Customer Reviews

Time Driven: Metapsychology and the Splitting of the Drive (SPEP)

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Johnston's book delves rather deeply into topics that are rarely discussed in current psychoanalysis, namely, temporality and drive theory. Johnston reminds us that, unlike some current authors assume, Freud's drives are not monolithic entities, but rather composites of several different motivational and cognitive components. Johnston contends that Freud's distinctions between different pieces of a drive allow us to take these pieces and situate them in two mental time zones- one of timeless repetition of urges, the other of temporal alteration of what these urges aim for and toward whom they are directed.

To be sure, Johnston's book is somewhat uneven. Readers may find some of the earlier chapters digressive or simply awkward. However, those willing to push through these chapters will find that their understanding of Freud, drive theory, and the psychoanalysis of time will be considerably enriched, whether or not they find themselves agreeing with Johnston's conclusions.

Adrian Johnston gives us an ambitious and provocative book on psychoanalytic concept of the drive. What Johnston sets out to investigate is the place time has in Freud's theory of the drives. Freud famously said that the unconscious is without time, and yet psychoanalysis is rich in complicated temporalities, such as, the retroactive reconstruction of childhood memories. What role do these temporal torsions have in the structure of the drive? That such questions remain is evidence that Freud and Lacan failed to adequately theorize time. The basic idea behind Johnston's book is that the drive itself is split between an atemporal, noumenal, structure called the axis of iteration, which is the drive's constant pulsation, and a temporal, phenomenal, structure called the axis of alteration, which is an unfolding of the drive through its various object-representations.

Based solely on the question it poses, and the argument is espouses, Johnston's book is destined to be a CLASSIC of contemporary psychoanalytic literature--right up there with Sublime Object of Ideology and Read my Desire. That it has not already become the center of controversey is strange, since it make a powerful yet contentious critique of Freud. In other words, it avoids the trap of simply repeating psychoanalytic insights. Rather, it identifies a real problem, and goes to great lengths to resolve it.

I did not give it a full five stars because it has some weaknesses. The greatest drawback of the book is Johnston's style. The Preface, Introduction, and Conclusion are fabulously written. In many ways they encapsulate everything that is so great about the book. But almost every substantive chapter is not so well written. Every chapter contains an exhaustive historical account of the development of a concept, and one must always wait until the final sentences to get Johnston's thesis. The thesis is usually spot on, but the road getting there is exhausting and many times tedious. For example, Johnston makes a two chapter digression into Kantian philosophy to make the point that the psychoanalytic subject is split along temporal lines. This insight is great, but it did not demand nearly 70 pages of commentary on Kant to get there. If you have read Zizek's Tarrying with the Negative, then much of what Johnston has to say in these two chapters is redundant. I wished an editor would have forced Johnston to cut down much of his discourse to distill his major insights, which are as a rule fantastic. I would argue that the book could have easily been cut in half.

I would recommend that everyone interested in psychoanalysis pick up this book. But because of the way it is written, I would give this advice. If you are a new comer to psychoanalysis, read this word for word and you will walk away with a hefty but thorough introduction into psychoanalysis. Introductory seminars at the Graduate or Undergraduate level should assign this book (along with Bruce Fink's books). However, if you are a psychoanalysis veteran, then read the Preface, Introduction, and Conclusion thoroughly, and skim almost everything else.

Aside from its style, I detect other theoretical issues. One, Johnston seems to imply a stronger divergence between Freud and Lacan than I would suggest. Two, the solution that the drive is split between a noumenal and phenomenal realm is interesting but temptingly too simplistic.

All in all, a major work of psychoanalytic theory by a someone who is destined to be an important voice for a long time. Bravo!