從譜系學的角度著眼,阿爾都塞關于"癥候解讀"的創見可以追溯到弗洛伊德和拉康。弗洛伊德是從過失、夢以及神經病的癥候之中解讀出意義來。拉康借助哲學、心理學和語言學對于精神分析學進行重建,用科學的、系統的理論對弗洛伊德關于"癥候是有意義的"思想進行重構。而這恰恰為阿爾都塞的"癥候解讀"奠定了理論基礎。阿爾都塞是從黑格爾邏輯學的否定性形式中獲得了方法,從弗洛伊德和拉康關于精神病心理機制的研究中找到了概念,從馬克思《資本論》關于剩余價值的研究中發現了問題,從而鑄成"癥候解讀"的理論。阿爾都塞將"癥候解讀"視為一種生產,它借助自身的證偽、校正功能倒逼和反推知識增長和理論躍遷。此后"癥候解讀"理論向文學歸趨,為文學研究開辟了新的理論空間,馬舍雷將之引向文學批評,而卡勒則進一步將之引向了文化研究。

The term "symptomatic reading" initiated by Althusser,as far as the origin of the term is concerned,can be traced to Freud and Lacan.Freud uncovers meaning from slips of tongue,dreams and the symptoms of the insane.Adopting philosophy,psychology and linguistics in rebuilding psychoanalysis,Lacan seeks to restructure,in a scientific and systematic manner,Freud’s view that symptoms are meaningful.This is what lays the foundation for the theory of "symptomatic reading" put forward by Althusser.In the process of establishing the theory,Althusser derives the method from the form of negation Hegel investigates in his Science of Logic,extracts the concept from the research of Freud and Lacan on the mind of the insane and gains the inspiration from the probe into residual value made by Marx in his Capital.Althusser perceives " Symptomatic Reading" as a form of production,with the effort of self-refutation and self-correction leading in reverse to the growth of knowledge and the leap of theory.In the following development, "symptomatic reading" is oriented towards the research of literature,creating a new space in the field.The theory has been applied in the criticism of literature by Macherey and taken still further by Culler into the realm of cultural research.