Does the Woman Exist?: From Freud's Hysteric to Lacan's Feminine

"A miraculous answer to the confusions surrounding Freud's and Lacan's theory of feminine sexuality. . . . A must for anyone who wants to grasp what psychoanalysis has to say today."-Slavoj Zizek This book describes how Freud attempted to chart hysteria, yet came to a standstill at the problem of woman and her desire, and of how Lacan continued along this road by creating new conceptual tools. The difficulties and upsets encountered by both men are examined.This lucid presentation of the dialectical process that carries Lacan through the evolution of Freud's thought offers profound insights into the place of the “feminine mystique” in our social fabric. Patiently and carefully, Verhaeghe applies the Lacanian grid to Freud's text and succeeds in explaining Lacan's formulations without merely recapitulating his theories. The reader is informed, along the way, not only of Lacan's take on Freudian ideas, but also of the array of interpretations emerging from other trends in post-Freudian literature, including feminist revisionism. This book describes how Freud attempted to chart hysteria, yet came to a standstill at the problem of woman and her desire, and of how Lacan continued along this road by creating new conceptual tools. The difficulties and upsets encountered by both men are examined. This lucid presentation of the dialectical process that carries Lacan through the evolution of Freuds thought offers profound insights into the place of the feminine mystique in our social fabric. Patiently and carefully, Verhaeghe applies the Lacanian grid to Freuds text and succeeds in explaining Lacans formulations without merely recapitulating his theories. The reader is informed, along the way, not only of Lacans take on Freudian ideas, but also of the array of interpretations emerging from other trends in post-Freudian literature, including feminist revisionism. Psychoanalysis As A Product Of Hysteria: The Discourse Of The Master -- 1. Freud's Encounter With Hysteria: Desire -- 2. From Trauma To Fantasy: The Real As Impossible -- 3. The Theory Of Repression: The Imaginary As Defence -- 4. Dora: The Lack In The Symbolic -- 5. Psychoanalysis As A Consequence Of Hysteria: The Discourse Of The Master -- The Post-freudians And The Discourse Of The University -- 6. The Great Confusion -- 7. Lacan And The Discourse Of The Hysteric -- The Forgotten Freud: The Shift Towards The Discourse Of The University -- 8. Freud's Second Theory Of Hysteria -- 9. Consequences Of Freud's Second Theory: Primary Phenomena -- 10. The Rock Of Castration -- Conclusion: From Freud's Hysteric To Lacan's Woman. Paul Verhaeghe ; Translated By Marc Du Ry. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.