Transference and transversality belong to very different theoretical worlds — even though Félix Guattari (who proposed “transversality”) had been trained in psychoanalysis and knew the transference concept well.
1.
Transference
(psychoanalytic tradition)
- Origin: Freud → the patient’s unconscious feelings, desires, and defenses are transferred from earlier figures (parents, etc.) onto the analyst.
- Structure: Usually dyadic (patient ↔ analyst), operating within the therapeutic frame.
- Dynamics: Relies on the repetition of unconscious relational patterns; the analyst works by interpreting these repetitions and their resistances.
- Goal: Make the transference conscious, work it through, dissolve the projection so the patient can relate in more reality-based ways.
2.
Transversality
(Guattari,
La Borde
, 1960s)
- Origin: Institutional psychotherapy; anti-hierarchical rethink of relationships in therapeutic institutions.
- Definition: A kind of cross-cutting communication that traverses different roles, functions, and hierarchical levels in an institution — analyst ↔ patient ↔ nurse ↔ gardener ↔ administrator, etc.
- Structure: Polycentric and networked, not dyadic; encourages flows between multiple subjectivities, departments, and spaces.
- Dynamics: Breaks down rigid “vertical” (top-down) authority and isolated “horizontal” (peer-only) silos; seeks to release new possibilities for collective subjectivity.
- Goal: Generate new forms of cooperation, meaning-making, and desire-production that are not trapped in fixed roles or classical analytic dualisms.
3.
Key Difference
|
Aspect |
Transference |
Transversality |
|
Relational frame |
Dyadic, patient弌nalyst |
Multiplicity, network |
|
Psyche model |
Intrapsychic repetition |
Collective and institutional flows |
|
Power relation |
Maintains asymmetry for interpretation |
Works to dissolve or reconfigure hierarchies |
|
Therapeutic work |
Interpret and resolve unconscious projections |
Enable free circulation of desire and communication |
|
Underlying theory |
Psychoanalysis (Freud/Lacan) |
Schizoanalysis / institutional analysis |
If you like, I can draw a conceptual diagram showing how “transversality” cuts across both horizontal and vertical institutional lines, contrasted with the closed dyad of “transference.” That would make the difference visually clear. Would you like me to do that?
