Jacques Lacan Psychoanalysis and the Subject of Literature [Paperback]

The French theorist Lacan has always been called a 'literary' theoretician. Here is, for the first time, a complete study of his literary analyses and examples, with an account of the importance of literature in the building of his highly original system of thought. Rabate offers a systematic genealogy of Lacan's theory of literature, reconstructing a doctrine based upon Freudian insights, and revitalised through close readings of authors as diverse as Poe, Gide, Shakespeare, Plato, Claudel, Genet, Duras and Joyce. Not simply an essay about Lacan's influences or style, this book shows how the emergence of key terms like the 'letter' and the 'symptom' would not have been possible without innovative readings of literary texts.General Editor's Preface.- Lacan from Z to L: Or Against Interpretation.- Lacan from A to L: Basic Lacanian Issues and Concepts.- From Letters to Literature, and Gide.- Poe and the Theory of the Letter.- Hamlet and the Desire of the Mother.- Antigone Between the Beautiful and the Sublime.- Sade: Subverting the Law and the Jouissance of the Other.- Ravishing Duras, or the Gift of Love.- Tragedies and Comedies of Love: Plato, Claudel, Genet.- Joyce's Jouissance, or a New Literary Symptom.- Conclusion.- Annotated Critical Bibliography.- Index.JEAN-MICHEL RABATE is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Pennsylvania.An introductory book by a top Lacanian scholar
A systematic account of Lacan's theory of literature
Lacan is now featured on all modern literary theory courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level