Lacanian Psychoanalysis - Mimicry
Mimicry in Nature
Mimicry is a concept in ethology where certain animals have the habit of displaying characteristics that are similar to their surrounding environment, such as color.
However, research has found that there is no significant correlation between mimicry and the survival ability of individuals.
Regarding this, Roger Caillois believes that there exists a certain natural law that causes organisms to be trapped in their environment, making them exhibit colors similar to their surroundings. In his article "Mimicry and Legendary Psychasthenia," Caillois suggests that the phenomenon of mimicry is not only an adaptation of organisms to their environment but also a process in which organisms are captured and assimilated by their environment.
Mimicry in Psychoanalysis
Lacan absorbed the concept of "capturing" from Roger Caillois's theory and proposed mimicry in the field of psychoanalysis, marking a crossover from the natural world to the realm of the psyche.
Individuals are captured by their environment, thereby achieving self-reconstruction.
Imaginary Mimicry
Being captured in an image.
Lacan believed that organisms could be captured in external images in a way similar to imagination.
Lacan applied mimicry theory to the observation of children, suggesting that children recognize phenomena external to themselves through a mirror. This recognition is an imaginary dimension of identification.
In this stage, children see the image in the mirror as an integrated, perfect self-image, but in reality, this is just an illusory identification.
In such identification, children feel they can do things they are actually unable to do, feeling whole through the mirror. Both this mimicry and mirror identification are categorized by Lacan as imaginary identification.
Through the mirror stage, children begin to develop ego awareness, forming a recognition of themselves as an independent entity. However, this ego-identification is based on an external image, which has a certain instability and contradiction. Desires and aggression soon follow.
Children identify with an image external to themselves, whether this image is a real mirror image or the image of another child. This seemingly complete image gives the subject a new sense of control over their body.
If "I" identify with an image external to myself, then "I" can do things that I previously couldn't.
Symbolic Mimicry
Transitioning from the imaginary realm to the symbolic realm, mimicry continues to impact the subject.
Upon entering the symbolic realm, the subject transitions from imaginary identification to symbolic identification. The subject interacts with the Other, constructing ego-identification through language, symbols, and other signifiers.
Conclusion
Through mimicry, the subject is alienated by the environment. In such a distorted manner, the subject establishes itself. Consequently, the subject is the Other, and the subject is a splited subject.