Homayounpour and Movahedi (2012) examine the impact of second-language use in psychoanalytic settings from the perspective of analysands. The two authors question what extent speaking in a second language impacts the self and psychoanalytic process. If words can convey how one expresses themself to the outside world, what does that mean for those who are speaking in a language that is not their mother tongue? This research integrates cultural analysis into the psychoanalytic setting and demonstrates the importance of thinking critically about language and culture in psychoanalysis. Below are quotes I found useful and engaging: 115 - “The words we use are the repository of the words of others; they contain our voice and the voice of others.”
- “As analysts we are to listen to the patient’s words and be cognizant of the various voices that come through the patient’s speech. However, until recently we have not asked, In analyses in which the patient speaks a language other than her mother tongue, whose voice are we to listen to?”
127 - “We found a wealth of ideas and imageries in the responses of the participating analysands that may reveal fantasies beyond their conscious awareness. As noted above, all interviews were full of interesting revelations disclosing conflict, ambivalence, and uncertainty.”138 - “Thus speech operates simultaneously on both conscious and unconscious levels, at the level of thing-presentation and word-presentation.”139 - “This attachment may reflect a nostalgic longing for the past and a struggle to preserve early fantasies and relationships.” My own questions: What sort of results would be produced in a similar study that examines the analyst (instead of analysand) who is working in their second language? How do bilingual or multilingual (mother tongue) speakers fit into this research? How do non-vocal people fit into this as well?