In The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis Lacan makes the following statement about repetition; ‘What is repeated is always something that occurs… as if by chance’.1 He then goes on to define chance as, ‘the real as encounter - the encounter in so far as it may be missed, in so far as it is essentially the missed encounter’.2 Taken in isolation these words appear enigmatic and bewildering leaving us wondering how they are to be understood. Fortunately, Lacan doesn’t leave us completely in the dark. His frequent references to Freud suggest that before we can begin to understand what he, Lacan, is saying about repetition, we need to revisit Freud and revise, go over again (wiederholen) what he has said on the subject.Read more...
