Ana Laura Prates Prelude 1

“Appropriatingtheinappropriable?”SaraRodowicz-Ślusarczyk

InthethemeofourMeetingthequestionofthebody'streatmentcomestothefore,articulatedwiththequestionoftime,ormorepreciselyofthetimeswelivein.Hearingthetitle,Iimmediatelysearchedforitstranslationintomymothertongue.Itwasnotthebodybutthenotionoftreatmentwhichposedaproblem.InPolish,onecannotspeakof“treatment”todesignatebothawayoftreatingsomethingandacure.ButIfoundthatthisissueoftranslation–pertinenttobothourcommunityandtheglobaltimeswelivein–wasonlythebeginningofafruitfulproblem.Intheveryconceptoftreatment,somethingisalreadysupposed.Itisthatthingwhichisbeingtreated–thebody,inthiscase.ThisbodyofwhichLacansaidinthelateyearsofhisteachingthatit“shouldimpressyoumore1”!Inotethatitisinthespiritofnottakingthebodyforgranted,attheheartofclinicalexperience,thatRamonMiralpeixwrotehisprelude,entitled“Sothattherebeabody…”.ChantalDegril,ontheotherhand,beganherswiththequotewhereinLacanremindsus:itishavingabody,andnotbeingitthatcharacterisesthehuman2.Formypart,itisarecentreadingofGiorgioAgamben'sTheUseofBodies3whichpushesmetolookintothisveryLacanianideaofhavingabody,andtojuxtaposethenotionoftreatmentwiththatofuse,asdevelopedbytheItalianphilosopher.Ifinditimportanttoquestionthisverbofhaving–ofhavingabodyinthe21stcentury–especiallyinthecontextofcapitalistdiscourse.Tobegin,Iwouldpointoutthatwemaybeaccustomedtoassociatehavingwithownership,but“tohave”canmean“tobeabletodosomethingwith”,butalso”tohavetodosomethingwith”,tobeobligedbysomething.Andonecanalso“have”adisease:curable,andincurable(likedesire).AccordingtoAgamben,body,languageandlandscapearethethreeinappriopriablesforthehumanbeing.Forhim,aconditionforrelatingtotheinappropriable–apossibilitywhichhecallsuse–isneverowning.Inherprelude,ColetteSolerunderlinedasignificantpointoforientationwithinthetheme–psychoanalysistreatsbodieswhichhavealreadybeentreated,bydiscourse.Inthis“alreadybeentreated”,wecanaccentuateeitherthemarkofatrace,or,ontheother

1 LACANJ.SeminarBookXX,Encore,(sessionofMay8th,1973)trans.B.Fink,W.W.Norton&CompanyInc,NewYork1998,pg.109 2 Thequoteis„LOM,thebasicLOM,LOMwhohasabodyandhasonlyone.Onehastosayitlikethat:hehasone…andnot:heisone…Itishavingitandnotbeingitthatcharacteriseshim.”,LACANJ.JoyceleSymptome,AutresEcrits,Paris,Seuil,2001,p.565 3 AGAMBEN,GIORGIOTheUseofBodies, trans. A. Kotsko, Stanford University Press, 2016

Ana Laura Prates Prelude 2

hand,anassumption.Myinterestisinthelatter.Thereistheassumptionofaprevioustreatment,andthen,withintheassumptionthatthattreatmentrequires,somethingofthebodyescapesus.Itisourtaskinpsychoanalysistoelucidatehow.Whatisitthatescapes?Repetitivetreatmentofthebodythroughspeechmiraculouslycreatesthisbody'sunity,astreatinglogicallyassumesanobjectoftreatment.Butthatsamesuppositionseemstoalsohidesthesignificationitcreates.Sketchingoutthepremisesofadiscussion,onecouldattempttoparaphraseLacan:“Thattheremightbeabodyremainsforgottenbehinditsusageinitstreatment”4.ColetteSoleralsoseemstopointtothisveryproblemofthebody'sinaccessibilitywhenshesaysthatinclinicalexperience,thosebodiesalreadytreatedbydiscoursecannotsatisfysubjects.Itmightseemthattreatmentismoreconcernedwithitsobject,whileuseconsidersitonlyasameanstoanotherend.Thisisnotmylineofthinkinghere.Iregard“treatment”asthatwhichimpliesmoreofadistancewiththetreatedobjectthanisthecasewithuse.Andtheendinquestionforwhich“use”wouldbethemeansispreciselythatofjouissance,inseparablefromthebody.Inthetreatmentofthebodybythefantasy,forexample,thebody'scapacitytobeimaginedasawhole,separableobjectisusedbythesubjectasheorsheborrowsitsmodeofbeing–whichisalwaysa“beinginexchange”withtheOther–fromthe“partiality”allowedbythedrives,inordertomis-recognisehimorherself.Thetroubleintheaffairistheundecidedpositionwithrespecttojouissance,asthesubjectattributesittotheOther.Vacillatingintheand/orinordertosaveone'sbeing,foranothertime.Thiswouldbetheunconsciousassumptionofsignificationwithinthetreatmentbyfantasy,whichbetsonmakingaplaceforthesubject'sbeing.Abet,wecanevencallitabetof(self)lovewhichcreatessignification,andwhichisaleapintothefutureperfecttense.Butwhereisthebodyinitscorpo-reality,facedwiththeleapsofthissubject?Isn'titdoomedtobejet-lagged?Initsweight,laggingbehindthejetofthisleapintothefuturethatthesubjectalwaysis.Jetlaggedforyears,ametaphorwhichIowetoananalysandwhothusnamedhersymptomofinsomnia.Inwhatwouldbethe“peaceoftheevening”,attheverymomentwhenthebodyisputoutofuse,thepotentialdormantwithinthesymptomremainsrestless,speaksofthebodythroughnightmares,showingthatonecan,indeed,sleepfuriously5.But,playingoncontemporaryandhistoricmetaphors,wouldthealternativeofawakeningthebodyfromjetlagbeonlythatof…sleepwalking?Amomentwhenthebodydoestakeover,whilethesleepofthesubjectindicateshowitremainsinappropriableinitsmystery.Asanalysts,wedon'tadvertiseafull-awakening(whichasLacansayswouldbedeath),andthesyncopationbetweenthesubjectandbodyremains,itistheparlêtre.Canweoptforsomethingotherthansleepwalking,intheuseofbodiesthatananalysisfacilitates?

4 Lacan'sfamoussentenceis"Thatonemightbesayingremainsforgottenbehindwhatissaidinwhatisheard"inL'Etourdit,availableinEnglishtranslationbyCormacGallagher,distributedinTHELETTER41(2009)31-80 5 Ievokethe«Colorlessgreenideassleepfuriously/Furiouslysleepideasgreencolorless»commenteduponbyNoamChomskyinhisSyntacticStructures,andwhichLacanquotesinthefirstlessonofSeminarXII,Lesproblèmescruciauxpourlapsychanalyse(sessionofDecember2nd1964,unpublishedversion).

Ana Laura Prates Prelude 3

PerhapsLacan'sbeautifulre-definitionofthedrivealsoallowsustoconceiveoftheknotting,fromtreatmenttouseofthebody.Ashesaysthedrives“aretheechointhebodythattherewasasaying”6.Itmeansthatspeechmadeuseofthebody,ifitwasallowedbyasubject.InthisusethebodybecomeafieldofresonanceforthevoiceoftheOther,alandscapeforitsecho,ratherthananenclosed,wholeobject.IntheFrenchetymologicaldictionaryusageisdefinedfirstofallasgenerallyreceivedpractice,acustom,alsoasthemannerofbeingofsomeone,theuseofsomething,andalso:aparticularfunction.Myideahereisthatinuse,theemploymentofthebodyismoredirectthaninthecaseoftreatment.Perhapswecouldalsosay:thetreatmentofanorganismthroughspeechwhichmakesofitabodyiswhatallowsforitsuse.Ortheassumptionmadebythetreatmentisputtothetestinuse?Ifonlythispassagewassosimple,wewouldnothavemuchwork.Inordertousesomethingattentively,onehastohaveacertainknow-how.The“how”impliesattentiontodetail,withinacertainstructureofknowledge.Inusage,the“how”isbothpresent,inaninstant,andimmediatelyforgotteninthepurposeofthatuse.Whenthe“how”inthisknow-howisoverlyaccentuatedinamodel,itismanner.Thejoyofforgettingoneselfinthis“how”isstyle.Agamben'sstudy,whichIamverybrieflyrecountinghere,doesn'timplythatusingthebodymeansmasteringit.Mycommentontheknow-howdoesn'timplyit,either.Whatseemstobemoreimportantisthatthroughuse,thebodyistheveryspaceofthehuman'sindirectrelationshipwithbeing,whichislacking.Soisthecreativepowerofthisverb,andofitsuse–theuseofuse,Iwouldsay,whichrequirestimeandrepetitiontobeverifiedinitseffectsforeachone.Accentuatingthe“how”ofbothmannerandstyle,IfinditsurprisinglyclosetothatlinguisticsubtletywhichwaspointedouttousinLacanbySoler–thatofpostulatingacorpo-rectionaswhatallowsforabond,ofbodies,throughtheeffectsofjouissancewhichowesomethingtothemiraclesoflanguage.TobecontinuedinBuenosAires!

6 LACAN J. Seminar XXIII, Joyce le sinthome, session of November 18th, 1975, unpublished