Research in Psychoanalysis and serendipity: the retrospect

Abstract

This paper seeks to discuss the topic of methodologies in the field of psychoanalytic research, based on the notion that serendipity – a term meaning the phenomenon of finding something valuable and not sought for – can be elevated to a research method. This occurs due to the specific temporality of psychoanalytic work, to which meaning is only attributed at a later date. The importance of temporality in the “just-after” or “retrospect” (in German, “Nachträglichkeit”, and in French, “après-coup”) presupposes the feedback of meaning to an event. Furthermore, the different theorizations of the unconscious require their own epistemology to approach it as an object of research. It is necessary to consider that it is not possible to have a predefined hypothesis, since the unconscious is that which escapes knowledge. Therefore, it can only be considered through its effects, such as slips of the tongue, jokes and symptoms. Our work links serendipity to the important role of chance, as Thomas Kuhn demonstrated in his research on the history of science. Finally, we retrieve the etymology of methodology with the intention of highlighting the journey-like nature that occurs in the construction of knowledge through research practice.