Greimas and Psychoanalysis

Abstract

Greimas' relations to psychoanalysis have not so far given rise to any systematic studies. Nevertheless, since the publication of Sémantique Structurale (1966) Greimas puts forth his first semiotic models (including the acclaimed actantial model) in dialogue with  psychoanalysis, even though this dialogue was very controversial (as it can be seen, for instance, on his harsh criticism of Ch. Mauron's psychocritics). Greimas even evaluates his transformational narrative model by analyzing psychoanalytical psycodramatic sessions with M. Safouan's support. This paper aims both at specifying what the psychoanalytic field provided to Greimas' reflection, and at presenting some particularities that allow Greimas to defend the identity of semiotics, far exceeding his initial goal of founding a semantic field. Throughout this article, influences, homologations, and echoes of the psycoanalytic field on semiotics will be unveiled, notably from Greimas' careful reading of the Freudian text which he used to consider the most important, namely Die Traumdeutung (1942), although references to psychoanalysis right after Sémantique Structurale have been reduced down to complete absence. Ultimately, Greimas' rare allusions to Lacan's contributions (e.g. the concept of "assumption") will make possible to clarify the relationship between himself and Lacan, who among psychoanalysts used to be both the most attentive and the most critical partner of linguists.