What is jouissance theory?

1. In psychoanalytic theory, for Lacan, an erotic ecstasy beyond the Freudian ‘pleasure principle’, akin to the ‘death drive’ since entering the symbolic order requires its loss, normalizing and regulating pleasure (plaisir). The subsequent lack of jouissance leads to a doomed quest for this lost plenitude.

What does the word jouissance mean?

enjoyment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In French, jouissance means enjoyment, in terms both of rights and property, and of sexual orgasm. The latter has a meaning partially lacking in the English word “enjoyment”.

Who coined jouissance?

Jacques Lacan, in his 1969 seminar The Other Side of Psychoanalysis (Lacan, 1969–1970, session of 11 February 1970), said that if analysis had one task to complete, it was to create a new field of energetics, the field of jouissance, which would require other structures than those of physics.

How is the unconscious structured like a language?

Language, for Lacan, designates not simply verbal speech or written text but any signifying system that is based upon differential relations. The unconscious is structured like a language in the sense that it is a signifying process that involves coding and decoding, or ciphering and deciphering.

What were the main ideas of Lacan in psychoanalysis?

In The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, Lacan argues that the Symbolic order structures the visual field of the Imaginary, which means that it involves a linguistic dimension. If the signifier is the foundation of the symbolic, the signified and signification are part of the Imaginary order.

Can you bear the life that you have?

freud quotes: “Could you bear the life you have?” Lacan and The Fine Art of Existentialist Small Talk.

What is the theory of Lacan?

Lacan famously said, “The unconscious is structured like a language.” He meant that the unconscious is made up of “chains of repressed signifiers” that relate to one another through their own rules of metaphor and metonymy.

What were the main ideas of Lacan on psychoanalysis?

What is psychoanalytic theory?

Psychoanalytic theory divides the psyche into three functions: the id—unconscious source of primitive sexual, dependency, and aggressive impulses; the superego—subconsciously interjects societal mores, setting standards to live by; and the ego—represents a sense of self and mediates between realities of the moment and …

Why is psychoanalytic criticism important?

Psychoanalytic criticism adopts the methods of “reading” employed by Freud and later theorists to interpret texts. Like psychoanalysis itself, this critical endeavor seeks evidence of unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, guilts, ambivalences, and so forth within what may well be a disunified literary work.

How did Lacan contribute to the theory of psychoanalysis?

Lacan considered this perpetual and unconscious fragmentation of the self as Freud’s core discovery. Lacan thus sought to return psychoanalysis on the unconscious, using Ferdinand de Saussure ‘s linguistics, structural anthropology and post-structural theories.

What does Lacanian psychoanalysis say about sexual relations?

There are no sexual relations: there is just the individual’s relation to the Law and to language, which allow for the continuance of social relationships. Lacanian psychoanalysis thus focuses on deconstructing the narcissistic illusions of the self, allowing the childhood fragmentation and lack of unity of the self to resurface.

Which is the primary assumption of the theory of psychoanalysis?

Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is defined as a set of psychological theories and therapeutic methods which have their origin in the work and theories of Sigmund Freud. The primary assumption of psychoanalysis is the belief that all people possess unconscious thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories. The aim of psychoanalysis therapy is

What might a Lacanian approach to psychotherapy actually look like?

Miller hopes to show us “what might a Lacanian approach to psychotherapy actually look like” (p.xvi), thereby making the strangeness of Lacan’s work familiar to American clinicians for whom it may be unheard of, unintelligible, or unimportant.