Apports et effets de l’approche psychanalytique dans une recherche interdisciplinaire

Context

While interdisciplinarity in psychoanalysis is nowadays instituted in relation to the humanities, social sciences and health (Freud, 1913; Ottavi et al., 2021), few researches have discussed the interest and the limits of the intersection of psychoanalysis with other scientific fields.

Objective

As psychoanalytically oriented researchers in psychology, what about our possible exchanges with, for example, robotics, physics, acoustics, engineering? What can we learn from it?

Method

In this article, we unfold these questions based on our insertion from the stages of the creation of an experimental vibrotactile mediation object for shared musical practice, within the framework of the Staccato project (ANR, 2019). We will reflect on the place of the psychoanalytical approach in this project by identifying the contributions and effects of interdisciplinarity upstream, i.e. in the preparation and implementation of the research.

Results

As a first result of this research, we propose the co-construction of a methodology which allows to clarify and open up the potential contributions identified by the upstream work. The methodology is an interdisciplinary product which, subsequently, makes possible an analysis of the data and results in an interdisciplinary manner and linked to these identified potential contributions.

Interpretations

Interdisciplinarity not only allows for an enrichment of the research questions, but also constitutes a step forward in the reflections on the contours of the research and the possibilities of its realisation. Indeed, the interdisciplinary approach refers to a methodological work which implies, inevitably, a clear epistemological positioning while being multiple (because referring to the various disciplines involved in the project). The possibility of an interdisciplinary dialogue in this framework is linked to an initial intra-disciplinary work, an effort, for each discipline, of conceptualisation and definition of a clear and rigorous theoretical positioning allowing, in a second time, its sharing. One of the limits is our positioning in this research: we note the ambiguity of being, as clinicians, researchers in a non-clinical position. This double positioning is difficult to separate, i.e. our experience and position as clinicians in other settings inevitably colours our relationship to the research and our place in the project, as well as our analyses. This aspect, if we can put it to work in an intra-disciplinary way, is sometimes reminded to us by colleagues from other disciplines. In this context, interdisciplinarity can also be a reminder of our position as researchers.