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From 1952 to 1980 French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Jacques Lacan gave an annual seminar in Paris. The Books of the Seminar are edited by Jacques-Alain Miller. [1]
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| Psychoanalysis |
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From 1952 to 1980 French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Jacques Lacan gave an annual seminar in Paris. The Books of the Seminar are edited by Jacques-Alain Miller. [1]
In 1951, Lacan, then a member of the Paris Psychoanalytic Society, initiated a series of weekly Wednesday meetings in his apartment on Rue de Lille, Paris. In 1952, the meetings were transferred to the Sainte-Anne Hospital where Lacan worked as a consultant psychiatrist. Book I of the seminar [2] is the edited transcription of the 1953–1954 weekly lessons at Sainte-Anne, where the Seminar would be held until 1963.
The final seminar to be held at Sainte-Anne is published as Book X (Anxiety, 1962–1963). The single lesson delivered on 20 November 1963 and published as "Introduction to the Names-of-the-Father Seminar" [3] is the introduction to a seminar that was never delivered, and which has thus been dubbed The Inexistent Seminar. [4] Indeed, the night before this lesson, Lacan had been informed that the SFP "had voted, in a complicated procedure, to refuse to ratify the motion striking Lacan's name from the list of the training analysts", [5] thus stripping Lacan of the right to continue as a training analyst within the International Psychoanalytical Association. This institutional manoeuvre effectively brought to a close the early period of Lacan's teaching.
The middle period of Lacan's teaching began two months later with The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis . Hosted by the École Normale Supérieure, under the patronage of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, the Seminar now enjoyed "a much larger audience" and represented a "change of front". [6] This series of lessons, now edited as Book XI of the Seminar, opens with the lesson "Excommunication" in which Lacan expands on the circumstances and implications of his exclusion from the IPA. The second lesson, "The Freudian Unconscious and Ours" sets the tone of his ensuing teaching by indicating potential points of discontinuity with respect to Freud's oeuvre.
Lacan's yearly Seminar continued at the École normale supérieure until 1969. From autumn 1969 onwards, it was hosted by the Law Faculty at Place du Panthéon. [7] This series of seminars, the late period of Lacan's teaching, opened with The Other Side of Psychoanalysis, now edited as Book XVII of the Seminar, and continued until the late seventies.
As Lacan's teaching moved into the phase known as the very late teaching of Lacan, his declining health led to less regular appointments. Lacan's final public delivery on 12 July 1980, sometimes referred to as "The Caracas Seminar" [8] was not, as this title indicates, part of the Parisian series.
From the very first seminar at Sainte-Anne, the weekly sessions were recorded by a shorthand typist. For two decades, copies of these typescripts were the only available record of Lacan's oral teaching, Lacan himself having declined the various offers extended to him to have the typescripts edited into publishable volumes. [9]
In the early seventies, Jacques-Alain Miller offered some indications as to what would constitute an effective editorial strategy and at Lacan's invitation drew up a transcription of the twenty lessons that made up the eleventh seminar, The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis delivered in 1964. The result pleased Lacan, and François Wahl at Éditions du Seuil was happy to publish.
Seminar XI was published in 1973. In his "Postface", Lacan writes: "A transcription, now here is a word I am discovering thanks to the modesty of J. A. M., Jacques-Alain Miller by name: what gets read passes through the writing whilst surviving there intact". [10] Lacan had said to Miller, "we will sign it together", but Miller had preferred to opt for a more discreet "Text established by…", a nod to the editing credits to the Greek and Latin texts in the Collection Budé. [11]
Both Lacan and Wahl were keen for more seminars to be published and Lacan entrusted the task to Miller. [12] Four more books of the Seminar were published during Lacan's lifetime. The first to be translated into English was Book XI, published by Hogarth Press in 1977 with a specially written preface. To date (2015), seventeen of the seminars have been published in French, several of which have also appeared in English translation. The remaining seminars have all been established by Miller and are currently awaiting publication. As of 2013, the Books of the Seminar will be published by Éditions de la Martinière.
| Book | Years | Title | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1953–54 | Book I: Les écrits techniques de Freud (Seuil, 1975) | Translated by J. Forrester as Freud's Papers on Technique (Cambridge UP/Norton, 1988) |
| II | 1954–55 | Book II: Le moi dans la théorie de Freud et dans la technique de la psychanalyse (Seuil, 1978) | Translated by S. Tomaselli as The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis (Cambridge UP/Norton, 1988) |
| III | 1955–56 | Book III: Les psychoses (Seuil, 1981) | Translated by R. Grigg as The Psychoses (Routledge/Norton, 1993) |
| IV | 1956–57 | Book IV: La relation d'objet et les structures freudiennes (Seuil, 1994) | Translated by A.R. Price as The Object Relation (Polity, 2020) |
| V | 1957–58 | Book V: Les formations de l'inconscient (Seuil, 1998) | Translated by R. Grigg as The Formations of the Unconscious (Polity, 2017) |
| VI | 1958–59 | Book VI: Le désir et son interprétation (La Martinière 2013) | Translated by B. Fink as Desire and Its Interpretation (Polity, 2019) Selected lessons published in Ornicar ?24–25 and translated by J. Hulbert in Yale French Studies 55/56, 11–22. |
| VII | 1959–60 | Book VII: L'éthique de la psychanalyse (Seuil, 1986) | Translated by D. Porter as The Ethics of Psychoanalysis (Routledge/Norton, 1992) |
| VIII | 1960–61 | Book VIII: Le transfert (2nd edition Seuil, 2001) | Translated by B. Fink as Transference (Polity, 2015) |
| IX | 1961–62 | Book IX: L'identification | |
| X | 1962–63 | Book X: L'angoisse (Seuil, 2004) | Translated by A.R. Price as Anxiety (Polity, 2014) |
| – | 1963 | The "Inexistent" Seminar. Introduction published as Les Noms du père (Seuil, 2005) | Translated by J. Mehlman as "Introduction to 'The Names of the Father' Seminar", in Television/A Challenge to the Psychoanalytic Establishment , 1990 |
| XI | 1964 | Book XI: Les quatre concepts fondamentaux de la psychanalyse (Seuil, 1973) | Translated by A. Sheridan as The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis (Hogarth, 1977) |
| XII | 1964–65 | Book XII: Problèmes cruciaux pour la psychanalyse | |
| XIII | 1965-6 | Book XIII: L'objet de la psychanalyse | |
| XIV | 1966–67 | Book XIV: La logique du fantasme (Seuil/Champ Freudien, 2023) | |
| XV | 1967–68 | Book XV: L'acte psychanalytique (Seuil/Champ Freudien, 2024) | |
| XVI | 1968–69 | Book XVI: D'un Autre à l'autre (Seuil, 2006) | Translated by B. Fink as From an Other to the other (Polity, 2023) |
| XVII | 1969–70 | Book XVII: L'envers de la psychanalyse (Seuil, 1991) | Translated by R. Grigg as The Other Side of Psychoanalysis (Norton, 2007) |
| XVIII | 1971 | Book XVIII: D'un discours qui ne serait pas du semblant (Seuil, 2006) | Translated by B. Fink as On a Discourse that Might Not be a Semblance (Polity, 2024) Lesson VI translated by P. Dravers in Hurly-Burly 9, 15–28 |
| XIX | 1971–72 | Book XIX: . . . ou pire (Seuil, 2011) | Translated by A.R. Price as . . . or Worse (Polity, 2018) Three lessons at Sainte-Anne published as Je parle aux murs (Seuil, 2011). Translated by A.R. Price as Talking to Brick Walls (Polity, 2017) |
| XX | 1972–73 | Book XX: Encore, (Seuil, 1975) | Translated by B. Fink as Encore, On Feminine Sexuality: The Limits of Love and Knowledge (Norton, 1998) |
| XXI | 1973–74 | Book XXI: Les non-dupes errent | |
| XXII | 1974–75 | Book XXII RSI Lessons published in Ornicar ? 2–5 | |
| XXIII | 1975–76 | Book XXIII Le sinthome (Seuil, 2005) | Translated by A.R. Price as The Sinthome (Polity, 2016) |
| XXIV | 1976–77 | Book XXIV: L'insu que sait de l'une-bévue s'aile à mourre
| |
| XXV | 1977–78 | Le moment de conclure | |
| XXVI | 1978–79 | La topologie et le temps | |
| XXVII | 1980 | Dissolution Lessons published in Ornicar ?20–23 |
Jacques Marie Émile Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris, from 1953 to 1981, and published papers that were later collected in the book Écrits. Transcriptions of his seminars, given between 1954 and 1976, were also published. His work made a significant impact on continental philosophy and cultural theory in areas such as post-structuralism, critical theory, feminist theory and film theory, as well as on the practice of psychoanalysis itself.
Jacques-Alain Miller is a psychoanalyst and writer. He is one of the founding members of the École de la Cause freudienne and the World Association of Psychoanalysis which he presided from 1992 to 2002. He is the sole editor of the books of The Seminars of Jacques Lacan.
In the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan, objet petit a stands for the unattainable object of desire, the "a" being the small other ("autre"), a projection or reflection of the ego made to symbolise otherness, like a specular image, as opposed to the big Other which represents otherness itself. It is sometimes called the object cause of desire, as it is the force that induces desire towards any particular object. Lacan always insisted that the term should remain untranslated, "thus acquiring the status of an algebraic sign" (Écrits).
The Imaginary is one of three terms in the psychoanalytic perspective of Jacques Lacan, along with the Symbolic and the Real. Each of the three terms emerged gradually over time, undergoing an evolution in Lacan's own development of thought. "Of these three terms, the 'imaginary' was the first to appear, well before the Rome Report of 1953…[when the] notion of the 'symbolic' came to the forefront." Indeed, looking back at his intellectual development from the vantage point of the 1970s, Lacan epitomised it as follows:
"I began with the Imaginary, I then had to chew on the story of the Symbolic ... and I finished by putting out for you this famous Real."
The Symbolic is the order in the unconscious that gives rise to subjectivity and bridges intersubjectivity between two subjects; an example is Jacques Lacan's idea of desire as the desire of the Other, maintained by the Symbolic's subjectification of the Other into speech. In the later psychoanalytic theory of Lacan, it is linked by the sinthome to the Imaginary and the Real.
Jean-Claude Maleval is a French Lacanian psychoanalyst, member of the École de la Cause Freudienne and emeritus professor of clinical psychology at the University of Rennes 2.
The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis is the 1978 English-language translation of a seminar held by Jacques Lacan. The original was published in Paris by Le Seuil in 1973. The Seminar was held at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris between January and June 1964 and is the eleventh in the series of The Seminar of Jacques Lacan. The text was published by Jacques-Alain Miller.
Élisabeth Roudinesco is a French scholar, historian and psychoanalyst. She conducts a seminar on the history of psychoanalysis at the École Normale Supérieure.
Juan-David Nasio is an Argentinian psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and writer. He is one of the founders of Séminaires Psychanalytiques de Paris.
François Regnault is a French philosopher, playwright and dramaturg. Also a university instructor and teacher, Regnault was maître de conférences at Paris VIII before his retirement. Among his various writings he is the author, with Jean-Claude Milner, of the seminal Dire le vers and of Conférences d'esthétique lacanienne.
John Forrester was a British historian and philosopher of science and medicine. His main interests were in the history of the human sciences, in particular psychoanalysis and psychiatry.
Daniel Lagache was a French physician, psychoanalyst, and professor at the Sorbonne. He was born and died in Paris.
Oscar Abelardo Masotta was an Argentine essayist, artist, teacher, semiotician, art critic, and psychoanalyst. He was associated with the Torcuato di Tella Institute. He translated Jacques Lacan's works into Spanish and introduced his psychoanalytic philosophy to Latin America.
The World Association of Psychoanalysis (WAP) was launched at the initiative of Jacques-Alain Miller in Buenos Aires on 3 January 1992. It was declared in Paris, four days later, on 7 January. Its statutes are modelled on Jacques Lacan's "Founding Act" and adopt the principles outlined in his "Proposition" on the Pass.
Television: A Challenge to the Psychoanalytic Establishment is the 1990 English-language translation of Jacques Lacan's text "Télévision" accompanied by a "Dossier on the Institutional Debate". The single volume thus includes two distinct projects which were separately translated.
Scilicet is an academic journal that was established in 1968 by Jacques Lacan as the official French-language journal of the École Freudienne de Paris. Published by Éditions du Seuil, it appeared intermittently until the double issue of 1976. The title was revived in 2006 to distribute preparatory texts for the congresses of the World Association of Psychoanalysis and is now published in both French and Spanish. The new series began with a digital volume and has since extended to four print volumes.
The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis is the 1988 English-language translation of published in Paris by Le Seuil in 1977. The text of the Seminar, which was held by Jacques Lacan at the Hospital of Sainte-Anne in Paris between the Fall of 1954 and the Spring of 1955 and is the second one in the series, was established by Jacques-Alain Miller and translated by Sylvana Tomaselli.
The Pass is a procedure that was introduced by Jacques Lacan in 1967 as a means of gathering data on a psychoanalysis and investigating its results. It was adopted as an institutional procedure in the École freudienne de Paris and later in the World Association of Psychoanalysis.
Lacanianism or Lacanian psychoanalysis is a theoretical system that explains the mind, behaviour, and culture through a structuralist and post-structuralist extension of classical psychoanalysis, initiated by the work of Jacques Lacan from the 1950s to the 1980s. Lacanian perspectives contend that the human mind is structured by the world of language, known as the Symbolic. They stress the importance of desire, which is conceived of as perpetual and impossible to satisfy. Contemporary Lacanianism is characterised by a broad range of thought and extensive debate between Lacanians.
Bruce Fink is an American Lacanian psychoanalyst and a major translator of Jacques Lacan. He is the author of numerous books on Lacan and Lacanian psychoanalysis, prominent among which are Lacan to the Letter: Reading Écrits Closely, The Lacanian Subject: Between Language and Jouissance (1995), Lacan on Love: An Exploration of Lacan's Seminar VIII and A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Theory and Technique.