Institutt for Psykoterapi invites to a digital event Wednesday 15th of May 2024, 7.00-9.00 p.m.
Registration to: sekr@instpsyk.no.
Fee: 300 NOK/30 Euros
Abstract:
“What binds me to the Other is the voice in the field of the Other.” (Miller, 1989, p. 184)
The mother’s voice, or that of the primary caregiver, serves as the initial conduit for ushering an infant into the world of language. It’s through the earliest vocalizations that an infant’s needs and desires begin to be expressed. Yet, the voice transcends the mere imparting of meaning; it imbues speech with a musicality—an intrinsic, pre-logical aspect of language that psychoanalysis scrutinizes for its libidinal ties between the corporeal and the linguistic.
In our upcoming discussion, we will delve into the autistic individual’s distinctive connection to the voice. We aim to dissect the psychoanalytic interpretation of ‘voice’ and its pivotal role in carving out one’s declarative stance within a linguistic community. We will probe the paradox wherein numerous individuals on the autism spectrum demonstrate linguistic adeptness yet often refrain from active verbal engagement. Through this lens, we will introduce a modern psychoanalytic perspective on autism.
Bio:
Dr. Leon S. Brenner (Ph.D) is a psychoanalyst and psychoanalytic theorist from Berlin. Brenner’s work draws from the Freudian and Lacanian traditions of psychoanalysis, and his interest lies in the understanding of the relationship between culture and psychopathology. His book The Autistic Subject: On the Threshold of Language, is a bestseller in in Palgrave/Springer publishing in 2021 and 2023. He is a founder of Lacanian Affinities Berlin (laLAB) and Unconscious Berlin.
Recommended reading:
Leon S. Brenner: The Autistic Subject – On the Threshold of Language, Palgrave Macmillan 2020
Leon S. Brenner: The autistic pseudosignifier: Imaginary dialectization of signs in the clinic of autism; Theory & Psychology 2023, Vol. 33(4): 535-554