Why the X Matters: Mystery, Unknown, and Sexuality

"X". Calle Alcalá, Madrid. Photograph by Ana M. Martín Solar.

With the evocative title “Once Again, the Mystery”, the Argentine psychoanalyst Mariano Horenstein poses the equally enigmatic question: How do we listen to the language of sexuality today?

Through an exploration of the relationship between language and psychoanalysis and the historical transformation of the clinical paradigms that have shaped psychoanalytic listening to date: hysteria, in its origins, with its enigmatic language surrounded by silences, which inaugurated the analytical device; psychosis, which after the Second World War led to the expansion of the field, forcing us to give voice and testimony where the absence of repression predominated; the author shows us the trans clinic as a new paradigm that is currently emerging, not only because it requires the analyst to be heard, but also because it bursts onto the scene with its own voice and avatars of inclusive language, directly challenging psychoanalytic theory and practice, and thus bringing sexuality back to the centre of the psychoanalytic stage and debate.

In 2022, “Once Again, the Mystery” won the biennial Carolina Zamora Prize awarded by the Asociación Psicoanalítica de Madrid, which recognised the author by inviting him to participate as one of the main speakers at the seventh Meeting of Spanish-speaking Psychoanalysts in 2024.

Mariano Horenstein is a psychoanalyst with a teaching role at the Córdoba Psychoanalytic Association and the International Psychoanalytic Association.

He is a former representative for Latin America on the IPA Board. 

He is the former editor-in-chief of Calibán-Revista Latinoamericana de Psicoanálisis. He is also the author of the books: 

‘Psicoanálisis en lengua menor’ (Psychoanalysis in a Minor Language); ‘Brújula y diván. El psicoanálisis y su necesaria extranjería’ (Compass and Couch: Psychoanalysis and its Necessary Foreignness); ‘Funambulistas. Travesía adolescente y riesgo’ (Tightrope Walkers: Adolescent Journey and Risk); and ‘Conversaciones de diván’ (Couch Conversations).

www.marianohorenstein.com

This episode is presented in English and Spanish.

Spanish 

 

You can download a copy of the paper here.

This podcast series is produced by the International Psychoanalytical Association as part of the activities of the IPA Outreach Subcommittee.    Chair: Gaetano Pellegrini.  Podcast Coordinator: Florencia Biotti. Editing and Post-Production: Massimiliano Guerrieri.   To stay informed about the latest podcast releases, please subscribe today.