Is it Possible to Represent the Sexual Relation in Cinema?

This article offers a reflection on the Lacanian theory of the representation of the sexual relation in film. It draws on the Lacanian logic of sexuation and its interpretation by Joan Copjec and Slavoj Žižek, analyzing what the author calls the cinematic non-relation, taking as an example Alfonso Cuarón’s film Y tu mamá también (2011). The article begins by returning to the work of Laura Mulvey, who was one of the first theorists to use psychoanalysis as a political weapon to challenge the phallocentric portrayal of women in Hollywood cinema. The author argues that Mulvey was correct in her conclusions, however not with regard to the production of a “ male gaze”, but rather with regard to the cinematographic construction of male desire, which is a constitutive element of patriarchal society. The author argues that it is not by creating an “alternative” cinema, but rather developing critical theory, itself, as a political weapon that we are able to challenge the dominant ideology. It is the practice of theory that politicizes cinema and the spectator, rather than the reverse

Esoteric Lacan

This review analyzes Philipp Valentini and Mahdi Tourage’s Esoteric Lacan, describing the work in detail and the book review author’s reflections on it. Esoteric Lacan is a one-of-a-kind dialogue between Lacan and various religio-cultural studies. The study takes an interdisciplinary and interlocutive approach to ideas Lacan conversed with and goes beyond a Eurocentric context. The collection spans the gamut from Gnosticism to Judaism to Kabbalistic musings to Afropessimism to the Lacanian discourses to the Borromean Knot and Sinthome to Ibn ‘Arabī and much more

The Narrative Structure of Transcripts and the Psychoanalytic Self

Psychoanalytic publications often contain the patient’s discourse in the form of transcripts in the context of a clinical vignette. These transcripts are productions that result from a set of operations and technologies put at play by the psychoanalytic author, in the process of transmission and dissemination of the psychoanalytic discipline. The focus of our study was to investigate these transcripts and to determine first, if their narrative structure was affected by four factors (diagnosis, psychoanalytic school, gender and source of the transcript), and second, to articulate what type of self was promoted by such narratives. For this purpose, 93 clinical vignettes with transcripts, published in a recognized psychoanalytic journal, were analyzed and the effects of those factors upon the narrative structure of these transcripts, studied. Anova´s results showed that the produced transcripts were affected in their narrative structure by the studied factors. At the same time, the studied factors tended to promote certain forms of selfhood over others through the transcripts. &nbsp

An Exploration of Multilinguals’ Voice-Hearing Experiences

Research on multilinguals’ voice-hearing, sometimes termed auditory-verbal hallucinations, is dominated by psychiatrists’ reports, skewing toward etic over emic approaches. Most also pre-dates developments in both voice-hearing and multilingualism research which highlight the complexity and dynamic nature of both phenomena and shows little cross-fertilisation between the two fields. This paper sits within this gap, presenting results from an in-depth interview study with ten UK-resident multilingual voice-hearers analysed via constructionist reflexive thematic analysis. A high proportion of participants described hearing voices they did not (fully) understand, challenging the dominance of the hypothesis that voice-hearing originates from misattributed inner speech. This set of experiences is presented along a spectrum with a complex array of associated emotions and subtle experiential distinctions. The relationship between language experiences, voices’ languages, and associated emotions was similarly complex and individual: participants described voices both reflecting and distorting or shifting the contexts, domains, interlocutors and feelings associated with their various languages. This has implications for therapeutic and peer support for those who are distressed by their voices, as well as opening up new avenues in voice-hearing phenomenology and aetiology

The Location of Anxiety

This essay elaborates an alternative to the Freudian and Lacanian conceptions of anxiety by tracing a middle ground between their accounts of linguistic acquisition and object-attachment. Both psychoanalysts overlook the importance of gestural expression while theorizing the eventual reliance on the symbolic with the onset of the Oedipal period. The essay turns to the folk psychology notion of the “theory of mind,” and a specific experiment called the “false belief task” to offer an alternative to how the encroachment of the symbolic is conceptualized in psychoanalytic history. Rather than framing the onset of the symbolic order as a swift entry into language, the essay proposes rethinking it as a process with a longer temporality and a more complex set of expressive behaviors (language, gesture, embodied expression). The comparative account of Freud and Lacan are supported with references to psychoanalysts and scholars of psychoanalysis such as Julia Kristeva, Elizabeth Grosz, and Donald Winnicott

Bewitching Oxymorons and Illusions of Harmony

Wittgenstein’s account of how language bewitches one’s intelligence is a singular achievement in the phenomenology of language. In section 426 of Philosophical Investigations Wittgenstein famously claims that the meaning of a word is to be found in the “actual use” of it, and he contrasts this understanding with the projection of a picture: A picture is conjured up which seems to fix the sense unambiguously. The actual use, compared with that suggested by the picture, seems like something muddied. ... [T]he form of expression we use seems to have been designed for a god, who knows what we cannot know; he sees the whole of each of those infinite series and he sees into human consciousness. (Wittgenstein, 1953, section 426

If Japan was a Person

The language memoir has informed a wealth of research on multilingualism. Polly Barton’s book 50 Sounds (2021), in which she narrates her experience of moving to Japan as part of the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme, is another example of autobiographical writing with rich insight into LX learning. The article examines Barton’s exploration of relationships in and with an LX and reflects on the importance of transferential phenomena in LX acquisition. Parallels between LX and L1 learning during infancy are also investigated. The findings seem relevant for a psychodynamic understanding of LX learning that takes object relations into account and will hopefully result in more research

Attachment Style, Mother Tongue Proficiency and Sociocultural Identity Amongst Second and Third Generation South Asian Immigrants in Hong Kong

This study examined the relationship between attachment style, mother tongue (L1) and dominant language (DL) proficiency, sociocultural identification with the culture of origin, and life satisfaction amongst second-generation and third-generation South Asian immigrants in Hong Kong. Participants included 69 women and 28 men who were permanent residents of South Asian ethnicity, and who had grown up in Hong Kong. The results identified significant associations between attachment insecurity and L1 and DL proficiency, as well as commitment to the origin culture. There was a positive association between life satisfaction and commitment levels to origin culture, indicating that high commitment levels to origin culture tend to coexist with high life satisfaction. This study adds to the existing literature with a focus on language skills, attachment and acculturation in immigrant populations. &nbsp

Traces of Unconscious in Language

The significance of language in clinical practice first emerged with the Anna O. case, a study by Freud. Lacan went on to support Freud’s findings. Through the Back to Freud movement, Lacan proved language to be crucial from theoretical and clinical perspectives. According to Lacan, the name of the father in the language used by the mother functions as a signifier for the mother’s desire. It corresponds to the first repression and enters the symbolic register. It refers to Lacan’s famous statement ‘Unconscious is structured like a language’. As such, in his theory, Lacan actively uses the concepts of signifier, signified, metaphor and metonymy and offers new interpretations of these concepts. Therefore, to study the unconscious, working with language is the main method. However, because of repression, the unconscious can only be studied through the traces it shows in language. In this article, traces of the unconscious in language are explained using clinical examples. Clarifications are provided as to how traces of the unconscious can be studied analytically

Television Series Review

Showtime’s Couples Therapy (2019-2021) has done something very few shows have done well-showcase real therapeutic treatment on television. The advent of “prestige tv” has led to a proliferation of programs which show the therapeutic relationship in hi definition between protagonists and their therapists, such as HBO’s The Sopranos (1999-2007), and the recently revived In Treatment (2008-2010, 2021). Prior to this the “real” therapy seen on television was limited to the so-called “reality television” trend that gave us the wildly popular Intervention on A&E (2005-ongoing) and the seedier Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew (2008-2012)