Interpreting (with) Freud: Laplanche, Hoffmann and the Copernican Birth of Unconscious Drives
Abstract
This paper intends to correlate Laplanchescomplex theoretical development of Freud and his creation of a Copernican general theory of seduction, focusing on the concept of the enigmatic signifier and its relation to a reconceived concept of the drive. This psychoanalytic framework is then applied to E. T. A. HoffmannsMademoiselle de Scuderyand thecharacter of master-jewellerRenardillac. When viewed through a Laplanchian optic, I propose the jewels, a highly psycho-significant object in the novella, particularly in its primal scene, become distinctively re-positioned;re-centered as the mysterious, yet controlling,internal other.
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