Udo Hock, "The Mysterious Messages of the Other: On the Work of Jean Laplanches" (Psychosozial-Verlag, 2024)
Jan 26, 2025
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Udo Hock, a renowned German psychoanalyst and Laplanche translator, delves into the complexities of Jean Laplanche's theories in a captivating discussion. He explores the profound influences of the unconscious, highlighting how infantile sexuality shapes our experiences. Hock critiques Freudian concepts and emphasizes the significance of seduction theory, particularly in therapeutic settings. He navigates the dynamics of transference and countertransference, discussing the intricate relations between foundational figures like Freud and Lacan, while envisioning future directions for Laplanche studies.
Hock emphasizes the significance of the enigmatic messages from adults in shaping a child's unconscious experiences and understanding of the world.
The podcast highlights Laplanche’s proposal for a psychoanalytic shift that focuses on the complexities of the unconscious over merely conscious desires.
Deep dives
The Foundations of Laplanche's Work
Laplanche's work is anchored in two pivotal concepts: the primacy of the other and the primacy of sexuality within the unconscious. The primacy of the other suggests that a child's unconscious is shaped primarily by external influences, particularly from adults, who communicate enigmatic messages laden with sexual undertones. These messages, often complex and difficult to decipher, reflect the child's experience with adult behaviors and emotions, illustrating how the child's understanding of their world is constructed through these interactions. Further, the primacy of sexuality recognizes that the inherent content of these messages extends beyond mere genital sexual implications to encompass a broader, more nuanced understanding of infantile sexuality as polymorphously perverse.
Copernican Revolution in Psychoanalysis
Laplanche introduces the notion of a Copernican revolution in the field of psychoanalysis, contrasting it with a Ptolemaic perspective that centers consciousness in understanding human behavior. In his view, the unconscious must be recognized as the core of psychic life, suggesting that one must begin with the complexities of the unconscious rather than the conscious mind. This shift in perspective emphasizes that human beings are shaped not by conscious desires alone, but significantly by unconscious processes influenced by external relationships. Laplanche argues that this revolution remains unfinished, as psychoanalysis continues to grapple with the implications of understanding consciousness and unconsciousness in a balanced manner.
Enclaved vs. Repressed Unconscious
The distinction between enclaved and repressed unconsciousness is crucial to understanding Laplanche’s patient approach. The repressed unconscious is formed through a process of translation, where messages from others are partially understood and translated, leaving untranslatable components that constitute repression. In contrast, the enclaved unconscious consists of messages that cannot be translated at all, representing a more pathological state characterized by significant unresolved conflicts. This distinction underscores the varying degrees of understanding and integration of traumatic experiences within individuals, pointing to the necessity of addressing both types of unconscious when engaging with patients in psychoanalysis.
Laplanche's Clinical Innovations
Laplanche's clinical practice diverges from traditional techniques by focusing on the enigmatic messages communicated by the analyst to provoke transference in the patient. This approach sees the analyst not merely as a reflector of the patient's projections but as an active participant in shaping the therapeutic dialogue. In this framework, the analyst's interpretations focus on detranslating the patient's narratives to reveal underlying conflicts rooted in the enigmatic messages. This method emphasizes the importance of listening and responding to the patient's experience rather than imposing pre-conceived interpretations or theories, thereby allowing for a more collaborative and responsive psychoanalytic process.
Udo Hock's Die rätselhaften Botschaften des Anderen. Zum Werk Jean Laplanches(The enigmatic messages of the other. On the work of Jean Laplanche), came out in 2024 with Psychosozial-Verlag, and collectes nine essays that Hock published over the past twenty years. Published in 2024 to celebrate Laplanche's centennial, these papers are a crucial contribution to Laplanche studies from one of its key actors. Hock is not only a reader and commentator of Laplanche, but also an editor and translator of many of Laplanche's German-language translations. Hock has a real eye for the complexities of Laplanche's work, and he thinks Laplanche together with other thinkers such as Žižek or figures of French Theory. Hock is steeped in French Theory and its milieu, of which he himself has been a member for the past forty years. He proposes to psychoanalysis a shift away from its monothematic anglophilia toward an appreciation of the French schools.
I recommend reading closely these essays to anyone capable of reading German. They open up another Laplanche, the Laplanche of linguistic sublety and conceptual ingenuity. All the while Hock offers critical re-examinations of central psychoanalytic notions through his engagment with Laplanchian concepts such as seduction, mytho-symbolism or the message.
The interview itself has a wonderfully explorative and open-ended quality. Hock really embarked on a journey of thinking, when he spoke of Laplanche, Lacan, Klein, and other other ideas central Laplanche's work. i greatly enjoyed this interview for its meditative quality, for the fact that Hock dwelled on topics, excavating what lies beneath the surface.
Interview conducted by Myriam Sauer (in person, so at times the voices may become a bit silent)
