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=====Wolf Man=====
A good example of this is the case of the [[Wolf Man]], in which [[Freud]] noted that the [[meaning]]less [[letter]] V reappeared under many guides in the [[Wolf Man]]'s life.<ref>Freud{{F}} 1918b. [1914]. "From the History of an Infantile Neurosis. 1918b" [[SE]] XVII, 3.</ref>
=====Repetition=====
As the example of the [[Wolf Man]] demonstrates, the [[letter]] is essentially that which [[return]]s and [[repetition|repeats]] itself; it constantly insists in inscribing itself in the [[subject]]'s life.
=====Example=====
=====''The Purloined Letter''=====
[[Lacan]] illustrates this [[repetition]] by reference to Edgar Allan Poe's story ''The Purloined Letter''.<ref>Poe, Edgar Allan. 1844. "The Purloined Letter," in ''Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe'', New York: Pocket Library, 1951.</ref>
Playing on the double-meaning of the term "[[letter]]", [[Lacan]] presents Poe's account of a written document (a [[letter]]) which passes through various hands as a [[metaphor]] for the [[signifier]] which circulates between various [[subject]]s, assigning a peculiar position to whoever is possessed by it.<ref>{{L}} 1955a. "Le séminaire sur 'La lettre volée'", in [[Jacques Lacan]], ''[[Écrits]]'', Paris: Seuil, 1966, pp. 11-61 ["Seminar on 'The Purloined Letter'", trans. Jeffrey Mehlman, ''Yale French Studies'', 48 (1972): 38-72.</ref>
=====A Letter Always Arrives at its Destination=====
It is in this paper that [[Lacan]] proposes that "a letter always arrives at its destination."<ref>{{Ec}} p.41</ref>
=====Role of the Analyst=====
It is because of the role of the [[letter]] in the [[unconscious]] that the [[analyst]] must focus not on the [[meaning]] or the [[signification]] of the [[analysand]]'s [[discourse]], but purely on its formal properties; the [[analyst]] must read the [[analysand]]'s [[speech]] as if it were a text, "taking it literally" (''prendre à la lettre'').
=====Letter and Writing=====
There is thus a close connection between the [[letter]] and [[writing]], a connection which [[Lacan]] explores in his [[seminar]] of 1972-3.<ref>{{S20}} p.29-38</ref>
Although both the [[letter]] and [[writing]] are located in the [[order]] of the [[real]], and hence partake of a [[meaning]]less quality, [[Lacan]] argues that the [[letter]] is that which one reads, as opposed to [[writing]], which is not to be read.<ref>{{S20}} p.29</ref>
=====Formalization and Mathemes=====
[[Writing]] is also connected with the idea of [[formalization]] and the [[matheme]]s; [[Lacan]] thus speaks of his [[algebra]]ic [[symbol]]s as "[[letter]]s."<ref>{{S20}} p.30</ref>
=====Jacques Derrida=====
[[Lacan]]'s concept of the [[letter]] is the subject of a critique by [[Jacques Derrida]]<ref>[[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>.
[[Lacan]] refers to the latter work in his 1972-3 [[seminar]].<ref>{{S20}} p.62-6.</ref>
==See Also==
* [[Language]]
* [[Materialism]]
* [[Meaning]]
* [[Signifier]]
* [[Speech]]
* [[Unconscious]]
==References==[[Lacan]]'s concept of the [[letter]] is the subject of a critique by [[Jacques Derrida]] (1975) and by two of Derrida's follows (Lacoue-Labarthe and Nancy, 1973). [[Lacan]] refers to the latter work in his 1972-3 seminar.<ref>{{S20}} p.62-6.<references/ref>
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
