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FIRST CYCLE
CATHEXIS - the use of objects in creating meaning and gaps: Different types
of objects were used in various ways through the first cycle to enhance our
understanding of their possible further implementation. Cooper states that
DEs happen when objects are “deconstructed by cathexis and decathexis”.
He explains that “this process charges/imbues the object with meaning
(and energy) and value that extend beyond the thing itself and penetrate
ideologically-given meanings in order to reveal to us what was previously
concealed”. I will analyse the possibility of using Cathexis in LTD in this
section.
One of the objects structured into the full first series was the teddy bear
of Joe. The central image for structuring the lessons was a moment from
the Bond play where the boy whacks the large size doll with bricks. I used
a teddy bear instead as it carries similar meanings and is recognisable for
participants.
After building the space together I shared this moment as a scene, we talked
about it briefly and then participants were invited to continue the scene. It was
discussed in the focus group as well, participants referred to the teddy after
a discussion started about people having “two selves” inside them, that is why
they can be cruel and loving at the same time. One participant talked about
the teddy to explain how Joe felt after burning the house. “It was the guilt
coming out of the teddy bear. Well not the teddy but him. He was feeling
guilty. And afraid. He was afraid of what will happen if anyone finds out”.
The object offered a framework for making meaning. The moment referred
to happened in a group improvisation, it was the participants’ reading of
the situation. Earlier in the drama there was possibility for the participants to
use the object when they could continue the scene of whacking the teddy with
the brick, discussed earlier.
There the participants said that he was trying to kill it even though it is
painful for him, because he was being teased for sleeping with a teddy at his
age.” He was hitting the teddy but it was hurting him to do it. The action of
hitting the teddy with a brick is something unexpected and a sharp action,
it changes the value of the teddy, it is cathexed, and this opens a gap for
interpreting what this unusual action means. Participants were aware of
the contradiction within the role of Joe, but not able to explore it further in
action, instead they showed different possible narrative lines of continuation
of the situation in a demonstrative acting mode. This is understandable, as
they had no reason to think that the aim of the scene was to deconstruct
62% Cooper: Making a World of Difference, 44.
ou. F Gl.
62 V2 GI.
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