Ian Parker’s concept of discursive complex comes from his attempt to integrate psychoanalytic theory with discourse analysis, particularly within the field of critical psychology. Here’s a concise explanation:
Definition:
A discursive complex refers to a configuration of discourse (ways of speaking, thinking, and making meaning) that is saturated with affect, organized by unconscious structures, and anchored in social power relations. It is not just a discourse, but a discourse that has psychic investment—that is, people are emotionally and unconsciously attached to it.
Key Elements:
1. Discourse: Language-based frameworks that shape how people understand themselves and the world.
2. Psychoanalysis: Especially Lacanian theory—Parker uses this to explore how subjects are constituted by language and desire.
3. Social Power: Discursive complexes serve ideological functions, reproducing or contesting structures of domination (e.g., patriarchy, neoliberalism).
4. Subjectivity: These complexes organize how people experience themselves as subjects, including their emotions, identities, and fantasies.
Example:
Take the “therapeutic subject”—the idea of a person as someone with an inner life that must be expressed, understood, and healed. This is not just a neutral description; it’s a discursive complex:
• It is produced by discourse (e.g. psychotherapy talk, self-help books).
• It shapes subjectivity (how people come to understand themselves).
• It is affectively charged (people desire healing, fear dysfunction).
• It reproduces power (certain norms of health and pathology are reinforced).
Why it Matters:
Parker’s idea of discursive complex is powerful because it lets us analyze how people come to desire certain ways of being and how ideology works not only through language but through desire.
Let me know if you want an example related to mental health, gender, or politics—I can give one to show how it works in practice.
