Difference between revisions of "Jacques Lacan"
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''[[Chronology|Click here for a more complete chronology of '''Jacques Lacan''''s life]].'' | ''[[Chronology|Click here for a more complete chronology of '''Jacques Lacan''''s life]].'' | ||
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| + | [[Lacan]] was born in Paris to a bourgeois Catholic family, and was educated at a Jesuit school. | ||
| − | + | [[Lacan]] trained as a medical doctor specializing in | |
| − | + | He studied medicine and later [[psychiatry]]. | |
| − | In | + | In 1927, [[Lacan]] began his [[treatment|clincial training]] at the [[Sainte-Anne hospital]]. |
| − | In | + | In 1932, [[Lacan]] finishes his doctoral thesis on [[paranoia|paranoid]] [[psychosis]].<ref>''[[On paranoiac psychosis in its relations to the personality|De la psychose paranoiaque dans ses rapports avec la personalité]]'' ("[[On paranoiac psychosis in its relations to the personality|On Paranoid Psychosis and Its Relations to the Personality]]").</ref> |
| − | In | + | In 1936, [[Lacan]] presents his piece on the [[mirror stage]] -- his first major theoretical contribution to [[psychoanalysis]] -- at an [[IPA]] conference in Marienbad. |
| − | In 1938, [[Lacan]] becomes a member of the '''[[Société psychanalytique de Paris]]''' ([[SPP]]), | + | In 1938, [[Lacan]] becomes a member of the '''[[Société psychanalytique de Paris]]''' ([[SPP]]), affiliated with the [[International Psycho-Analytical Association]] ([[IPA]]). |
| − | In 1953, [[Lacan]] | + | In 1953, [[Lacan]] begins his first public [[seminar]] (which he will continue to give annually until his death). |
| − | + | Thereafter, he rises to become a renowned and controversial figure in the international psychoanalytic community. | |
| − | In | + | In 1953, [[Lacan]] also resigned from the [[SPP]] to join the newly established '''[[Société Française de Psychanalyse]]''' ([[SFP]]). |
| − | In 1980, [[Lacan]] dissolves the [[EFP]] and creates in its stead the '''[[École de la Cause freudienne|Cause freudienne]]'''. | + | In 1963, after ten years of continued effort, the [[SFP]] is finally offered [[IPA]] affiliation as a member society -- on the condition that [[Lacan]] be removed from its list of [[training|training analysts]]. |
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| + | In 1963, [[Lacan]] chooses to leave the [[SFP]] and found his own [[school]], the '''[[École Freudienne de Paris]]''' ([[EFP]]). | ||
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| + | In 1980, [[Lacan]] single-handedly dissolves the [[EFP]] and creates in its stead the '''[[École de la Cause freudienne|Cause freudienne]]'''.<ref>[[Lacan]] states: "It is up to you to be Lacanians if you wish; I am Freudian."</ref> | ||
In 1981, the '''[[École de la Cause freudienne|Cause freudienne]]''' is dissolved and the '''[[École de la Cause freudienne]]''' is created to replace it. | In 1981, the '''[[École de la Cause freudienne|Cause freudienne]]''' is dissolved and the '''[[École de la Cause freudienne]]''' is created to replace it. | ||
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==Theory== | ==Theory== | ||
Revision as of 05:07, 15 September 2006
Jacques-Marie Émile Lacan (April 13, 1901 – September 9, 1981) was a French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.
He is one of the most important -- and most controversial -- figures in the history of psychoanalysis, but is also acknowledged for his far-reaching influence across a wide range of disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences.
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Biography
Click here for a more complete chronology of Jacques Lacan's life.
Lacan was born in Paris to a bourgeois Catholic family, and was educated at a Jesuit school.
Lacan trained as a medical doctor specializing in
He studied medicine and later psychiatry.
In 1927, Lacan began his clincial training at the Sainte-Anne hospital.
In 1932, Lacan finishes his doctoral thesis on paranoid psychosis.[1]
In 1936, Lacan presents his piece on the mirror stage -- his first major theoretical contribution to psychoanalysis -- at an IPA conference in Marienbad.
In 1938, Lacan becomes a member of the Société psychanalytique de Paris (SPP), affiliated with the International Psycho-Analytical Association (IPA).
In 1953, Lacan begins his first public seminar (which he will continue to give annually until his death).
Thereafter, he rises to become a renowned and controversial figure in the international psychoanalytic community.
In 1953, Lacan also resigned from the SPP to join the newly established Société Française de Psychanalyse (SFP).
In 1963, after ten years of continued effort, the SFP is finally offered IPA affiliation as a member society -- on the condition that Lacan be removed from its list of training analysts.
In 1963, Lacan chooses to leave the SFP and found his own school, the École Freudienne de Paris (EFP).
In 1980, Lacan single-handedly dissolves the EFP and creates in its stead the Cause freudienne.[2]
In 1981, the Cause freudienne is dissolved and the École de la Cause freudienne is created to replace it.
Theory
Lacan's work has transformed psychoanalysis, both as a theory and as a practice.
In the 1950s, Lacan emphasized the role of language (and the symbolic order) in psychoanalysis and formulated his most important thesis: that the unconscious is structured like a language.
(This was an extraordinarily innovative period for Lacan and he introduced many of the concepts that would preoccupy him for the rest of his career.)
Lacan drew on a field of study known as Structuralism and on linguistic theory.
Claude Lévi-Strauss's elementary structure of kinship provided the basis for Lacan's conception of the symbolic order and the formation of the unconscious.
Lévi-Strauss's structural anthropology was facilitated by the work of the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) and it was through Lévi-Strauss that Lacan began to read linguistics.
In the process he made radical and far-reaching changes to Saussure's concept of the linguistic sign, completely reversing any conventional understanding of the relationship between the speaking subject and language.
Finally, we will look at the Russian linguist Roman Jakobson's (1896-1982) work on metaphor and metonymy, as this was crucially important for Lacan's conceptualization of desire.
Lacan's conception of the subject as constituted in and through language.
Bibliography
Click here for a more complete bibliography of Jacques Lacan's work.
Lacan's most important theoretical contributions to psychoanalysis were presented in his seminars.
In 1966, a selection of Lacan's most important papers are published under the title Écrits; fewer than one-third of them are included in the English Écrits: A Selection (1977).
References
- ↑ De la psychose paranoiaque dans ses rapports avec la personalité ("On Paranoid Psychosis and Its Relations to the Personality").
- ↑ Lacan states: "It is up to you to be Lacanians if you wish; I am Freudian."
Further information about Jacques Lacan can be found below:
- Žižek, Slavoj. Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991. pp. 5–6, 21, 28–29, 33–39, 65, 75, 88, 90–91, 95–96, 98, 103, 108–110, 118–119, 125–126, 128–132, 135–139, 151–153, 158, 161–169
