Adolescence: symbolic reorganisation, the gaze and narcissistic balance

Psychoanalysis of adolescence

Abstract

This article explores the vicissitudes of the subjectivation process in adolescents in relation to the difficulties of symbolisation characteristic of contemporary culture. In adolescence, narcissistic stability depends on the reconstruction of representations of self and objects. This involves the whole process of symbolic reorganisation. The article emphasises the importance of looking – seeing and being seen – during this period, and the extent to which the work of self-image reconstruction is based on it. To this end, a clinical vignette will be presented. In addition, the author proposes the concept of a special relationship between "mind and body" characteristic of this period of life. Finally, the author relates this process to the contemporary phenomenon of blogging on the Internet, attempting to relate it to the central theme of this paper, namely that this phenomenon can serve the need to be noticed in order to complete self-perception.