Jacque Lacan & Luce Irigaray

By: Danielle Feige & Rachel Smith ART 508: Readings in Art Theory Professor Marco Deyasi 03.12.09

Lacan Timeline
Born on April 13, 1901 in Paris, France 1920s 1920 begins to studied medicine. 1926 specializes in psychiatry and become active in the surrealist movement. 1928 he becomes interested in the study of paranoia. 1930s 1932 completes doctoral thesis entitled Paranoid Psychosis & its Relations to the Personality, which is adopted by the Surrealists. 1934 marries Marie-Louise Blondin, and had 3 children between 1934 and 1940. 1936 gives a lecture at the Congress of the International Psychoanalytical Association on the Mirror Phase, but was interrupted and not allowed to nish 1940s 1940-1944 serves in a military hospital in Paris during WWII and did not publish during this time. 1950s 1951 advocates the return to Freud. 1953 he develops the concepts of the 3 registers of human reality of the symbolic, the imaginary and the real. Formed the Societe Fransaise de Psychoanalyse after leaving the Societe Parisienne de Psychoanalyse. Married Sylvia Bataille and had a child. 1960s 1963 he was removed from the list of training analyst of the Societe Fransiase de Psychanalyse and forms Ecole Freudienne de Paris to write The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. 1967 introduces the pass where the listener or analyst decides if the patient passes. 1970s shifts his views from emphasizing the father to the sinthome 1980s 1980 he closes his school, Ecole Freudienne de Paris after 16 years. 1981 dies on September 9.

Lacans Inuences
Like any other professional aspiring to gain notability in any eld of study, Lacan borrowed ideas from those before him, modifying when necessary, to further support his studies.
Saussure: Borrowing Saussure's study of linguistics, Lacan is able to determine that the unconscious is structured like language. Levi-Strauss: Through the study of Structural Anthropology, Lacan was able to grasp the crucial transition from nature to culture. Freud: Lacan based much of his work on Freudian theories, and even called for the return of Freud.

Lacans Contributions to Psychoanalysis

Lacans career can be broken down into 4 stages: 1926-1953: Working in the area of conventional psychiatric work, which evolved to include psychoanalytic study, primarily that of the Mirror Phase. Lacan also presented his lecture series known as the Discourse of Rome, which later evolved into Ecrits. 1953-1963: Structural linguistics became more important to Lacan during this time in his life. He used linguistics to further elaborate and explain some Freudian studies. 1964-1973: Departing somewhat from his Freudian frame of study, this period marked the time when his research became known simply as Lacanian. It is during this time he placed the seat of neurosis within the Ego. 1974-1981: Lacan introduces The Three Registers of Human Reality.

The Three Orders of Human Reality

The Real exists before language, mental models, and cultural codes. The Imaginary is associated with the Mirror Stage, thus it is pre-symbolic and prelanguage. The Symbolic is an essential feature of the human transition from nature to culture.

The Mirror Phase

One of Lacans rst major contributions to Psychoanalysis. The Mirror Phase usually occurs in children between 6 and 18 months.

Recognition of self is the rst step in becoming aware of the ability to control ones body, of awakening the Ego, and the beginning of the transition from the prelinguistic to the linguistic stage of life.

Oedipus Complex & Oedipal Triangle

Oedipus Complex Oedipal Triangle: the mother, the child, and the Phallus. The Name-of-the-Father is bound up with the Symbolic and describes the castration of the father. The Phallus is the object of desire.

Desire
The Other being described as an object or being other than the individual with the desire. Objet (petit) a is the unattainable object of desire or other. Jouissance is an extreme paradoxical pleasure that may be too intense or have deadly consequences.

Mary Kelly, Post-Partum Document, Introduction, 1973

Irigaray Timeline
Born in 1932 in Belgium. 1950s 1954 Degree in Philosophy and Arts 1955 Writes doctoral thesis in Philosophy and Arts 1956 Concours D Aptitude in Higher Education 1960s 1961 Degree in Psychology 1962 Diploma in Psychopathology 1968 Doctorate in Linguistics 1970s 1971 Doctorate in Philosophy and Art Psychoanalytical Training 1974 expelled from Ecole Freudienne de Paris

Feminism
Feminism is rooted in gender inequality 3 Waves of Feminism Types of Feminism

Monica Sjoo God Giving Birth Oil painting, 1969

Psychoanalytic Feminism
Seek to nd a solution through Lacans return to Freud. This group focuses on gender inequality as it is based in certain childhood occurrences allowing men to be masculine and women to be feminine. Philosophers associated with this form of feminism include Julia Kristeva, Hlne Cixous and Luce Irigaray.

The Gaze
The Gaze occurs when a person becomes the object of another beings look or gaze. The Male Gaze is a term coined by Laura Mulvey where classical Hollywood cinema allows the viewer to hold a masculine stance with the female as the object of desire.

Sylvia Sleigh-The Turkish Bath (Oil, 1973)

criture Fminine
Developed by Hlne Cixous. Literally means, feminine writing. This form of writing takes on female perspective and experiences to move away from the typical patriarchal system.