On the Unconscious Thing-Presentation

There are certain key concepts that appear in all of Freud's works, from the very earliest to the last, but with the passing of time, some of them seem to have become meaningless. In my opinion, proof of this is provided by the fact that certain terms have been translated from the original German in a variety of ways rather than with one, standard definition: this is, as it were, a reflection of the difficulty the translators have encountered in trying to re-interpret Freud's thought. Among such concepts I would include the unconscious thing-presentation (die unbewusste Ding(Sach)vorstellung).

In my opinion, if one does not understand this expression clearly, it remains difficult to interpret many famous passages of Freud's writings correctly. Consider for example his celebrated theoretical work Negation (1925): initially it appears to flow smoothly and to read clearly, but then it seems to prevent the reader from understanding the economic and topographical terms Freud held so dear, and to invite him to adopt a symbolic and descriptive approach which depends on his own moods and fantasies. Certain passages, which I shall return to later, illustrate such difficulties: “(…) All presentations