Difference between revisions of "Parapraxes (Freudian Slips)"

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(Decoding the Utterance through Symbolic Associations)
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Kittler compares the Freudian mind to the phonograph, arguing that backflow or feedback “comes as close to perfect hallucinatory wish fulfulfillment as Freud’s project for a Scientific Psychology does to technological media.” (Kittler 34) Thus that which exists as a pop or hiss for the phonograph is that for the unconscious; if everything is inscribed onto the unconscious, then the noise from the world is as well. The content of the slip could therefore be from anything, the combination of auditory, visual and motor memories, could result in an encoding and decoding which lacks the rationality that Freud argues exists. It is lack of attention in the process of retrieval which is of issue in the phenomenon of parapraxes, not attention in encoding, and one can frequently be led astray in analysis due to the noise which exists at the level of the unconscious (however Freud would possibly not argue this very strongly as it would subvert his project.
 
Kittler compares the Freudian mind to the phonograph, arguing that backflow or feedback “comes as close to perfect hallucinatory wish fulfulfillment as Freud’s project for a Scientific Psychology does to technological media.” (Kittler 34) Thus that which exists as a pop or hiss for the phonograph is that for the unconscious; if everything is inscribed onto the unconscious, then the noise from the world is as well. The content of the slip could therefore be from anything, the combination of auditory, visual and motor memories, could result in an encoding and decoding which lacks the rationality that Freud argues exists. It is lack of attention in the process of retrieval which is of issue in the phenomenon of parapraxes, not attention in encoding, and one can frequently be led astray in analysis due to the noise which exists at the level of the unconscious (however Freud would possibly not argue this very strongly as it would subvert his project.
 
===The Slip as Trace===
 
===The Slip as Trace===
Freud’s use of the tablet as a model of the psyche is indicative of the deeper traces of memory which remain on the lower wax layers which can be deciphered when held under light. (Vismann 55) The ‘mystic writing pad,’ a model which was conceived for the mind much later in Freud’s scholarship, was already present in his theory on slips. Even through the removal of repression through analysis, the information is not lost it is made conscious. The conscious mind is a layer of celluloid which acts as a protective shield against stimuli; however it does not mean these traces are not written on the unconscious, it simply allows for legibility/the removal of noise at the conscious level. The slip, for Freud, is proof of the unconscious material which lies 'below' consciousness, and is indicative of its interference within the world of the symbolic. The notion that this is somehow more real is expressed by Freud, as being more "honest," and "true," the temporary removal of the mask which separates this content from the symbolic realm. (Freud 1901: 32)  
+
Freud’s use of the tablet as a model of the psyche is indicative of the deeper traces of memory which remain on the lower wax layers which can be deciphered when held under light. (Vismann 55) The ‘mystic writing pad,’ a model which was conceived for the mind much later in Freud’s scholarship, was already present in his theory on slips. Even through the removal of repression through analysis, the information is not lost it is made conscious. The conscious mind is a layer of celluloid which acts as a protective shield against stimuli; however it does not mean these traces are not written on the unconscious, it simply allows for legibility/the removal of noise at the conscious level. The slip, for Freud, is proof of the unconscious material which lies 'below' consciousness, and is indicative of its interference within the world of the symbolic. The notion that this is somehow more real is expressed by Freud, as being more "honest," and "true," the temporary removal of the mask which separates this content from the symbolic realm. (Freud 1901: 32)
 +
 
 
==The Paradox of Automaticity and Attention in Freud's Theory of Slips==
 
==The Paradox of Automaticity and Attention in Freud's Theory of Slips==
 
The role of automaticity in Freud’s theory can therefore be seen both at the level of perception or encoding, as well as in the act of slip and free association. Freud’s view that slips occur more frequently when “conditions are favoured by exhaustion, circulatory disturbances and intoxication,” and his view that inattention can produce errors in speech or writing is indicative of that the processes of the mind are both automatic and motivated in Freud’s theory. (Freud 1901: 25) This paradox, however, is indicative that the acts of writing and speech require a part of the conscious subject to be without error, however can occur automatically, in a somnambulistic state which will enable parts of the unconscious to come through. (Gitelman 195) The lack of concentrated attention is an articulation of mental process which questioned "the resemblance between motor and mental habits" and divided types of attention. (Gitelman 196) The failures of the experiments done by Gertrude Stein resulted are indicative of the inability to to differentiate between normal and abnormal automatisms. However, when the contents of the unconscious which are contained within the mind begin to interfere with speech and writing it can be seen as a case of when  writing ceases “not to write itself,” and the expression and storing (in errors in writing) of errors means that it has begun to write something else, the unconscious. (Kittler 3) Therefore according to Freud’s theory, all mental life and its expression would be a result of the cake-mix effect, the combination of the automaticity at the level of mental life, unconscious motivation and conscious attention. It also indicates that the good weather for making Freudian slips is actually fatigue and inattention.
 
The role of automaticity in Freud’s theory can therefore be seen both at the level of perception or encoding, as well as in the act of slip and free association. Freud’s view that slips occur more frequently when “conditions are favoured by exhaustion, circulatory disturbances and intoxication,” and his view that inattention can produce errors in speech or writing is indicative of that the processes of the mind are both automatic and motivated in Freud’s theory. (Freud 1901: 25) This paradox, however, is indicative that the acts of writing and speech require a part of the conscious subject to be without error, however can occur automatically, in a somnambulistic state which will enable parts of the unconscious to come through. (Gitelman 195) The lack of concentrated attention is an articulation of mental process which questioned "the resemblance between motor and mental habits" and divided types of attention. (Gitelman 196) The failures of the experiments done by Gertrude Stein resulted are indicative of the inability to to differentiate between normal and abnormal automatisms. However, when the contents of the unconscious which are contained within the mind begin to interfere with speech and writing it can be seen as a case of when  writing ceases “not to write itself,” and the expression and storing (in errors in writing) of errors means that it has begun to write something else, the unconscious. (Kittler 3) Therefore according to Freud’s theory, all mental life and its expression would be a result of the cake-mix effect, the combination of the automaticity at the level of mental life, unconscious motivation and conscious attention. It also indicates that the good weather for making Freudian slips is actually fatigue and inattention.

Revision as of 14:16, 26 April 2010

A parapraxis (gr: para + praksis, another action) or Freudian slip (originally terms Fehlleistung, German for “faulty function”) is an error of memory, speech, writing, reading or action that was thought by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) to be due to the interference of repressed thoughts and feature’s of the individual’s personality that are unconscious. (Motley 530) These slips were viewed by Freud to be a window into and proof of the unconscious, an interface or symptomology that would shed light on a latent or hidden state. First articulated in The Psychopathology of Everyday Life in 1901, the concept is thought to be integral to Freud’s perspective that the difference between normal and neurotic mental life is only a matter of degree. (Gossy 11)
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Sigmund Freud

Precursors and Re-mediation of Freud's Theory of Slips

Freud was a follower of Schopenhauer, and his theory of slips can be regarded as a re-mediation of Schopenhauer’s theory of mental illness. Schopenhauer argued at the core of mental illness are gaps and interruptions at the level of memory, and the difficulties of memory in the psychologically disturbed is not due simply to a dysfunctional memory, but the repression of traumatic events. (Zentner 372) Freud’s argument in The Psychopathology of Everyday Life is that repression does not occur only in the mentally ill, but occurs in everyone, meaning that mental illness exists on a continuum with normal functioning. This is also thought to be a re-mediation of Schopenhauer’s theory. In addition, Schopenhauer argued that his theory could shed light, on what he termed the “inner man,” arguing that often individuals do not know the reason for action, or emotion (particularly fear) nor the “real motive of his behaviour.” (Zentner 374) Freudian Slips should also be seen in light of the subjects of animal magnetism and the process of mnemonics (as being a reverse of this process). These are just some ideas amongst many which contributed to Freud’s theory on slips. His ideas were also influenced (along with others within the nineteenth century) by a neo-Cartesian approach, which held that unconscious mental states are not known to the individual because they are excluded from the subject’s primary consciousness. (Livingstone Smith 576) This approach led to a multiplexing of the mind, where multiple levels of consciousness are thought to be running in parallel; present in Freud’s structural unconscious and then even moreso later with the development of his topographic theory of mind. Yet the mind as Freud conceives it is still hierarchical, although that which controls thought can almost be seen as a struggle for power between different levels.

At first, Freud’s theory of slips was widely accepted in the psychological community however it was very quickly ignored and refuted, only to be re-integrated in a different form into the field of cognitive psychology and linguistic research in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as textual analysis in literature. In the study of psycholinguistics, models of speech production were found to be incompatible with Freud’s theory of slips mainly due to an inability to provide empirical evidence for the phenomenon. However, in the mid-1970s a direct empirical test became possible, and models of “spoonerisms,” a verbal slip in which two phonemes trade places between the target speech and error were found to be inducible experimentally. (Motley 531) However, Freud’s belief that all linguistic errors are indicative of his theory of repression has been largely disproven, with perhaps the exception of the nature of the concept as it has been maintained within contemporary popular culture. Freud’s work on slips was predicated upon his work On Aphasia (1953), in which he argues that cognition is the function of the passage of information through a vast, network of interconnected nerves and neurons in the brain. Therefore, Freud’s theory on memory and cognition contributed to what is now termed a “connectionist model” of the brain. (Livingstone Smith 577) Some theorists, such as Philip Rieff (1966) and Eli Zaretsky (2004), argue that many of the ideas which are implicated in Freud’s theory on slips have been re-mediated into concepts of the 'wounded' self which exist in contemporary Western culture.

The Mind as Black Box: The Slip as Cypher

The theory of parapraxis is emblematic of the cypher black box, as derived out of the ideas of Karl Marx and his concept of the commodity as having a “rational kernel and a mystical shell.” (Marx xxx) Analogous to the commodity, the implication of Freud’s theory of slips is that the slip is a function of the interference of repressed ideas which are a function of individual development. With Freudian analysis, the meaning of the slip is unveiled through the use of free association, pulling away the facade of consciousness, giving access to the latent or unconscious motivations behind the utterance. What once appeared completely irrational, and mystical (the content of the utterance) is thus is a product which is made rational through analytic treatment.
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A representation of a black box with a hole to see inside.

Encryption and Interiority, and the Loss of the Cypher

The utterance itself is encrypted, in numerous ways. Freud argued that faulty recollection or temporary forgetting is the result of a disturbance from either the beginning or after an association has been formed between the concerned utterance and the error which is produced. (Freud 1901: 18) This can also be through “artificial means” through superficial or outside associations (context). The forgotten or distorted material has either been disturbed through its initial encoding, or in its retrieval; either way the material has been connected “through some associative road with an unconscious stream of thought, which gives rise to the influence that comes to light as forgetting.” (Freud 1901: 15) Freud argues that speech disturbance may be influenced by another component of same speech, through a “fore-sound or echo,” which would disturb the process of retrieval; his concept of speech coming from his theory of networked pathways within the brain, meant that it was possible to stimulate a connected path to the desired utterance. (Miller 161)

Yet this early neural network theory does not entail a view of the mind as a function black box, as Freud held that there could be access to the unconscious content of these networked processes through the symptoms presented in the form of errors of utterances (amongst other phenomenon which will not be discussed here). The utterance is thus the expression of an analog function; it is a sign of overall reduced efficiency in the apparatus of cognition as a whole, arguing against an extreme cerebral localization of function that was argued for in phrenology, while maintaining the existence of speech centres that were discovered within the nineteenth century (Wernicke’s and Broca’s). (Miller 160) Although he concentrates on what are surface characteristics of the black box in the form of manifest content, there is a presumption that he can reveal its contents without destruction. This concept of the brain was viewed as a sprawling “cerebral railway system,” railroads being a convenient metaphor which would eventually be replaced by metaphors of telephone wires, the computer and the holograph. (Miller 160) The problem with the mind as a cypher black box is that the notion of the ‘unconscious’ can never become actual; it is only viewed a shadow viewed in the periphery, when one turns to look it disappears (in that sense it is god-like). To some extent, the focus upon surface characteristics, indicative of the ‘function black box’ as takes place during behaviourism, is the point of break boundary or reversal of the system; the denial of interiority done initially through theorists such as Watson and Pavlov, and then extended significantly by B.F. Skinner indicates a transformation of the way in which the medium of the mind was viewed. Contemporary cognitive psychology is a movement back toward interiority, while retaining the importance of surface characteristics gained as they were seen through behaviourism.
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Freud and his networked brain

Decoding the Utterance through Symbolic Associations

The utterance is also an analog in that it results from the influence of another component of the same speech (for instance a phoneme), however what interests Freud are the symbolic associations, or the analogies that can be made between the surface content which is produced and that which exists below or hidden. The analyst acts as a decoder in the discovery and removal of neurotic symptoms, even though the slip is most likely equally apparent to the patient and therapist when it occurs during the process of treatment. Through free association, a process through which the patient says whatever comes to the surface of the mind; one is reminded of the concept of lists as discussed by Cornelia Vismann. (2008) The free associations are not subject to any fixed meaning, meaning arises from the agreement between the patient and the analyst in a similar way as the “ethnologist and his informant that the communicated signs constitute information.” (Vismann 3) The signs or meanings of the associations produced are not fixed and could individually be seen as functionally nonsensical, but the meaning is produced in the subsequent production of speech until the analyst has discovered the ‘real’ meaning of the slip. The speech which is produced is seemingly discrete or digital, yet it only has meaning when considered in relation to the other information produced. Kittler argues that once these “pictures,” or words emerge from the patient’s memory, it becomes fragmentary and obscure as the patient proceeds to describe. At the level of the Lacanian symbolic, the patient enters into language in an attempt to gain access to both the imaginary (that mode which does not require mediation) and the real (which exists outside thought, which can never be grasped). (Kittler 141) Kittler argues that psychoanalysis imitates the doppelganger film by translating it into words; through the chopping up of the internal ‘film’ of the imaginary into the symbolic indicates the emergence of another part of their personhood or space which the subject is then confronted with through the talking cure. (Kittler 142) The slip which is produced, as well as the subsequent free associations act as a way in which Freud can interface with the black box of the mind; the world of the imaginary.

Through a process similar to that done by Hermes, he or she both guides and interprets the information which is given through the utterance and the products of free association. Freud would interpret the messages while being guided by his own theories of repression, therefore there was a chaperone of the message, relaying information produced by the unconscious to the conscious patient. Necessarily in Freud’s theory, there is a symbolic layer which remains separate from the material substrate of the unconscious, however, the utterance produced by the patient functions in a similar manner to Iris; the message is contained within the mind of the patient. This also can be seen in terms of a differentiation between the sample and the program; the utterance which is produced is nonsense unless analyzed and thus the analyst acts as interpreter. While the Freudian slip is the imperfect execution of a symbolic system, existing at the level of the program, it requires a great deal of analysis and understanding of context to discover its meaning. When Freud "unlocks" these images, this is not done to store their content, but to decode their signifiers. (Kittler 141) The translation of the pathology into the symbolic is also indicative of nonverbal storage technologies emerging in 1900, such as the film.

Analysand as Gatekeeper

The analysand acts as a gatekeeper to the unconscious. Vismann speaks about the category of cancellari, those who control public access who not only control the opening but also the deletion of information. (Vismann 17-8) The analyst has control over not only the meaning which is eventually deduced from the utterance, but the cancellation of the repression through its retrieval. Once the content of the utterance is thought to be retrieved and made conscious, the repression is thought to no longer exist. In the psychotherapeutic procedure, which is the discovery and removal of neurotic symptoms, Freud argues the analyst is charged with “the task of discovering from the accidental utterances of the patient the thought content, which though striving for concealment, nevertheless intentionally betray themselves.” (Freud 1901: 31) Kittler in reference to Freud says that once a picture emerges from the patient’s memory, “the patient is getting rid of it by turning it into words.” (Kittler 141)

Nothing Wasted, Nothing Lost

Vilém Flusser argues that psychoanalysis is a branch of knowledge that is concerned with studying waste, surrounding the human being with not only two worlds (nature/nurture) but with three: nature, culture and waste. (Flusser 90) Indeed, the Freudian Slip is indicative of Freud’s view that nothing is ever lost in the mind nor is it an accidental occurrence; forgetting is at once both automatic and directed, the influence of repression exists as a motive which interrupts the communication of thought. (Freud 1901 5) Freud’s determinism, however, attempts not to contradict a notion of free will; a skeuomorph within his philosophy at this particular time. The multiplexing of the brain means that one can retain the conviction or feeling of free will, while still being determined uninterruptedly in the psychic realm. (Freud 1901 91) Arguing through an analysis of the neurotic, he claims that nothing is lost, not even sensory experience; the difference between the neurotic and the normal person being that the neurotic both perceives something that escapes the normal person and thus expresses it. (Freud 1901 92) Freud believes there is the possibility that something can only occur psychically, in mental life, which can by chance be brought to surface by external events, while not being accidental at the level of the unconscious.

The Expression of Feedback and the Unconscious

Kittler compares the Freudian mind to the phonograph, arguing that backflow or feedback “comes as close to perfect hallucinatory wish fulfulfillment as Freud’s project for a Scientific Psychology does to technological media.” (Kittler 34) Thus that which exists as a pop or hiss for the phonograph is that for the unconscious; if everything is inscribed onto the unconscious, then the noise from the world is as well. The content of the slip could therefore be from anything, the combination of auditory, visual and motor memories, could result in an encoding and decoding which lacks the rationality that Freud argues exists. It is lack of attention in the process of retrieval which is of issue in the phenomenon of parapraxes, not attention in encoding, and one can frequently be led astray in analysis due to the noise which exists at the level of the unconscious (however Freud would possibly not argue this very strongly as it would subvert his project.

The Slip as Trace

Freud’s use of the tablet as a model of the psyche is indicative of the deeper traces of memory which remain on the lower wax layers which can be deciphered when held under light. (Vismann 55) The ‘mystic writing pad,’ a model which was conceived for the mind much later in Freud’s scholarship, was already present in his theory on slips. Even through the removal of repression through analysis, the information is not lost it is made conscious. The conscious mind is a layer of celluloid which acts as a protective shield against stimuli; however it does not mean these traces are not written on the unconscious, it simply allows for legibility/the removal of noise at the conscious level. The slip, for Freud, is proof of the unconscious material which lies 'below' consciousness, and is indicative of its interference within the world of the symbolic. The notion that this is somehow more real is expressed by Freud, as being more "honest," and "true," the temporary removal of the mask which separates this content from the symbolic realm. (Freud 1901: 32)

The Paradox of Automaticity and Attention in Freud's Theory of Slips

The role of automaticity in Freud’s theory can therefore be seen both at the level of perception or encoding, as well as in the act of slip and free association. Freud’s view that slips occur more frequently when “conditions are favoured by exhaustion, circulatory disturbances and intoxication,” and his view that inattention can produce errors in speech or writing is indicative of that the processes of the mind are both automatic and motivated in Freud’s theory. (Freud 1901: 25) This paradox, however, is indicative that the acts of writing and speech require a part of the conscious subject to be without error, however can occur automatically, in a somnambulistic state which will enable parts of the unconscious to come through. (Gitelman 195) The lack of concentrated attention is an articulation of mental process which questioned "the resemblance between motor and mental habits" and divided types of attention. (Gitelman 196) The failures of the experiments done by Gertrude Stein resulted are indicative of the inability to to differentiate between normal and abnormal automatisms. However, when the contents of the unconscious which are contained within the mind begin to interfere with speech and writing it can be seen as a case of when writing ceases “not to write itself,” and the expression and storing (in errors in writing) of errors means that it has begun to write something else, the unconscious. (Kittler 3) Therefore according to Freud’s theory, all mental life and its expression would be a result of the cake-mix effect, the combination of the automaticity at the level of mental life, unconscious motivation and conscious attention. It also indicates that the good weather for making Freudian slips is actually fatigue and inattention.

The Emergence of the Other through the Slip

Mary S. Gossy argues in Freudian Slips: Woman, Writing and the Foreign Tongue (1995) that The Psychopathology of Everyday Life demonstrates the manner by which the bodies of women “slip through theoretical discourse and make their own impractical, parapractic” sense. (Gossy 9) The existence of a symbolic system of language which makes it difficult to identify with the oppressed other, means this must occur at the level of the imaginary or unconscious. She identifies the repressed thought with the repressed female body, and suggests the slip is a way of freeing rather than sacrificing the bodies of female. While not suggesting that the female body is of a language that is ungrammatical or irrational, she argues that the female body “can make the discourses of patriarchy and masculinity ungrammatical” and cause error. (Gossy 47) This is argued through both the natures of the slips presented by Freud in The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (which is overwhelmingly on the subject of females, however, not exclusively) as well as through other signifiers which she argues is indicative of the female body and formerly unwritable data flows. This perhaps could almost be the obvious in Freud’s theory of slips; the language of the repressed is necessarily that which cannot be expressed or desired through the symbolic language existing in Freud’s period in Vienna, the female form.
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Caricature of Freud in a woman's slip

References and Works Cited

Gitelman, Lisa. Scripts, Grooves, and Writing Machines: Representing Technology in the Edison Era. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999. Print.

Gossy, Mary S. Freudian Slips: Woman, Writing, the Foreign Tongue. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1995. Print.

Flusser, Vilém. The Shape of Things: A Philosophy of Design. London: Reaktion Books, 1999. Print.

Freud, S. The Psychopathology of Everyday Life. Trans A.A. Brill, 1901.Web/Pdf.

Freud, S. On Aphasia: A Critical Study. London, Imago Publishing Co., 1953. Print.

Kittler, Fredrich. Gramophone, Film, Typewriter. Stanford University Press, 1999.

Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production. Ed. Frederick Engels. Trans. Samuel Moore. Edward Aveling. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1904. Print.

Motley, M. “Theory of Slips” in Encyclopaedia of Freud. Edited by S. Gendin, L. Leiman, and J. Walkup. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.

Livingstone Smith, D. “The Uncosncious” in Encyclopaedia of Freud. Edited by S. Gendin, L. Leiman, and J. Walkup. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.

Miller, L. Freud’s Brain: Neuropsychodynamic Foundations of Psychoanalysis. New York: The Guilford Press, 1991. Print.

Nunberg, Herman. Principles of Psychoanalysis: Their Application to the Neuroses. Trans. Madlyn Kahr. Sidney Kahr. New York: International Universities Press, 1962. Print.

Rieff, P. The Triumph of the Therapeutic. New York, NY: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc 1966. Print.

Vismann, Cornelia. Files: Law and Media Technology. Trans. Geoffrey Winthrop-Young. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008. Print.

Zaretsky, E. The Personal Unconscious. From Secrets of the Soul. NY: Vintage,2004. Print.

Zentner, M. “Nineteenth-Century Precursor’s of Freud” in Encyclopaedia of Freud. Edited by S. Gendin, L. Leiman, and J. Walkup. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.