The powers of speech vs. speech as power with Lacan

Abstract

In his 1975 «Geneva Lecture on the Symptom», Lacan reminds us that «power never rests entirely upon force, pure and simple. Power is always a power tied to speech». Lacan is therefore clearly aware that the spoken word holds the power of suggestion, subjugation and submission. Today we might call it influence. If we take this ‘obscure authority’ of the ‘real other’ seriously, then we might arrive at a psychoanalytic interpretation of the phenomenon of influence. Psychoanalysis allows us to understand how words have held power over our being. It allows us to decipher what has taken hold of desire. It opens our eyes to a notorious blind spot of existence. Rather than falling prey to the sway of influence, the analyst’s power to act is instead based on interpretation, allowing the subject to hear words differently. This paves the way to liberation from those who have intoxicated them and forged their destiny. Psychoanalysis is thus a means to disengage with the magnetism of the spoken word, yet this letting-go also presupposes a new relationship with knowledge. The process is, in fact, a transformation that enables us to see what was previously invisible. Utilizing Lacan and Justine Triet’s film ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, this article will examine the current state of psychoanalysis as a means to achieve liberation from what has long held power over the subject.