Gesture and Word: René Spitz’s Views on the Acquisition of Language

Abstract

René Spitz (1887-1974), an Austro-Hungarian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, developed a theory of ego formation that begins at birth and culminates in language acquisition. Unlike most language acquisition theories in psychoanalysis at the time (1950-1970), Spitz emphasized the role played by the body and favored an interdisciplinary approach. This article is a historical-conceptual study, whose objective is to analyze the process of language acquisition as described by Spitz and explain the mechanisms and concepts employed to formulate his theory.