This volume is the transcript of the first year of [[Lacan]]'s world-famous [[seminar]].
Taking as its theme the [[technique]] of [[psychoanalysis]], within the framework of [[Lacan]]'s "[[return to Freud]]", it includes elaboration of [[Lacan]]'s notions of the [[symbolic]], the [[imaginary]] and the [[real]], the importance of [[speech]] and [[language]] in [[psychoanalysis]] and the [[interpretation]] to be put on the [[mirror stage]].
It also includes lengthy discussions of the [[clinic]]al and [[theory|theoretical work]] of contemporary [[psychoanalysts]] such as [[Michael Balint]] and [[Melanie Klein]], as well as [[St Augustine]] and [[Jean-Paul Sartre]].
Together with [[Seminar II|Seminar II. The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis, 1954-1955]]'', being published simultaneously, it undoubtedly forms the best point of departure for the English-speaking reader wishing to gain some acquaintance with the disturbing and profound thought of [[Jacques Lacan]].
