Althusser,Louis(19181990)

Friday,August08,2008 4:43PM

BiographicInformation:AFrenchAlgerian,Althussermovedto Marseillesasaboy.RaisedaRomanCatholic,hefoughtinWWIIand wascapturedbytheGermans.Afterthewar,hereturnedtoschoolat theEcoleNormaleSuperieureinParis,whereexperiencedprofound boutsofdepressionandreceivedelectricshock.Helaterjoinedthe FrenchCommunistParty.In1980,Althusser(accidentally???)strangled hiswifeandwasinstitutionalizedforthreeyears.

MAJOR WORKSFor Marx (1965), Reading Capital (1968), "Ideology and the Ideological State Apparatus" (1969) Theoretical Overview: Althusser sought to rewrite Marx in the same way that Lacan rewrote Freud. Often combining Marxism and Psychoanalytic theory, Althusser criticized the Humanist and Hegelian strands in Marxism, emphasizing that individuals were incapable of creating the social change that the masses could enact.

I. Theory a. Working from Lacan and Marx b. Ideology:asystemofpracticesandinstitutionswhichpromotesonthepartofthesubjectan

imaginaryrelationshiptothematerialconditionsofexistence

c.

d.

e.

f.

i. Real: the relations of production and to class relations(qtd. Silverman 216)a Marxist evaluation of reality ii. Imaginary: Culturally initiated relations and identifications (mirror) iii. Ideology has a material existence: ISA, RSA, practices, rituals iv. Ideology is a misrecognition of ourselves (related to Lacans Mirror Stage) v. The subject can never transcend Ideology, but she can become aware of its operations and find a set of identifications that more accurately reflects the real. Repressive State Apparatus: Elements of the government which can use force i. Military ii. Police iii. Judiciary Ideological State Apparatus (ISA): an agency for reproducing the cultural order i. Schools ii. The family: produces sexual differentiated subjects iii. Media iv. Boyscouts Hailing/ Interpellation: when the subject of speech recognizes themselves as the subject of speech i. Althusser (Lacan?) uses the image of a policeman saying, Hey, you! ii. The subject is hailed even before birth (the family prepares for it) iii. The subject is always-already iv. Althusser borrows the term interpellation from Freud. The subject exist in the illusion of freewill i. action: implies freewill, volition, the individualrejected by Althusser ii. practice: exists only within the bounds of ideology

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iii. The spatial metaphor (from class): it similar to a person who is locked inside a room and is told they can do whatever they want. Of course, the persons freewill is constrained within the boundaries of that room. g. Possible challenges to Althusser's concept of agency and ideology. II. "Letter On Art in Reply to Andr Daspre" (1966) [in Marxist Literary Theory 269] III. "Freud and Lacan" (1969) a. Defends psychoanalysis from the other sciences, and Marxism, that either dismiss it entirely or mis-appropriate it. b. Asserts the important role of Lacan's work in bringing about a return to Freud c. The object of study for psychoanalysis is the "unconscious"
A. "Whatistheobjectofpsychoanalysis?Itiswhatanalyticaltechniquedealswithinthe analyticalpracticeofthecure[T]heeffects,prolongedintothesurviving adult,ofthe extraordinaryadventurewhichfrombirthtotheliquidationoftheOedipalphasetransforms asmallanimalconceivedbyamanandawomanintoasmallhumanchild... Oneoftheeffectsofthehumanizationofthesmallbiologicalcreaturethatresultsfrom humanparturition[childbirth]:thereinitsplaceistheobjectofpsychoanalysis,anobject whichhasasimplename:theunconscious. Thatthissmallbiologicalbeingsurvives,andnotasawolfchild,thathasbecomealittle wolforbear(asdisplayedintheprincelycourtsoftheeighteenthcentury),butasahuman child(havingescapedallchildhooddeaths,manyofwhicharehumandeaths,deaths punishingthefailureofhumanization),thatisthetestalladultmenhavepassed:theyare theneverforgetfulwitnesses,andveryoftenthevictims,ofthisvictory,bearingintheir mosthidden,i.e.,intheirmostclamorousparts,thewounds,weaknessesandstiffnesses thatresultfromthisstruggleforhumanlifeordeath.Some,themajority,haveemerged moreorlessunscathedoratleast,givethisouttobethecase;manyofthese veterans bearthemarksthroughouttheirlives;somewilldiefromtheirfight,thoughatsome remove,theoldwoundssuddenlyopeningagaininpsychoticexplosion,inmadness,the ultimatecompulsionofanegativetherapeuticreaction;others,morenumerous,as normallyasyoulike,intheguiseofanorganicdecay.Humanityonlyinscribesitsofficial deathsonitswarmemorials:thosewhowereabletodieontime,i.e.,late,asmen,in humanwarsinwhichonlyhumanwolvesandgodstearandsacrificeoneanother.Initssole survivors,psychoanalysisisconcernedwithanotherstruggle,withtheonlywarwithout memoirsormemorials,thewarhumanitypretendsithasneverdeclared,thewaritalways thinksithaswoninadvance,simplybecausehumanityisnothingbutsurvivingthiswar, livingandbearingchildrenascultureinhumanculture:awarwhichiscontinuallydeclared ineachofitssons,who,projected,deformedandrejected,arerequired,eachbyhimselfin solitudeandagainstdeath,totakethelongforcedmarchwhichmakesmammiferouslarvae intohumanchildren,masculineorfemininesubjects."(57)

IV. Resources a. Althusser Internet Archive: http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/

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