5. Theory of Repression
In Freud’s concept of the division of psyche ego, superego, and id, these three entities work in a process of repression. Peter Barry in Beginning Theory
defined repression as “…the ‘forgetting’ or ignoring of unresolved conflicts, unadmitted desires, or traumatic past events, so that they are forced out of
conscious awareness and into the realm of the unconscious” Barry, 2009: 92-93. repression Id is always considered as something which is too vulgar or not
appropriate to be expressed directly. Therefore, it must be repressed so that it would not come out in another inappropriate form. This function is run by
superego. As the result of the repression, there comes the ego as the most proper form of the expression of id.
When something in human mind is repressed, it does not totally disappear. “…it remains alive in the unconscious, like radioactive matter buried beneath the
ocean, and constantly seeks a way back into the conscious mind, always succeeding eventually” Barry, 2009: 96. Freud once stated, “There is always a
return of the repressed.” According to Freud’s statement, each person will give the way back to his repressed fear and wish. Freud explained that those repressed
things might come back in the form of symptoms, dreams, or slips of tongue. Basically, Lacan agreed with Freud’s thought about repression. He did not
state a radical differentiation from it. However, since Lacan presented a different theory of subject, there are some things that are needed to be paid attention to. In
Lacan’s concept of repression, what to repress is the desire of a subject. A similar
reason with the reason of repressing id is attributed on this action. It is because the desire is considered as something which is too vulgar to be expressed that it
should be repressed. The process of repression starts when a subject meets the Other. Through
the relationship they have, the Other will always make a limitation on the self of the subject. Subject’s desire is repressed by the influence of the Other that it will
result in a more appropriate expression that can be accepted by the circumstance around the subject. Following the same logic that Freud presented, this repressed
thing returns in some certain forms. The existence of repression is recognized through the existence of symptoms that the subject shows. The symptoms appear
in the symbolic phase. Lacan’s famous saying was that the unconscious is structured like a
language Barry, 2009: 106. In Lacanian analysis, the symptoms are identified from the speech that a subject speaks. Every single word and even letter is
showing the structure of subject’s unconsciousness. By paying attention to subject’s speech as a symptom in symbolic phase, the desire that a subject has
repressed can be associated with. “…that psychoanalytic theory inserts itself, seeking to uncover repressed
or overdetermined aspects of self-organization” Elliot, 2002: 10. Psychoanalysis runs its function by paying attention to the forms of the returning repressed and
relating them to the other aspects of the person analyzed to eventually make an interpretation of what exactly exists in that person’s unconsciousness. This
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