Primary-process transformations in music оr discourse about the ineffable

Abstract

Every artist or the recipient of a work of art temporarily detaches himself or herself from objective reality through a process that psychoanalysts call regression. They unconsciously (re)construct the experiential world using verbal, visual or auditory form depending on the type of art. The last case involves the deepest creative regression, which involves the most archaic form of presentation: the primary processes of mental functioning. Dream is a typical manifestation of these processes, so the regressive aspect of music can best be demonstrated through isomorphism between music and dream. Auditory representations constituted according to primary processes set powerful affects in motion, thereby securing discharge and producing aesthetic pleasure.

Keywords

• music
• unconscious
• creative regression
• primary processes
• thing-representation
• word-representation