Discovering fragmented speech: Towards a Bakhtinian approach to the unconscious

Abstract

Fragmented speech, the discovery of which forms the basis of this dissertation, provides the aim and direction of our thesis. The aim is to clarify precisely what fragmented speech is, and subsequently define its application. In this thesis, we begin by providing the historical background to the initial collision between psychoanalysis and literature. This broad base provides the impetus needed in order to formulate certain conclusions regarding the unconscious and the dialogic. Our methodology involves a combination of Freudo-Lacanian theory and Bakhtinian linguistics. As we approach an understanding of our subject, it becomes increasingly necessary to develop the issues surrounding the significance of fragmented speech.

The significance of our work becomes focused when we provide an analysis of a `psychotic discourse', namely, the Memoirs of My Nervous Illness, by President Schreber – using the methodology described. In the final stages of our thesis fragmented speech becomes a symptom of psychosis. Under pressure from the unconscious, the image of speech may fragment. It is the interaction between the body image and the speech image that provides us with a speech complex. Consequently, this dissertation discovers fragmented speech at the very heart of the psychoanalytic session.