Decentering the Subject, Psychoanalytically: Researching Imaginary Spacings through Image-Based Interviews

Since the more-than-human turn, geographers have increasingly called for a decentering of the human subject by breaking away from a classically modern understanding of subjectivity and by treating humans as one of many players. In this article, we offer an alternative way of decentering the subject...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Professional geographer Vol. 74; no. 3; pp. 540 - 548
Main Authors: Pohl, Lucas, Helbrecht, Ilse
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Washington Routledge 03.07.2022
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:
decentering
descentramiento
Elicitation
fotoelicitación
Geographers
Humans
imaginario
imaginary
Imagination
Interviews
Lacan, Jacques Marie Emile (1901-1981)
métodos cualitativos
photo-elicitation
psicoanálisis
Psychoanalysis
qualitative methods
Research subjects
Subjectivity
假想
去中心化
定性方法
照片启发
精神分析
ISSN:0033-0124, 1467-9272
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Since the more-than-human turn, geographers have increasingly called for a decentering of the human subject by breaking away from a classically modern understanding of subjectivity and by treating humans as one of many players. In this article, we offer an alternative way of decentering the subject by following the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Far from being subject-centered, psychoanalysis aims to understand the subject as a radically decentered and fragile production, which is only secured through what Lacan calls the imaginary. The imaginary combines two realms-image and imagination-and focuses on how the subject generates a sense of the self through spatial identification with images. Based on image-based interviews conducted in Singapore, Vancouver, and Berlin following the method of photo-elicitation, we demonstrate how this imaginary subject can be empirically investigated. We identify five stages in the interviews that help us retrace how the subject establishes an imaginary relationship with an image as well as how it is confronted with the fragile constitution of this relationship. We conclude by emphasizing the potential of image-based interviews to investigate the decentering of subjects and explore ways in which geographers can further decenter the subject psychoanalytically.
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ISSN:0033-0124
1467-9272
DOI:10.1080/00330124.2021.2014909