In Freudian psychoanalysis, a condensation () is when a single idea (an image, memory, or thought) or dream object stands for several associations and ideas. This is an energetic reshuffling in which mental energy flows freely from one idea etc. to another. This free change of psychic energy is characteristic of so-called primary processes, which do not function with the aim of mental identity, but rather aim to fulfill pleasure, even self-deception to a certain extent, in order to make life easier, i.e. to avoid unpleasant and harmful things: a camouflage, reinterpretation, reconnection of disliked perceptions or memories. However, condensations can also be the determining factor for misperceptions, the psychoenergetic dynamics of which are not free-flowing, as certain external and internal motives are also involved. This can trigger avoidance behavior in the affected person.

In dreams, symptoms, and jokes

Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in t ...

considered that "

dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5–20 minutes, althou ...

are brief, meagre and laconic in comparison with the range and wealth of the dream-thoughts." Images and chains of association have their emotional charges displaced from the originating ideas to the receiving one, where they merge and "condense" together. Thus for example a dream figure may resemble A, wear B's clothes and act like C, but nevertheless we know somehow that they are 'really' D - rather as with the composite photographs of

Francis Galton Sir Francis Galton (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911) was an English polymath and the originator of eugenics during the Victorian era; his ideas later became the basis of behavioural genetics. Galton produced over 340 papers and b ...

. While condensation could serve the purposes of the dream

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

by disguising thoughts, Freud considered condensation as primarily the preferred mode of functioning of the unconscious Id. Freud saw the same mechanism of condensation at work in phantasies and neurotic symptoms, as well as in

parapraxis In psychoanalysis, a Freudian slip, also called parapraxis, is an error in speech, memory, or physical action that occurs due to the interference of an unconscious subdued wish or internal train of thought. Classical examples involve slips of ...

and jokes: he often cited as an instance Heine's quip about the rich man treating him 'famillionairily'.

In metaphor and metonymy

In the 1950s the concept was used by linguist

Roman Jakobson Roman Osipovich Jakobson (, ; 18 July 1982) was a Russian linguist and literary theorist. A pioneer of structural linguistics, Jakobson was one of the most celebrated and influential linguists of the twentieth century. With Nikolai Trubetzk ...

in his influential article on metaphor and metonymy. Comparing the linguistic evidence to Freud's account of the dream-work, Jakobson saw symbolism as relating to metaphor, condensation, and displacement to metonymy. Jakobson's work encouraged

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, ; ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Sigmund Freud, Freud", Lacan gave The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, year ...

to say that the unconscious is structured like a language.J Lacan, ''Ecrits'' (London 1997) p. 60

References

Sources

* Alain de Mijolla (ed.). ''International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis'', 1st vol.: "Condensation", Macmillan Reference Books, Defence mechanisms Psychoanalytic terminology Freudian psychology Rhetorical techniques Narrative techniques Semantics Metonymy Tropes by type {{psychology-stub

In dreams, symptoms, and jokes

In metaphor and metonymy

See also

References

Sources