ERIC EJ978119: Two Cultures, Two Dialogists and Two Intersecting Theories

2012·0.09 MB·English

by  ERIC

Individual Paper:
Two cultures, two dialogists and
two intersecting theories
Lesley Ravenscroft
This paper presents some possibilities for applying the linguistic and psychological theories of two dialogists,
Mikhail Bakhtin and Jacques Lacan, to the classroom. There is a short summary of how the two theories may
interact with each other and then a discussion of their two opposing views of identity formation. Bakhtin was
a Russian, coming from the collectivist paradigm and Lacan’s theories were arcane combinations of Freud’s
emphasis on the needs of the individual and French post-Revolutionary individualism. Lacan insisted that
one could only become ‘whole’ at the cost of incompleteness for another. Bakhtin opined that completeness could
only be achieved within experiences shared and co-constructed by others. This paper concludes with the
question of how teachers can ensure the positive experience of co-construction rather than one person paying
a cost for the other’s identity-formation and whether it is possible to fully implement insights from a
collectivistic paradigm in an education system where the stated aim is to enable each individual to meet
his/her potential.
S
CHOOLS ARE, by their very nature, became interested in how the psyche could
liminal spaces; the people within are all be constituted beyond the limits of the
in the process of becoming. ‘Liminal’ corporeal body and out into social networks
comes from the Latin word, limen, meaning and images. Despite being French, with the
‘threshold.’ Although a term originating in Post-Revolutionary emphasis on communal
anthropology, it is now more widely used in attachment and fitting in, Lacan considered
many disciplines to refer to ‘in-between situ- himself a true Freudian (Macey, 1994,
ations’ where there is some uncertainty p.xxxiii) and was much more concerned
about what the future holds (Horvath et al., with the individual’s selfish needs and drives,
2009:) Teachers and pupils together and the tensions meeting these within soci-
compose and construct a shared environ- ety (Wheeler, 1997, p.227ff). Indeed, Gold-
ment that allows moments of opportunity. stein (2009, p.115) suggests that French
Within each collective possibility, the envi- psychologists’ emphasis on the self can be
ronments themselves take on new meanings seen in a shift in vocabulary during the 1850s
and beginnings. This paper is a philosophi- as the traditional form âme, (often translated
cal rather than an empirical foray into how as the English word ‘soul’) became le moi.
two eminent dialogists from two very differ- Some politicians in France blamed the fail-
ent cultures – Lacan and Bakhtin – visualised ures of the First and Second Revolutions on
the interpersonal and intrapersonal this fragmented, sensationalist notion of self
processes taking place in this context. Given (ibid., p.126) put forward by psychologists. It
that the activities discussed in this paper are would seem that psychologists in France,
postulated to largely exist in the uncon- perhaps unsurprisingly, had their own
scious, it would be most interesting to subculture where individualism was seen as
consider further how empirical research the antithesis of the collective. Hence,
could be conducted into these processes. Lacan’s ‘cultural’ mileu was more that of
Born 13 April 1901 in Paris, Jacques biological determinism and individual pleas-
Marie Emile Lacan was a psychoanalyst who ure-seeking than fraternité or brotherhood
Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 18 No 1, Spring 2012 45
© The British Psychological Society 2012
Lesley Ravenscroft
and this seems to be reflected in his highly- p.2) but at the cost of a feeling of incom-
competitive notion of becoming. pleteness. Freud had theorised that the func-
Lacan argued that the ego is never whole tion of the ego was to mediate the unrealistic
but is always ‘not-whole,’ always pas-tout– see demands of the id with reality. Lacan
Grigg (2009, p.83), for a discussion of the proposed the mechanism by which this
translation of this term –always incomplete, occurred: reality is seen as an utterance to
always concealing its fragmentation beneath which the ego must always reply in the posi-
a mask of coherence and completeness tion of subject (Rose, 1982, p.27ff). Lacan
(1953, p.11ff). Some of these fragments are points to the effort needed to communicate
to be found in the symbolism of images, with another, to sustain the relationship
from the mirror, from the gaze of the other1 between two or more speakers. Perhaps that
(the semblable, 1949, p.5) and from meanings is why teachers are always so tired at the end
conveyed in words and the links between of the day? For Lacan, nothing is a propos of
words (1998, p.42). This world of language nothing. However, as a Freudian, he would
exists independently, before and after the say that this takes huge amounts of psychic
individual (Julien, 1994, p.92) but constructs energy because to be in relationship with
the individual within it. For instance, the anyone else necessarily involves the anti-
teacher calling a register constitutes a class at cathexis of some of our own drives (Freud,
the start of a lesson; the teacher calls into 1900, p.605) but it is worth it when our
being that class. Those students may not needs are met in the joint accomplishment
have been together as a group before, some of certain tasks, for example, food prepara-
may have been in PE or in DT or in music, tion. In the classroom, one has to ignore
but as soon as that register is called, they these drives the majority of the time. Parents
become that class as opposed to the individu- will recognise that very young children at the
als passing through the door one at a time start of their school careers are exhausted by
from previous classes or the bus. The teacher the end of the day and often ‘horrible’ when
addresses them as a class, ‘Okay, Year 7, let’s they get home as if they cannot ignore these
do our register!’ and a class they become. drives any longer. From personal anecdote,
The list of students who attended that class one parent described it thus: ‘It’s like they use
was on the computer system long before the all their ‘good’ up at school and haven’t any more
class and will continue to exist long after the ‘good’ left when they get home.’ Certainly delayed
class itself has finished. The lesson was on gratification at an early age is predictive of
the students’ timetables before they arrived educational success later on (Twenge, 2006,
and will be there after they leave. To para- p.66).
phrase an analogy that Lacan himself used Relationships were viewed very differ-
(1998, p.153), the placing of the labels ently by the Russian people at the start of the
‘Geography Room’ and ‘History Room’ 20th century. Richmond (2008, p.14ff)
makes that so. Were the labels to be swapped suggests that the roots of the Russian empha-
over, the uses of the rooms would also be sis on communal living can be traced back to
changed. The language used to refer to the a prehistoric need to work together in order
rooms has brought them into being for that to survive in the harsh environment.
function. Villagers held communal lands and worked
Lacan suggested that this ability of on communal tasks. The word for village –
language to bring structures ‘into being’ – mir (мир) has three meanings: village
le devenir – extends into our psyche (1949, commune, world and peace and often meant
1 This is notthe Other of Simone de Beauvoir, for example, de Beauvoir, S. (1997) The Second Sex, London: Vintage,
whereby status as Other is inscribed upon those who differ from the normative understanding of what it means
to be a human being. Here, the term refers to a theoretical viewpoint in binary opposition to ‘self’.
46 Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 18 No. 1, Spring 2012
Two cultures, two dialogists and two intersecting theories
all three simultaneously. It could be argued Further features of Bakhtin’s writings are
that because of the length of time that the the related notions of polyphony and
mir had been central to Russian life, it heteroglossia (разноречие) (Emerson &
became central to the Russian psyche. Lev Holquist, 1986, p.272) which allude to the
Tikhomirov (in Richmond, 2008, p.16) multiplicity of worldviews within any class-
wrote, ‘The Great Russian says: ‘The mir is a fine room discourse. That is not to say that a
fellow, I will not desert the mir. Even death in Hegelian ‘averaging out’ of these world views
common is beautiful.’ Relationships were would come to an approximation of some
regarded as the source of energy and truth or other. Rather, it is an acknowledge-
survival; rather than being sustained at a cost ment that there may be more than one truth,
to the individual, relationships sustained the even of one event. When the teacher sees a
individual. ‘cheeky’ comment as a personal slight upon
Mikhail Bakhtin (1895–1975) was born their authority, the pupil who made it may
into this worldview in Oryol, Russia and, simply be repeating something often said at
unlike the psychologists in France, it would home, other pupils will see an opportunity to
seem that Russian thinkers did not form a stop work for a bit, other pupils may see
subculture of individualism. He was a literary someone who has ‘gone beyond the pale’.
critic and semiotician. Bakhtin suggested These viewpoints may all be simultaneously
that every utterance may be considered as a true. Some of these truths will be incompre-
rejoinder in dialogue and that ‘…there is hensible to a number of the actors in this
neither a first word nor a last word’ (Emerson & story; some will be familiar to all.
Holquist, 1986, p.373). This resonates with The dialogue between the theories of
Lacan’s ideas of utterance and answer. He Lacan and Bakhtin may be conceptualised as
introduced the idea of the chronotope shown by the Venn diagram shown in
(Хронотоп) (discussed in Holquist, 1990, Figure 1.
p.109ff) which is the connectedness of time The overlap between the two theorists is
and space in the classroom. It is not unre- clear and even the differences could be
lated to Einstein’s concept of relativity and to perhaps described as heteroglossia in action;
the notions of figure and ground in percep- two voices from two world-views, both being
tion. This is more than feeling confined in a concurrently true if you take those world-
dusty assembly hall on a sunny day, watching views into account. Writing about literature,
the clock tick ever so slowly by. It involves the Bakhtin would necessarily emphasise mean-
notion of small subplots acted out against ing-making in language whereas, writing
the general passage of time and the ‘flow’ of about psychoanalysis, meaning-making in
dialogue. It is the supply teacher entering a the psyche would of course be the focus of
new school, knowing enough to negotiate Lacan’s work. Further differences in empha-
the day but not knowing specifics such as sis could be explained by the different
where to go in the event of a fire alarm. It is cultural starting points of each thinker;
the boy asking to borrow a girl’s eraser in Bakhtin would see an individual as incom-
hesitant first moves of love which have been plete without the rest of the mirand thus the
acted out so many times before, yet are state of an incomplete individual is a natural
precious and special to that couple. It is the state that it not to be mourned. However, the
child’s first day at school where the Recep- idealised, cohesive and complete person, the
tion teacher taught their mother. It is both a Ideal-I (1949, p.2), that Lacan privileged in
re-living and a living anew, a looking-back the Mirror Stage would seem to be his theo-
and a looking-forward. As all teachers have retical ideal too. For Bakhtin, the lack of a
been pupils, it is doubly resonant in any unified single subject is to be viewed a posi-
pupil-teacher interaction. tive – the person is always in the state of
becoming. However, Lacan grounds the
Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 18 No. 1, Spring 2012 47
Lesley Ravenscroft
Figure 1: The relationship between the theories of Lacan and Bakhtin.
LACAN Life as BAKHTIN
Constituted by Utterance/response. Semiotics.
language. The field of the Other, Dialogicity of the
Always self as subject. Sign.
imperfect/fractured The world of language Signifiers exist in
compared to the exists independently, the space between
ideal. before and after the persons.
Signifiers exist individual. Chronotope.
internally in the Sobytie (co-being) Polyphony
psyche. which allows the heteroglossia.
There is a barrier fragmented self to
between sign and become whole in story.
signified, which
reveal their
meanings in
instalments.
person’s experience of incompleteness in a lead the teacher to reposition that pupil in
sense of loss and fragmentation. Both of their ‘ability’ schema and present them with
these can be regarded as simultaneously true more challenging material to be studied.
if one recognises the starting points whence This may further lead to that pupil getting a
these theories arose. better grade in their English GCSE, which
An interesting feature found in both could open doors and horizons. All of this
theorists’ work is the notion of co-being and stems from that one passing moment of
completeness, the dialogic relationship completeness achieved in the liminal space
between the self and other. For Lacan, the left by another. Think of a time when a
other’s incompleteness offers the opportu- teacher of yours was caught out in a mistake.
nity for a ‘transient transcendence’ (Zizek, Is that clearer in your mind than the times
2006, p.49). This is an opening which can be when your teachers were instructing you
exploited as a freedom from any determinis- perfectly? Are there students in your classes
tic positioning by the other. As an example that seek to ‘catch you out’ or to ‘catch
from the classroom this could mean that the others out’ in order to escape their position
teacher can be surprised by what a pupil says at the bottom of the pile?
with regard to a certain issue. The liminal Is completeness really only achieved at
nature of schooling means that the future is the cost of someone else? This is not a pleas-
not sure, that surprises may occur. For ant concept. Bakhtin used the word Sobytie
instance, a student may demonstrate a which has more connotations than its simple
perspicacious understanding of the motives translation into English of ‘event’. It also is
of a character in a text. This may, in turn, something that is shared, perhaps inevitably
48 Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 18 No. 1, Spring 2012
Two cultures, two dialogists and two intersecting theories
with Bakhtin’s roots in the philosophy of The point is that any act is of our own
Communism. It is, however, a much more choice for which we must take responsibility,
positive view of completeness. For Bakhtin, whether we leave Sobytie to chance spaces of
although being is a solitary activity, paradox- momentary transcendence at the cost of
ically, completeness can only be achieved another or planned, shared experiences
within the narratives co-written with others; supporting common goals and positive in-
one can only be viewed as complete from a group reappraisal. By any measures, as teach-
perspective outside oneself (Holquist, 1990, ers in the UK, we are teaching in an
p.31). The collision of polyphonic voices, highly-individualistic culture; the Geert
even incompatible voices result in a new Hofstede Index (2011) ranks us as on the
mode of thinking or working. This has 89th percentile. There are only seven coun-
echoes of the work of Vygotsky’s ‘More tries in the Geert Hofstede research that
Knowledgeable Other’ (e.g. Kozulin, 2003, have Individualism (IDV) as their highest
p.43) and of Bruner’s ‘jigsaw learning’ dimension: US (91), Australia (90), UK (89),
(1974, p.125) There is, of course the shared Netherlands and Canada (80), and Italy
Russian, collectivist culture between Vygot- (76). The Wolfe Report (2011, p.1) encapsu-
sky and Bakhtin, and Bruner was one of the lates the individualist view of education
first to read Vygotsky when his theories even- when it states that
tually came to the English-speaking world. ‘…it is only through reforming education that
Instead of waiting to be ‘caught out’, we we can allow every child the chance to take their
can organise learning experiences so that full and equal share in citizenship, shaping
polyphony and heteroglossia are a normal their own destiny, and becoming masters of their
part of our classrooms. In a task to build the own fate.’
highest tower out of newspaper, suddenly a If one is in charge of shaping one’s own
girl with moderate learning difficulties but a destiny, when is it appropriate to ask for
strong spatial awareness becomes the help? What place do common goals have in
strongest member of a group. In a such a society except as chance intersections
‘whodunit’ detective task, a young man who of individual interest? The actual phrase
has Asperger’s syndrome becomes the lead ‘self-actualisation’ implies that one has done
detective as it is known that he has an eye for it alone. Sobytie seems to run counter to the
detail. It is challenging for the teacher to very aims of our educational system. When
stage these types of experiences in many teachers/lecturers have to decide which
ways; there is a tension between such learn- comes first, their relationships with their
ing and ‘cramming’ which many manage- students or their exam results, sadly, there is
ment teams prefer; how does one become no doubt which they have to prioritise.
confident enough to do this if there are Notwithstanding these concerns, context
classes where discipline is an issue? Some- cues can and should be developed within
times ideas for such an experience do not our classrooms that allow even the most indi-
present themselves. How also to ensure vidualistic student to become allocentric
harmonious groupings where the experi- (rather than egocentric) for a short while.
ence is a positive one and reappraisal within Dialogism as proposed by Bakhtin and
the group is affirmative? There is often a lot Lacan implies the simultaneous existence of
of groundwork to put in before such learn- numerous possibilities from which we must
ing experiences can be put into practice. all – teachers and students -make choices in
However, polyphony must be the way that we how to respond. It can be joyful, hopeful and
encourage Sobytie or we leave completeness open or only at the cost of another. Surely
to the darker, liminal junctions left at the the former is the classroom that we want.
unplanned intersections of our classrooms.
Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 18 No. 1, Spring 2012 49
Lesley Ravenscroft
Correspondence
Lesley Ravenscroft
William Brookes School,
Farley Road,
Much Wenlock, TF13 6NB.
Email: [email protected]
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