970), where Lacan elaborates his Four discourses
. In the discourse of the Master, one signifier attempts to represent the subject for all other signifiers, but a surplus is always produced: this surplus is objet petit a, a surplus meaning, a surplus of jouissance
.
Slavoj Žižek
explains this objet petit a in relation to Alfred Hitchcock
's MacGuffin
: "[The] MacGuffin is objet petit a pure and simple: the lack, the remainder of the Real that sets in motion the symbolic movement of interpretation, a hole at the center of the symbolic order
, the mere appearance of some secret to be explained, interpreted, etc." (Love thy symptom as thyself).
Next there emerges 'the second form: the anal object. We know it by way of the phenomenology of the gift, the present offered in anxiety.' The third form appears 'at the level of the genital act...[where] Freudian teaching, and the tradition that has maintained it, situates for us the gaping chasm of castration.'
Lacan also identified 'the function of petit a at the level of the scoptophilic drive. Its essence is realized in so far as, more than elsewhere, the subject is captive of the function of desire.' The final term relates to 'the petit a source of the superego
...the fifth term of the function of petit a, through which will be revealed the gamut of the object in its - pregenital - relation to the demand of the - post-genital - Other.'
to take place, the analyst must incorporate the a for the analysand: 'analysts who are such only insofar as they are object - the object of the analysand'. For Lacan, 'it is not enough that the analyst should support the function of Tiresias
. He must also, as Apollinaire tells us, have breasts' - must represent or incorporate the (missing) object of desire.
Working through the transference thereafter entails moving 'beyond the function of the a: the 'analyst has to...be the support of the separating a,' so as to allow the analysis eventually to be completed. 'If the analyst during the analysis will come to be this object, he will also at the end of analysis not be it. He will submit himself to the fate of any object that stands in for a, and that is to be discarded.'
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
theory of Jacques Lacan
Jacques Lacan
Jacques Marie Émile Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who made prominent contributions to psychoanalysis and philosophy, and has been called "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud". Giving yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, Lacan influenced France's...
, objet petit a (object little-a) stands for the unattainable object of desire. It is sometimes called the object cause of desire. Lacan always insisted that the term should remain untranslated, "thus acquiring the status of an algebraic sign." (Écrits).
'The "a" in question stands for "autre" (other), the concept having been developed out of the Freudian "object" and Lacan's own exploitation of "otherness."
Psychoanalytic origins
Jacques-Alain MillerJacques-Alain Miller
Jacques-Alain Miller is a French academic. He is a Lacanian psychoanalyst.-Life and career:As a student at the École Normale Supérieure, he met his future father-in-law Jacques Lacan in 1964 while attending his seminars at the rue d'Ulm...
pointed to the origins of object (a) in Freud's 'lost object...the function that Freud discovered in the Three Essays...and that Karl Abraham
Karl Abraham
-Further reading:* Freud, S. . Mourning and Melancholia. Standard Edition, 14, 305-307.* May-Tolzmann, U. . The Discovery of the Bad Mother: Abraham’s contribution to the theory of Depression...
made the crux of his theory of development from which he derived the first premises of the "partial object"'.
Thereafter, according to Miller, Melanie Klein
Melanie Klein
Melanie Reizes Klein was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children that had an impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis...
'located the partial object at the centre of psychic economy...hence it was that Winnicott glimpsed the transitional object.' That long prehistory of object relations 'is what Lacan sums up, condenses, justifies and constructs with object a.'
The Lacanian development
'In Lacan's seminars of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the evolving concept of the objet (petit) a is viewed in the mathemeMatheme
The matheme is a concept introduced in the work of the 20th century French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. The term matheme 'occurred for the first time in the lecture Lacan delivered on November 4, 1971...Between 1972 and 1973 he gave several definitions of it, passing from the use of the singular...
of phantasy as the object of desire sought in the other...a deliberate departure from British Object Relations psychoanalysis'.
In 1957, in his Seminar Les formations de l'inconscient, Lacan introduces the concept of objet petit a as the (Kleinian) imaginary part-object, an element which is imagined as separable from the rest of the body. In the Seminar Le transfert (1960–1961) he articulates objet a with the term agalma (Greek, an ornament). Just as the agalma is a precious object hidden in a worthless box, so objet petit a is the object of desire which we seek in the Other
Other
The Other or Constitutive Other is a key concept in continental philosophy; it opposes the Same. The Other refers, or attempts to refer, to that which is Other than the initial concept being considered...
.
In the Seminars L'angoisse (1962–1963) and The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis
The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis
The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis is the [1977] English translation of a 'transcription of the Seminar held by Jacques Lacan at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris between January and June 1964'....
(1964), objet petit a is defined as the leftover, the remnant left behind by the introduction of the Symbolic in the Real. This is further elaborated in the Seminar The Other Side of Psychoanalysis (1969–1970), where Lacan elaborates his Four discourses
Four discourses
The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan argued that there were four fundamental types of discourse. He defined four discourses, which he called Master, University, Hysteric and Analyst, and showed how these relate dynamically to one another....
. In the discourse of the Master, one signifier attempts to represent the subject for all other signifiers, but a surplus is always produced: this surplus is objet petit a, a surplus meaning, a surplus of jouissance
Jouissance
The term jouissance, in French, denotes "pleasure" or "enjoyment." The term has a sexual connotation lacking in the English word "enjoyment", and is therefore left untranslated in English editions of the works of Jacques Lacan. In his Seminar "The Ethics of Psychoanalysis" Lacan develops his...
.
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
explains this objet petit a in relation to Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's MacGuffin
MacGuffin
A MacGuffin is "a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction". The defining aspect of a MacGuffin is that the major players in the story are willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the MacGuffin actually is...
: "[The] MacGuffin is objet petit a pure and simple: the lack, the remainder of the Real that sets in motion the symbolic movement of interpretation, a hole at the center of the symbolic order
The Symbolic
The Symbolic is a part of the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan, part of his attempt 'to distinguish between those elementary registers whose grounding I later put forward in these terms: the symbolic, the imaginary, and the real - a distinction never previously made in psychoanalysis'.-The...
, the mere appearance of some secret to be explained, interpreted, etc." (Love thy symptom as thyself).
The hierarchy of object a
Speaking of the "fall" of the a, Lacan noted that 'the diversity of forms taken by that object of the fall ought to be related to the manner in which the desire of the Other is apprehended by the subject.' The earliest form is 'something that is called the breast...this breast in its function as object, object a cause of desire.'Next there emerges 'the second form: the anal object. We know it by way of the phenomenology of the gift, the present offered in anxiety.' The third form appears 'at the level of the genital act...[where] Freudian teaching, and the tradition that has maintained it, situates for us the gaping chasm of castration.'
Lacan also identified 'the function of petit a at the level of the scoptophilic drive. Its essence is realized in so far as, more than elsewhere, the subject is captive of the function of desire.' The final term relates to 'the petit a source of the superego
Id, ego, and super-ego
Id, ego and super-ego are the three parts of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche; they are the three theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction mental life is described...
...the fifth term of the function of petit a, through which will be revealed the gamut of the object in its - pregenital - relation to the demand of the - post-genital - Other.'
The analyst and the a
For transferenceTransference
Transference is a phenomenon in psychoanalysis characterized by unconscious redirection of feelings from one person to another. One definition of transference is "the inappropriate repetition in the present of a relationship that was important in a person's childhood." Another definition is "the...
to take place, the analyst must incorporate the a for the analysand: 'analysts who are such only insofar as they are object - the object of the analysand'. For Lacan, 'it is not enough that the analyst should support the function of Tiresias
Tiresias
In Greek mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet of Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo; Tiresias participated fully in seven generations at Thebes, beginning as advisor to Cadmus...
. He must also, as Apollinaire tells us, have breasts' - must represent or incorporate the (missing) object of desire.
Working through the transference thereafter entails moving 'beyond the function of the a: the 'analyst has to...be the support of the separating a,' so as to allow the analysis eventually to be completed. 'If the analyst during the analysis will come to be this object, he will also at the end of analysis not be it. He will submit himself to the fate of any object that stands in for a, and that is to be discarded.'