Subconscious


 * Definition**

The etymology of the word “subconscious” is intuitive to most. The prefix “sub” means “under” or “just under.” The online Oxford English Dictionary (OED) shows the evolution of the root, “conscious,” from simple “knowledge” to more complex acts of knowing and even to a state of being (Subconscious, 2010). Taken together the term literally means “under or just under knowledge.” However, the OED identifies the term as original to psychology and meaning that which is partially conscious or imperfectly conscious. This was the original definition of the word around the time of its debut in the 1830’s (Subconscious, 2010). While this definition is not uncommon most people are more familiar with the meaning the word acquired around the turn of the twentieth century, “The part of the mind that is not fully conscious but able to influence actions.” (Subconscious, 2010).

Despite the OED’s insistence that subconscious is a term native to the discipline of psychology it is uncommonly difficult to find a reference to the subconscious in most books about psychoanalysis.[1] When communication scholars refer to the subconscious they are most often speaking about a part of the brain accessible by the conscious self but not fully under the control said conscious self. This type of consciousness is more in line with what Freud termed the preconscious (Brenner, 1955; p. 43).

Outside the psychology disciplines, the terms subconscious and unconscious are often confused. However, there is an important distinction between the two terms. As is apparent from the etymology of subconscious it is a part of consciousness over which individuals have partial control (again, in line with Freud’s idea of the preconscious). In contrast the conscious mind has little access to or control over the unconscious. For Freud, the unconscious becomes the id (Strachey, 1960; p. xiii); the part of consciousness in which the basic drives rage without control and it is the job of the ego to govern their presence and manifestation in the conscious self.

This detour into the basics of psychoanalysis may, at first glance, seem a petty correction of a common conflation of related terms. However, psychoanalytic and psychodynamic theory, though outside the discipline of communication, are influential to several traditions within the discipline. For instance, the early days of cultural critique in the post World War II intellectual community was rooted in Freud and his ideas of an unconscious which influences daily actions (Meyersohn, 1978; p. 333). While Meyersohn speaks of the Freudian phase of cultural critique in regards to popular culture and mass communication as a thing past two years later Irv Goldman was arguing for a return to Freudian and meta-Freudian in the critical studies of media (1980, p. 31). Though often criticized itself, Freudian theory and psychoanalysis, including the idea of the subconscious/preconscious are foundational to media studies and cultural critique.

Another area of communication studies where the distinction between the subconscious/preconscious and the unconscious is of utmost importance is in advertising, particularly subliminal advertising. The ethical debate surrounding subliminal advertising, as well as its enduring negative public perception, is founded on the idea that subliminal advertising can implant an idea directly into a person’s unconscious without their consent and, once implanted; the idea is beyond the realm of conscious control. This is a fundamental misconception both of subliminal advertising and the nature of the subconscious and unconscious. As clarified above, in Freudian theory the self has no control over what goes on in the unconscious only how those drives are manifested in the conscious. This is pertinent to subliminal advertising because, just as the conscious mind has no control over what happens in the unconscious mind it has no control over what goes into the unconscious mind. Thus, even if a message were subliminally perceived it does not follow that the message would take root in the unconscious mind. Instead, subliminal messages are aimed at the subconscious/preconscious, a part of the mind over which individuals do have control when they choose to exercise it (Bertrand, 1958; 148-149).

Finally, the idea of the subconscious/preconscious is being applied in new ways to dialogue. Michael Billig argues that language is often used in a preconscious way (2006, p. 22). For example, people do not often consciously create social cohesion with use of the pronoun “we” but the desire for said social cohesion and the knowledge that social cohesion is created with inclusive language, like the word “we” functions at a preconscious level to enact the desire. Likewise, Billig argues that language use can function both for expression and repression through the topics people avoid or talk freely about and, in so far that groups of people avoid certain topics, language use can be a form of collective repression and social unconscious (2006, pp. 22-23).

Minor revisions Lindsay Anderson (August 2012).

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 * References**

Bertrand, K. (1958). The ghost of subliminal advertising. //The Journal of Marketing, 23//(2), 146-150.

Billig, M. (2006). A psychoanalytic discursive psychology: from consciousness to unconsciousness. //Discourse Studies,8//(1), 17-24.

Brenner, C. (1955). //An elementary textbook of psychoanalysis.// New York, NY: International Universities Press, Inc.

Freud, S. (1960). The eo and the id. (J. Riviere, Trans.). J. Strachey, (Ed.) New York, NY: The Norton Library.

Goldman, I. (1980) Mass communication and cultural theory: A psychoanalytic perspective. //Journal of Communication Inquiry, 6//(31), 31-40.

Meyersohn, R. (1978). The sociology of popular culture: Looking backwards and forwards. //Communication Research, 5//(3), 330-338.

Subconscious. (2010). In //Oxford English Dictionary online.// Retrieved from http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy2.library.uiuc.edu/cgi/entry/50240544?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=subconscious&first=1&max_to_show=10

[1] This is merely a personal observation of the author who has spent much of the sweltering Illinois summer enjoying the climate controlled library stacks, especially on floor 3 East, which conveniently houses psychoanalysis and most of the library’s sources on semiotics.