Abstract

FONTES, Maria Helena de Souza. The narrative dimension in adolescent psychoanalysis: The catcher in the rye. J. psicanal. [online]. 2017, vol.50, n.92, pp. 99-110. ISSN 0103-5835.

The author discusses the connection between the novel The catcher in the rye (Salinger, 1951) and the clinical work with an adolescent patient. In this paper, she highlights the importance of the narrative dimension to both the clinical material, which is regarding one of her adolescent analysands, and the novel, which is narrated in the first person by the sixteen-year-old character, Holden Caufield. The author considers the narrative to be an organizing element of the complex and turbulent emotional experiences in adolescence. The experiences in this specific moment of emotional development are mostly characterized by acting - "acting-outs" - and lack of verbal communication (or "words"). The author advises adolescent analysts about the importance of distinguishing between acting-outs and communicative actions (Barugel and Mantykow de Sola, 1993). Nora Barugel and Berta M. de Sola believe adolescent performances are privileged communication of their inner world - that is, an expression of their drives, desires, conflicts, and mental suffering. According to those authors, the role of adolescent performances in adolescent analysis is as valuable as the role of playing in the analysis of young children. The conclusion of this paper emphasizes that a successful psychoanalytic experience replaces acting as a way of communication by narration. This replacement enables the historical subject to arise.

Keywords : adolescence; acting-out; communicative action; narration; emotional development; subjectivity.

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