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AbstractIn this thesis, we seek to understand how the image can enlighten the comprehension of the persistence and transmission of psychic and cultural imprints, through the notion of a tactile unconscious. The image is not only an illusion, it is the carrying presence of the psychic imprint -the stamp of the real -appearing to perception to allow for its awareness. Using this approach toward the image, we can shed light on and appreciate the link between memory and sensation. At the core of the image, it is primarily the persistence of a tactile dimension of the unconscious that we explore in this research. The study of this medium, which is capable of bringing forth the tactile unconscious, is hence an opportunity and a pretext to convey an understanding of the contact point where individuals connect with their fellow human beings and where they enter into relational life.We therefore examine how the image is at the crossroads between the phenomenon of representation and that of presentation, and how the movement of the image toward the raw material of memory makes it a vector of psychic plasticity, imprint transformation, and creativity. In addition, we suggest that the human perceptual apparatus, which allows us to be moved and be sensitive to an artistic image -to be touched by the tangible presence of a work of art -also allows us to identify with and feel empathy toward others. In this sense, we trace a parallel between the effect of the image and the effect of culture. There are, however, inherent limits to the reshaping of perception brought about by certain forms of art, as we will demonstrate in an examination of the mishaps of a certain post-modernity.iii
Mots-clés :Image, psychanalyse, art contemporain, inconscient tactile, toucher, travail de culture, transmission, identification, affect, empathie
Keywords:Image, psychoanalysis, modern art, tactile unconscious, touch, work of culture, transmission, identification, affect, empathy iv Première partie