Klein Alongside Lacan (1)

Lacanians are often dismissive toward Kleinian theory...and yet there is much to be learned from a considered comparison of the 'metapsychological' foundations of Lacanian and Kleinian psychoanalysis. In this first discussion of the differences - and unexpected convergences - between Lacan and Klein we draw on Juliet Mitchell's introduction to her edited volume 'The Selected Melanie Klein'. We highlight the predominance of repression in Freudian theory as opposed to Klein's attention to more primary defenses of splitting, projection, introjection and projective identification, and we stress the difference of the two theorists in respect of the historical dimension implied by Freud's notion of primal repression.

[@kerycktotebag8164]

i can't repress much aside from what psychotic ppl can. I'm diagnosed with autism "Level 2" and besides my verbal comprehension capacity, I'm very much like most of Kanner's patients just "grown up".
I'm happy to hear that I'm not considered psychotic by all Lacanians. i don't experience freudian slips unless I've ingested cannabis, and every therapist I've had let me talk about whatever i wanted (whether they should've or not) so perhaps more rigorous lacanian analysts could practice on me lol
but if they treat me as psychotic and therefore guide me to talk in my usual bravado, it wouldn't do much for me bc i have epistemic humility and don't experience much catharsis while speaking freely. just mild elation if it's a special interest.
but the process of analysis for working more skillfully with my desires and drives in a way that can only be done through transference or swerve, seems like it could help if only ppl knew how to do analysis with autistic adults.

[@clevergadget]

if you only slip when you get high you should probably get high before analysis?

[@christianlesniak]

Thanks for this interesting project! I'm trying to square a lot Lacanian notions of self with ideas I have from ego psychology and Buddhism (I see some ways in which all three can productively speak to each other), so I appreciate someone taking ego psychology seriously from a Lacanian perspective. I have this notion that you really need to develop the ego to a certain point before you can expose it as a mirage, so I'll be curious about hearing more on this.

[@lacanian_lifter]

So, would it be fair to say as a sort of shorthand or memory device that the Freudian/Lacanian unconscious is ontological (or has to do with the ways in which we negotiate Being qua your comment about “verbs”) whereas the Kleinian unconscious is epistemological (ie, unconscious as a storehouse of memories/perceptions/events which, through their deployment on the part of the subject, lends credence to a given perception or positionality)?