Re-Inventing the Symptom: Essays on the Final Lacan (Contemporary Theory Series)

The essays collected in Re-inventing the Symptom explore the final period of Jacques Lacan’s teaching, focusing on his 1975-76 seminar Le sinthome. This book sheds light on the central questions of this last “phase” of Lacanian theory and unravels the principal enigmas of the seminars. The work as a whole breaks through previous obstacles to the act of reading Lacan’s last work, among them the notorious restrictions placed upon the publication and translation of Lacan’s teachings. The contributors examine Lacan’s late work from a variety of perspectives. They consider his theories on Boromean knot topology and rethink readings of his views on sexual difference, his encounter with Joyce, and even his consideration that his work was not theory at all, but rather a kind of writing. These lucid essays offer a dazzling reading of works previously considered elusive. Students and practitioners of psychoanalysis alike will benefit from this revolutionary collection. The contributors mark the territory for a more widespread deployment of Lacanian theory in our cultural landscape, from modernism to deconstruction and feminism. At last, those who seek to approach Lacanian thought and apply its relevance to their own fields have a radical new tool made readily available to them. Largely revolving around the 1975-76 Le sinthome, seven essays explore the relatively obscure late work of Jacques Lacan. Presented by Thurston (languages and literature, Robinson College, Cambridge, UK), the essays explore the work from a variety of perspectives, discussing such topics as Lacan's linguistic encounter with James Joyce, his critique of Derrida, his treatment of sexual difference, and his self-critique of earlier writings. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR