Jacques Lacan [Hardcover]

Elisabeth Roudinesco (Author), Barbara Bray (Translator)

Book Description

Series: European Perspectives | Publication Date: October 15, 1997

Years after his death, Jacques Lacan remains not only one of the foremost intellectuals of the century, but also one of the most controversial. The first major biography of Lacan, this is a fascinating portrait of the man's life and an illuminating explication of his complex liasons and unorthodox, often perplexing ideas.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

French psychiatrist Jacques Lacan (1901- 1981) tried to provide a philosophical basis for Freudianism, which gained him prestige in his native land. Lacan accorded "paramount importance to what is said" and posited parallels between the structure of language and the unconscious?which explains his particular influence on literary theorists. The present biography is written in stately, heavy prose by a French historian, psychoanalyst and critic, who dutifully explicates Lacan's work, but also includes lots of fun details about some very weird French people, like the surrealist writer Georges Bataille, who proudly declared, "I jerked myself off, naked, at night, in the presence of my mother's corpse." Piling up enormous wealth and prestige, Lacan became a noted collector of modern art masterpieces and rare books. He was also determined to "collect all women," as Roudinesco puts it. While the author was aided by various of Lacan's relations, this is not a sugary account of the man's life. Lacan comes across as an often difficult figure; he often threw patients out or pulled their hair if they didn't speak enough to satisfy him (though these abbreviated sessions did not mean Lacan returned the high fees they paid). He was equally rude to friends: while visiting Claude Levi-Strauss one dinnertime, he ate all the food on his hosts' plates. In conspicuous contrast to Lacan's famously abstruse writings, this account?from the psychiatrist's birth into a family of vinegar-makers to his last words, "I'm stubborn... I'm dying"?makes for a lively read.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

French psychoanalyst Lacan (1901-85) gained a wide following from scholars in the humanities and social sciences through his popular public lectures at the University of Paris. Viewing language as a mirror of the unconscious mind, Lacan developed an innovative interpretation of Freud's theories using the methodology of structural linguistics. Known for his unorthodox and controversial psychoanalytic practices and his obscure, though stylistically brilliant, writings, Lacan was at the center of many professional schisms and quarrels. Given this rich subject, this third volume of psychoanalyst Roudinesco's "History of Psychoanalysis in France" will disappoint most readers. The book is neither a basic introductory work nor a comprehensive biography. Though containing some new material made available to the author since the publication of the second volume (Jacques Lacan & Company, Univ. of Chicago, 1990), this volume covers much of the same period and topics. For academic libraries with large psychology holdings.?Lucille M. Boone, San Jose P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; 1St Edition edition (October 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231101465
• ISBN-13: 978-0231101462
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,913,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting, May 27, 2008

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Stein's Object a - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jacques Lacan (Hardcover)

Very well written.

First of all, this book is interesting from a peeping Tom perspective. And not surprisingly, Lacan is portrayed as self-absorbed, cold and opportunistic, desperate for recognition. The book covers the bitter institutional battles, too.

However, the book is also quite relevant from the point of view of Lacan's theoretical development. Roudinesco's explicit account of the thinkers Lacan uses / is inspired by when developing his concepts is very helpful. Note, though, that Zizek claims that some of these interpretations are problematic. To me it was particularly interesting to note that in addition to Freud, Bataille was important for Lacan when developing the notion of the Real.

Overall, Roudinesco's is number two on my list of intellectual biographies, just behind Safranski's superb Heidegger-biography.