<p>[Lacan (1901 - 1981) was the most influential 'second-generation' Freudian. Deeply influenced by structural linguistics, Lacan believed that the "unconscious was structured like a language" and reveals meaning only in the connections among signifiers (Lacan made the signifier the primary component of the signifier/signified scheme, thereby - like Derrida - reversing the traditional Western notion of the primacy of the concept.. His revisions of Freud often centered on analyzing the unconscious rather than the ego.</p><img src="lacan2.gif" align="right" height="160" width="119"><p>This early essay (1949) identifies the point at which the "I" (ego) begins to formulate itself as a socially constructed agent. In Lacan's terminology, the mirror stage is the hinge between the *Imaginary and the *Symbolic (concepts we'll discuss further in class). These concepts are used frequently in contemporary literary criticism and theory. As usual, cuts and explanation that I make are in square brackets; the paragraphs have been numbered for ease of reference. </p><p>By the way, for those of you who want more information on Lacan, try the <a href="http://www3.memlane.com/pajerry/lacandef.htm">Lacanian Concepts site</a>, which has clear but more extended definitions than our glossary, or -- for fun, <a href="http://www.mii.kurume-u.ac.jp/%7Eleuers/Lacan.htm">Kid A in Alphabet Land</a>, a Lacanian alphabetic comic book (when you press that link, go to the Web pages, which will give you access to Kid A, in the second paragraph). ] </p> <p></p><hr><p></p><ol>
<p></p><li>The conception of the mirror stage that I introduced [. . .] has since become more or less established in the practice of the French [psychoanalytic] group. However, I think it worthwhile to bring it again to your attention, especially today, for the light it sheds on the formation of the <i>I</i> as we experience it in psychoanalysis. It is an experience that leads us to oppose any philosophy directly issuing from the <i>Cogito</i> [reference is to the tradition stemming from Descartes : I think, therefore I am etc.] </li>
