Lacan Jacques

Lacan Jacques

(1901-81) French psychoanalyst whose work is particularly associated with POSTSTRUCTURALISM and involved a reinterpretation of the work of FREUD using concepts derived from structural LINGUISTICS. Freud's view of the SELF as both an entity created in particular circumstances, and as inherently split in its creation, can be opposed to humanist claims for the unity, integrity and creative power of the subject. Departing from an early commitment to humanist PHENOMENOLOGY, Lacan was influenced by structural linguistics, with its revelation of unknown orders underlying the transparency of consciousness. A semiotic rereading of Freud provides a comparable set of structures, with the realms of cognition and consciousness (including DEFENCE MECHANISMS) as the product of an underlying transformation of ‘desire’. The conscious subject is a semiotic product involved in DISCOURSES it does not control, and which cannot readily be brought to consciousness. The location of the self in social (including gender) positions, preserves and creates spaces for semiotic work and play that evade all fixity Lacan's contribution has been strikingly influential, e.g. in feminist thinking on the creation of gender identity. Lacan's early writings are assembled in Ecrits (1977). Other books by Lacan include The Language of the Self (1953), Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis (1977b). See also PSYCHOANALYSIS, DECENTRED SELF AND DECENTRED SUBJECT, IDENTITY, DECONSTRUCTION