Karl Bühler’s Fantasmatic Deixis Between Motion, Gestures, and Words

What is the “fantasmatic deixis”? It is a very creative and productive cognitive–linguistic operation that allows a “transfer” to other real or fantastic times, places, and “worlds”. The underlying psychological question concerns the possibility of moving and being moved with respect to something or someone who is absent (Bühler, 1965). This “fiction game” is made possible by deictic indicators (Tenchini, 2008), terms that allow motion in time and space, always considering the here–now–I system of subjective orientation. When we refer to something that can be gathered by hearing or by sight, by terms such as here, there, I, and you, the receiver can easily use natural, prelinguistic aids (e.g., gestures, voice quality, facial expressions, and body orientation) to understand what the issuer intends to communicate to him (demonstratio ad oculos). But what happens when we move from the study of “immediate” behavior to that of “mediate” behavior, i.e., the field of memories (retrospection) or the constructive fantasy (prospecting)? The fantasmatic deixis implies enfranchisement from the physical position of the body and requires the assumption of the listener’s current tactile body image. Thus, the receiver assumes an inner attitude to correctly interpret the indications given by the speaker, seeing and hearing through the “inner” or “mental” eye and ear (Raynaud, 2006). In this way, the listener can bring something absent in his/her here, now, and I or feel moved to the point where the speaker leads him/her. My paper will focus on the features and types of fantasmatic deixis, providing some examples and showing how this operation involves language, motion, and cognitive processes.