Interpreting (with) Freud: Laplanche, Hoffmann and the Copernican Birth of Unconscious Drives

James Wills

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.


Keywords


Laplanche; Ptolemaic; Copernican; Jewels; Internal Other; Psychoanalysis; Metapsychology; Freud; Other; Seduction Theory; Primal Situation; Primal Scene; Ptolemaic; Copernican/Copernican Revolution; Hoffmann; Mademoiselle de Scudery; Cardillac

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References


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