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== ''Retour {{Top}}retour à Freud'' ==The whole of [[Lacan]]'s work can only be understood within the context of the intellectual and theoretical legacy of [[Sigmund Freud]] (1856-1939, the founder of [[psychoanalysis]].[[Lacan]] first trained as a [[psychoanalyst]] within the [[International Psychoanalytical Association]] (IPA), the organization founded by [[Freud]] which presented itself as the sole legitimate heir to the Freudian legacy.However, [[Lacan]] gradually began to develop a radical critique of the way that most [[analyst]]s in the IPA had interpreted [[Freud]].After being expelled from the IPA in 1953, [[Lacan]] developed his polemic further, arguing that [[Freud]]'s radical insights had been universally betrayed by the three major [[school]]s of [[psychoanalysis]] within the IPA: [[ego-psychology]], [[Kleinian psychoanalysis]], and [[object-relations theory]].To remedy this situation, [[Lacan]] proposed to lead a 'return to Freud', both in the sense of a renewed attention to the actual texts of Freud himself, and a return to the essence of Freud's work which had been betrayed by the IPA.Reading [[Freud]] in the original German allowed [[Lacan]] to discover elements which had been obscured by poor translation and ignored by other commentators.Thus much of [[Lacan]]'s work is taken up with detailed textual commentaries on specific works by [[Freud]], and by numerous references to the work of other analysts whose ideas [[Lacan]] refutes.To understand [[Lacan]]'s work, therefore, it is necessary both to have a detailed understanding of [[Freud]]'s ideas and also a grasp of the way these ideas were developed and modified by the other analysts (the 'post-Freudians') whom Lacan criticizes.These ideas are the background against which [[Lacan]] develops his own "return to Freud."{{Bottom}}

However, [[LacanPsychoanalysis]]'s work itself puts in question the narrative of a return to orthodoxy implicit in the expression 'return to Freud,' for Lacan's way of reading Freud and his style of presentation are so original that they seem to belie his modest claims to be a mere commentator.Furthermore, while it is true that [[Lacan]] returns to specific aspects of the Freudian conceptual legacy, privileging Lacan is no more 'faithful' to Freud's work than the post-Freudians whom he criticizes for having betrayed Freud's message; like them, [[Lacan]] selects and develops certain themes in was founded by [[Sigmund Freud]]'s work and neglects or reinterprets others.Lacanian psychoanalysis might therefore be described as a 'post-Freudian' form of psychoanalysis, along with [[ego-psychology]], [[Kleinian psychoanalysis]] and [[object-relations theory]].

 Psychoanalysis originates with the work of Freud and remains rooted in his theories to this day, but every generation of [[analysts]] that came after Freud has sought to update and correct those theories, and to resolve the contradictions that he [[left]] behind. Lacan argued that through this [[process]] of continual revision psychoanalysis had lost [[sight]] of its original aims; that it had become [[conservative]] and reactionary. By playing down the more uncomfortable and disturbing aspects of the [[theory]], especially the underlying [[presence]] of [[repressed]], [[unconscious]], [[desire]] in our [[mental]] lives, psychoanalysis had made itself respectable but it had lost its radical edge. In the early 1950s, therefore, Lacan famously declared the [[necessity]] of a 'return to Freud', that is to say, a return to the [[texts]] of Freud himself and to a close [[reading]] and [[understanding]] of those texts. For the next 26 years he would engage in this [[project]] of close reading, and in the process would reconstitute the theory of psychoanalysis.  [[Lacan]] presented a distinctive [[interpretation|reading]] of [[psychoanalysis]]. In 1951, [[Lacan]] made his call for a "[[return to Freud]]. =====Freudian Legacy=====The [[whole]] of [[Lacan]]'s work can only be [[understood]] within the context of the [[intellectual]] and [[theoretical]] legacy of [[Sigmund Freud]] (1856-1939), the founder [[father]] of [[psychoanalysis]]. [[Lacan]] first trained as a [[psychoanalyst]] within the [[International Psychoanalytical Association]] ([[IPA]]), the organization founded by [[Freud]] which presented itself as the sole legitimate heir to the ''[[Freudian]] legacy''. =====Betrayal of Freud=====However, [[Lacan]] gradually began to develop a radical critique of the way that most [[analyst]]s in the [[IPA]] had [[interpretation|interpreted]] [[Freud]]. After [[being]] expelled from the [[IPA]] in 1953, [[Lacan]] developed his polemic further, arguing that [[Freud]]'s radical insights had been universally betrayed by the [[school|three major schools]] of [[psychoanalysis]] within the [[IPA]]: [[ego-psychology]], [[Kleinian psychoanalysis]], and [[object-relations theory]]. =====Return to Freud=====To remedy this [[situation]], [[Lacan]] proposed to lead a "[[return to Freud]]", both in the [[sense]] of a renewed attention to the ''actual texts'' of [[Freud]] himself, and a '''return''' to the ''[[essence]]'' of [[Freud]]'s [[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|work]] which had been betrayed by the [[IPA]]. Reading [[Freud]] in the original [[German]] allowed [[Lacan]] to discover elements which had been obscured by poor [[translation]] and ignored by [[other]] commentators. =====Post-Freudians=====Thus much of [[Lacan]]'s work is taken up with detailed textual commentaries on specific works by [[Freud]], and by numerous references to the work of other analysts whose [[ideas]] [[Lacan]] refutes. To [[understand]] [[Lacan]]'s work, therefore, it is necessary both to have a detailed understanding of [[Freud]]'s ideas and also a grasp of the way these ideas were developed and modified by the other analysts (the 'post-Freudians') whom Lacan criticizes. These ideas are the background against which [[Lacan]] develops his own "[[return to Freud]]." <Blockquote>What such a return [to Freud] involves for me is not a [[return of the repressed]], but rather taking the antithesis constituted by the [[phase]] in the [[history]] of the [[psychoanalytic]] movement since the [[death]] of Freud, showing what psychoanalysis is not, and seeking with you the means of revitalizing that which has continued to sustain it, even in deviation...<ref>{{E}} p. 116</ref></Blockquote> =====Orthodoxy=====However, [[Lacan]]'s work itself puts in question the [[narrative]] of a '''return''' to ''orthodoxy'' implicit in the expression "[[return to Freud]]," for [[Lacan]]'s way of reading [[Freud]] and his style of presentation are so original that they seem to belie his modest claims to be a mere commentator. Furthermore, while it is [[true]] that [[Lacan]] returns to specific aspects of the [[Freud]]ian [[conceptual]] legacy, privileging [[Lacan]] is no more "faithful" to [[Freud]]'s [[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|work]] than the post-Freudians whom he criticizes for having betrayed [[Freud]]'s [[message]]; like [[them]], [[Lacan]] selects and develops certain themes in [[Freud]]'s [[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|work]] and neglects or [[interpretation|reinterprets]] [[others]]. '''[[Lacan]]ian [[psychoanalysis]]''' might therefore be described as a "[[Freud|post-Freudian]]" [[form]] of [[psychoanalysis]], along with '''[[ego-psychology]]''', '''[[Kleinian psychoanalysis]]''' and ''[[object-relations theory]]'''. =====Reading of Freud=====However, this is not the way [[Lacan]] sees his [[work]]. [[Lacan]] argues that there is a deeper [[logic ]] at work in [[Freud]]'s [[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|texts]], a logic which endows those [[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|texts ]] with a consistency despite the [[apparent ]] contradictions. [[Lacan]] claims that his [[interpretation|reading ]] of [[Freud]], and his alone, brings out this logic, and shows us that "the different [[stages ]] and changes in direction" in [[Freud]]'s [[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|work ]] "are governed by Freud's inflexibly effective concern to maintain it in its primary rigour."<ref>{{E }} p. 116</ref> In other [[words]], while [[Lacan]]'s reading of [[Freud]] may be as [[partial ]] as any other in the sense that it privileges [[particular ]] aspects of [[Freud]]'s work, that is not, in [[Lacan]]'s view, justification for regarding all [[interpretations ]] of [[Freud]] as equally valid. Thus [[Lacan]]'s declarations of loyalty and accusations of '''[[betrayal ]]''' cannot be seen as a mere rhetorical strategy. Certainly, they do have a rhetorico-[[political ]] function, in that presenting himself as '"more Freudian' [[Freud]]ian" than anyone else allowed [[LAcanLacan]] to challenge the effective monopoly on the Freudian ''[[Freud]]ian legacy '' that the [[IPA ]] still enjoyed in the 1950s. However, [[Lacan]]'s statements are also an [[explicit ]] [[claim ]] to have teased out a coherent logic if [[Freud]]'s writings that no one else had perceived before.