Performative and ideational sublimations in adolescence

Sublimation, “the rarest and most perfect” drive vicissitude, tames drive intensity while preserving its psychically vivifying tension. If this gift is not received from the Other, sublimatory solutions grant the subject a “credit of subjectivation”, thanks to the establishment of an imaginary dialogue with his doubles. To achieve this, two sublimatory modalities are likely to be expressed in adolescence: the first, called performative, authorized by artistic activities, gives access to a form of expression that preserves as far as possible the pleasure of doing; the second, called ideational, found in scientific investigation and intellectual activity, is based on the pleasure of thinking. By remaining as close as possible to direct drive activity, artistic sublimation acquires an elective and privileged status in Freud’s eyes, since it favours the possibility of assigning affect to oneself through primary symbolization.