Verwerfung

Verwerfung is a psychoanalytic term used especially in Lacanian theory to describe a process by which a fundamental signifier is excluded from the Symbolic order. The term derives from the German verb verwerfen, meaning to reject or discard. In this usage, foreclosure (Verwerfung) refers to a structural failure to integrate a key signifier into the symbolic framework through which meaning is organized.

In Lacan’s account, the unconscious is structured like a language and is articulated through signifiers. Foreclosure occurs when a crucial signifier—most often associated with the Name of the Father in Lacan’s schema—is not admitted into the Symbolic. This exclusion is not simply repressed content but a fundamental disavowal of a signifier that would enable proper symbolization. The result is a fragile relationship to reality, which can be linked in Lacan to psychotic structures where reality testing is compromised.

Verwerfung is distinct from Verdrängung (repression) and Verleugnung (denial). Repression keeps unacceptable content within the unconscious but still within a symbolic framework, whereas foreclosure involves a signifier that never enters the Symbolic, creating a more radical break. In German-language psychoanalytic discourse, Verwerfung can be used more broadly to denote rejection or disavowal, but its technical use is tied to Lacanian foreclosure.

Outside strict Lacanian theory, the term may appear as a general notion of rejection or disavowal of aspects of reality or other persons, though without the same theoretical precision.