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For Theodore Shapiro, psychoanalytic process remains primarily a linguistic event, still the talking cure. The use of words “reveal[s] and render[s] accessible that which until then had been cast in nonlinguistic derivatives of action and symbolic representation” (p. 195). We learn words first, then build thoughts with them. Through thoughts, we learn life. In naming things and feelings, we get to know them.
Through dialogue, we get to know one another. As Shapiro notes, “Language is a means of bridging the gap between two subjective participants” (p. 87). He states that our interpretations are acts of naming by which unconscious fantasies are placed in the realm of ego control by turning them into language. Translation of wishes and fantasies into inner and outer speech allows for control of behavior related to them. That is why so many of the papers in this collection concentrate on understanding the development and structure of language. Shapiro’s attention to words is evident in his writing style. It is clear, direct, and rational—without much adornment. This approach makes his arguments even more compelling.
Shapiro emphasizes that, since psychoanalysis is essentially the study of symbolic systems, a knowledge of semiotics and linguistics is important. After all, “we are a profession of word users” (p. 87). In many of his papers, he emphasizes that our listening and speaking should be understood and studied within the frames of syntax (the organization of
phrases and sentences), semantics (the sign relationship of meaning and signification), and pragmatics (the implied intention of speech), along with paralinguistics (vocal signals and bodily gesture) and sociolinguistics (language use in relation to class and particular culture).
Shapiro observes that “each particular sentence uttered by an individual—each word-can be looked at from the standpoint of its organizational features and “can be studied, as musicians study a symphonic score” (p. 351). As an example