On Psychoanalysis and its history: some reflections from the South

Abstract

How can psychoanalysis be historicized in a country such as Argentina, where it has become part of "the world taken for granted," an element of that portion of the social and cultural reality that is perceived as not requiring explanation? Since the 1960s Buenos Aires has become one of the (if not the) world capitals of psychoanalysis. In the 1990s one out of every 198 "porteños" (inhabitants of Buenos Aires) was a psychologist practicing some kind of psychoanalytically oriented therapy. Terms and concepts originating in psychoanalysis have become part of everyday language. For most "porteños" psychoanalysis is a filter through which reality is seen and interpreted. However, Argentina is still considered a marginal country in terms of production of psychoanalytical theory. A context like this, central (in terms of consumption) and peripheral (in terms of production), where the object of study has been so deeply internalized -and politicized, since in recent years a combat has developed among different psychoanalytical groups to establish the legitimacies of alternative psychoanalytic genealogies-, even by those whose purpose is precisely to historicize it, poses serious methodological challenges to the analysis of psychoanalysis as a cultural artifact. This article will discuss the particular difficulties that a historical approach to psychoanalysis faces in a country like Argentina, including the need of "exoticizing" the object of study and determining when the history of the reception and diffusion of psychoanalysis should begin.