Body and historicity: a journey from the physical body to the unconscious body in the theory of Andre Lapierre

Abstract

The history of the body has not been well outlined over time. If we use the Middle Ages as a chronological reference, we can notice an atmosphere of interdictions and prohibitions, associating the body with the prejudice about sexuality and sensations which opposed the religious thought of that time, the basis of Western thought, which is partially preserved nowadays. However, the 20th century brings the advent of scientific studies in the medical and psychological areas, causing changes in this perspective. The term psychomotricity, for instance, appeared in the neurology research in 1900 in opposition to Cartesian thought, introducing the coherent idea that body and mind are unified elements and their healthy integration forms the subject’s balanced identity. In the course of that century, authors like Andre Lapierre present the results of their studies about the body, showing the accuracy, the rigour and, simultaneously, the boldness and the contestation, which lead to some findings about the body and everything around it in a conscious and unconscious way. One of the great legacies of the 20th century is in the condition of the affective/unconscious body from the works of the post-war world, in an analysis of the bodyin itstotality,asthe home of feelingsand of thefundamentalexperiencesfor theconstitution of the being. Through a bibliographical analysis research, this communication has, therefore, the purpose of discussing the path of the body and the evolution of thoughts that led to new theories and approaches to human development, especially the practice of Relational Psychomotricity in the light of the experience of the Frenchman Andre Lapierre, who presents an innovative and restorative vision of emotions from the spontaneous and symbolic body movement.