The aim of this paper is to present the relationship proposed by Freud between thought, language and consciousness in his "On the concept of aphasia" of (Freud, 1891/1973) and "Project for a psychology", (Freud, 1895/1950). The concept of "word representation" introduced by Freud in the first text is taken up in the second in order to explain how conscious recollection of thought is possible. For Freud, consciousness is at first only immediate perception and the appearance of a mediate consciousness of thought depends on the forming of linguistic associations - in other words, on word representation. Therefore language makes recollection possible and, consequently, allows reasoning about and real knowledge of objects. This link proposed by Freud between language and consciousness in these early texts is maintained throughout his work.
Psychoanalysis; Freud; Representation; Language; Thought; Consciousness