The article explores the significance of childhood games, particularly Hide-and-Seek and Freud's fort/da, in the individuation process. Freud's observations highlighted how such games allow children to manage anxiety related to separation and the absence of caregivers. Lacan expands on this, linking the game to the child's development of object permanence and entrance into the symbolic order, emphasizing the importance of naming and representing absence and presence as foundational to language and desire.
Freud first described the fort/da game in "Beyond the Pleasure Principle" after watching his grandson repeatedly throw a spool out of his crib and out of sight, allowing him to manage the anxiety of his mother's absence.
For Lacan, fort/da is about the child's entry into the symbolic order, where naming absence and presence introduces the child to the world of signifiers, forming the basis of language.
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