Language and Psychoanalysis

Abstract

This article examines the intersection of psychoanalytic theory and the language and interpretation of texts, with a focus on their impact on understanding human existence. The subject was undertaken to demonstrate how different interpretative approaches affect the understanding of the psychoanalytic process and its application in literary studies. The first, considered traditional, postulates the interpretation of the text as a hermeneutic method for generating meaning. The exegesis of the symbols contained in the text enables the discovery of meanings not directly revealed. In a more developed approach, hermeneutic exegesis is replaced by interpretation based on the translation process. The translator-interpreter, using the metaphorical surplus of language, elaborates a new text. This approach brings out the semantic aspect of the psychoanalytic process. The second approach aligns with the structuralist and poststructuralist model, focusing on the linguistic sign as the central point of analysis. The adoption of the key role of the element structuring the text leads to the transformation of psychoanalytic interpretation into a method of linguistic analysis. In this case, the semiotic dimension of psychoanalysis determines the literal determinants of the text. The article is theoretical in nature and is based on the juxtaposition of these two approaches, illustrating the transition from Freud’s psychoanalysis to Lacan’s psychoanalysis. The text indicates the consequence of this change in the field of Polish literary studies.