Hysteria, the Bet of Psychoanalysis

Abstract

This text considers hysteria both historically (the denial of hysteria as a real disorder by “progressist” thought since the XIXth century) and clinically. It refers to some of Freud’s famous cases (Cäcilie, the dream of the Beautiful Butcher’s Wife) as well as to the author’s own practice, in order to show that hysteria remains a very commonplace syndrome today (even in its conversion form), and that the common cliché (also shared by analysts) that the hysteria of Freud’s time has disappeared, is an oblique way to deny the validity of psychoanalysis and to suggest its death. The author shows that Freud’s interpretation of hysterical symptoms as “logical”–in the wider sense of “being signifiers”–formed the basis of psychoanalysis’ bet on establishing the ”logical” character of the unconscious. Moreover, the author, developing part of Lacan’s thesis about hysteria, tries to show that, beyond the “logical” tissue of conversion symptoms, hysteria as such should be interpreted as a way to maintain the subject’s dissatisfaction, in order to perpetuate the existence of the subject itself as an unfulfilled being. In this sense, Lacan’s originality lay in shifting from the “metaphorical” Freudian approach to hysteria, to its “metonymic” (center-less, without any final meaning) character. Towards the end the author attempts to sketch-out some features he finds essential to maintaining the concept of hysteria and its focal role in psychoanalytic thinking.

Keywords:

• Freud and Hysteria Keyword: Freud and Hysteria
• Hysteria and Political Correctness Keyword: Hysteria and Political Correctness
• Hysteria Today Keyword: Hysteria Today
• Lacan's Metonimy Keyword: Lacan's Metonimy
• The Beautiful Butcher's Dream Keyword: The Beautiful Butcher's Dream

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Rights: Incopyright