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Art
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====Sigmund Freud====
[[Freud]] valued [[art]] as one of [[human]]ity's great [[culture|cultural]] [[civilization|institutions]], and dedicated many papers to discussing both the [[process]] of [[art|artistic creation]] in general and certain [[art|works of art]] in [[particular]].
====Jacques Lacan====
=====Works of Art=====
[[Lacan]]'s [[Works of Jacques Lacan|works]] also abound in discussions of particular [[art|works of art]].
=====Literature=====
Like [[Freud]], [[Lacan]] devotes most of his attention to [[art|works of literature]] of all genres:
* [[art|prose]] (e.g. the [[discussion]] of The [[Purloined Letter]] by [[Edgar Allan Poe]]<ref>{{S2}} Ch. 16; {{1955}}</ref>),
* [[art|drama]] (e.g. the discussions of [[Shakespeare]]'s [[Hamlet]] <ref>{{1958-9}}</ref>, and of [[Sophocles]]' [[Antigone]] <ref>{{S7}}, Chs. 19-21</ref>) and
* [[art|poetry]] (e.g. the discussion of [[Booz endormi]] by Victor [[Hugo]]<ref>{{S3}} p. 218-25; {{S4}} p. 377-8; {{E}} p. 156-8; {{S8}} p. 158-9</ref>).
=====Visual Arts=====However, [[Lacan's discussions of literary texts are thus not exercises ]] also discusses the [[art|visual arts]], devoting several lectures in literary criticism for its own sake, but performances designed to give his audience an idea of how they are [[Seminar XI|1964]] [[seminar]] to read the unconscious of their patientsdiscussing [[art|painting]], particularly [[art|anamorphotic art]].<ref>{{S11}} Chs. This method of reading is similar to those employed by formalism and structuralism; the signified is neglected in favour of the signifier7-9, content is bracketed in favour of formal structures (although Jacques Derrida has argued that Lacan does not in fact follow his own methodwhere he discusses [[Holbein]]'s [[The Ambassadors]]; see Derrida, 1975{{S7}} p. 139-42</ref>).
====Differences - Freud and Lacan====There are, nevertheless, significant differences between the ways in which [[Freud]] and [[Lacan]] approach [[work|works of art]]. =====Psychology of the Artist=====Though [[Lacan]] does [[speak]] about [[sublimation]], unlike [[Freud]] he does not believe that it is possible or even desirable for [[psychoanalyst]]s to say anything about the [[psychology]] of the [[art|artist]] on the basis of an examination of a [[art|work of art]].<ref>See his critical remarks on "[[art|psychobiography]]"; {{Ec}} 740-1</ref> Just because the most fundamental [[complex]] ([[Oedipus complex|Oedipus]]) in [[psychoanalytic theory]] is taken from a [[art|literary work]], [[Lacan]] says, does not mean that [[psychoanalysis]] has anything to say about [[Sophocles]].<ref>{{L}} "[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Lituraterre]]," ''Littérature'', no. 3, 1971. p. 3</ref> =====Authorial Intentions=====[[Lacan]]'s [[exclusion]] of the [[art|artist]] from his discussions of [[art|works of art]] means that his [[interpretation|reading]]s of [[art|literary texts]] are not concerned to reconstruct the [[author]]'s [[intention]]s. =====Discourse of the Analysand=====In his suspension of the question of [[author]]ial [[consciousness|intent]], [[Lacan]] is not merely aligning himself with the [[structuralism|structuralist movement]] (after all, [[author]]ial [[consciousness|intent]] had been bracketed by [[art|New Criticism]] long before the [[structuralism|structuralists]] appeared on the [[scene]]), but is rather illustrating the way in which the [[analyst]] should proceed when [[free association|listening]] to and [[interpretation|interpreting]] the [[discourse]] of the [[analysand]]. The [[analyst]] must, in other [[words]], treat the [[analysand]]'s [[discourse]] as a [[art|text]]: <blockquote>You must start from the [[text]], start by treating it, as Freud does and as he recommends, as Holy Writ. The author, the scribe, is only a pen-pusher, and he comes second. . . . Similarly, when it comes to our [[patients]], please give more attention to the text than to the psychology of the author - the entire orientation of my teaching is that.<ref>{{S2}} p. 153</ref></blockquote> =====Method of Reading=====[[Lacan]]'s discussions of [[art|literary texts]] are thus not exercises in [[art|literary criticism]] for its own sake, but performances designed to give his audience an [[idea]] of how they are to read the [[unconscious]] of their [[patient]]s. This [[interpretation|method of reading]] is similar to those employed by [[structuralism|formalism]] and [[structuralism]]; the [[signified]] is neglected in favour of the [[signifier]], [[structure|content]] is bracketed in favour of [[structure|formal structures]].<ref>Although [[Jacques Derrida]] has argued that [[Lacan]] does not in fact follow his own method; [[Jacques Derrida|Derrida, Jacques]] 1975. "Le facteur de la vérité," in ''The Post Card: From [[Socrates]] to Freud and Beyond'', trans. Alan Bass, Chicago and [[London]]: [[University]] of Chicago Press, 1987, pp. 413-96.</ref> and by two of [[Derrida]]'s followers.<ref>Lacoue-Labarthe, Philippe, and Nancy, Jean-Luc. 1973. ''Le Titre de la [[lettre]]'', [[Paris]]: Galilée.</ref> =====Illustrative Models=====Besides serving as models of a [[interpretation|method of reading]], which [[Lacan ]] recommends analysts [[analyst]]s to follow when [[interpretation|reading ]] the [[discourse ]] of their patients[[patient]]s, [[Lacan]]'s discussions of [[art|literary texts ]] also aim to extract certain elements which serve as metaphors [[metaphor]]s to illustrate some of his most important [[ideas]]. For example, in his [[reading ]] of [[Poe]]'s ''[[The Purloined Letter]]'', [[Lacan ]] points to the circulating LETTER [[letter]] as a [[metaphor ]] for the [[signifier|determinative power ]] of the [[signifier]]. ====="Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism"=====A new branch of so-called '"[[art|psychoanalytic literary criticism' ]]" now claims to be inspired by [[Lacan]]'s approach to [[art|literary texts (e.g. Muller and Richardson, 1988, and Wright, 1984; other works dealing with Lacan and cultural theory are Davis, 1983; Felman, 1987; MacCannell, 1986)]]. However, while such projects are interesting in their own [[right]], they do not usually approach [[art|literature ]] in the same way as [[Lacan]]. =====Analytic Interpretation=====That is, while [[art|psychoanalytic literary criticism ]] aims to say something about the [[texts ]] studied, both aspects of [[Lacan]]'s approach (to illustrate a mode of [[interpretation|analytic interpretation]], and to illustrate [[psychoanalytic ]] [[:category:concepts|concepts]]) are concerned not with saying something about the texts themselves, but merely with using the texts to say something about [[psychoanalysis]]. This is perhaps the most important [[difference ]] between [[Lacan]]'s approach to works of art and [[Freud]]'s. =====Metalanguage=====Whereas some of [[Freud]]'s works are often taken to imply that [[psychoanalysis ]] is a [[metalanguage|metadiscourse]], a [[metalanguage|master narrative ]] providing a general lutmeneutic key that can unlock the hitherto unsolved secrets of [[art|literary works]], it is [[impossible ]] to read [[Lacan ]] as making any such claims. =====Methods and Concepts=====<b>For [[Lacan]], while [[psychoanalysis ]] might be able to learn something about [[art|literature]], or use [[art|literary works ]] to illustrate certain of its [[treatment|methods ]] and [[:category:concepts|concepts]], it is doubtful whether [[art|literary criticism ]] can learn anything from [[psychoanalysis]]. </b> ====="Applied Psychoanalysis"=====Hence [[Lacan ]] rejects the idea that a [[art|literary criticism ]] which makes use of [[psychoanalytic ]] [[:category:concepts |concepts]] could be called '"[[art|applied psychoanalysis']]", since '"[p]sychoanalysis is only applied, in the proper [[sense ]] of the term, as a [[treatment]], and thus to a [[subject ]] who speaks and listens' (."<ref>{{Ec, }} p. 747</ref>). ==References==<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small"><references/></div>[[Category:Freudian psychology]][[Category:Psychoanalysis]][[Category:Jacques Lacan]][[Category:Dictionary]][[Category:Culture]] __NOTOC__