Déjà vu in France during the 19th century: a conceptual history

The feeling of déjà vu features as prominently in the creative as in the clinical literature. However, its meaning and mechanisms remain unclear, and it is posited here that this has partially resulted from the way in which this symptom was originally conceptualized. During the late 19th century, medical opinion seemed agreed that déjà vu was a disorder of memory (a paramnesia). However, its study was obfuscated by an overemphasis on its secondary features (e.g., "feeling of conviction," "fleetingness") and by "parapsychological" interpretations. Around the turn of the century, the problem was compounded by the development of narrow models of memory (inspired by association psychology) that left no room for the descriptive complexities of déjà vu. Consequently, it soon became (and has remained) a "symptom without a psychological function." French psychological writers played a crucial role in the conceptualization of déjà vu and this report presents a detailed history of their contribution.