Synopsis

An elegant work about a complex character and his work, which avoids drawing the reader into the esoteric language of the specialist. Lacan - a founder of the Ecole Freudienne de Paris - was a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst whose multitude of writings showed him to be variously a guru, a master, a charlatan, and a surrealist artist. 120 pages.

Description

In this concise study, Alain Vanier offers a clear and informed reassessment of Lacan’s multitude of writings and ideas and how they revolutionized psychoanalysis. Specialists and newcomers alike will appreciate this examination of Lacan, a complex and influential figure who was by turns a master, a charlatan, and a surrealist artist.

“Unbecoming characterizations are legion in the attempts to define him. . . . With this synthesizing work one will better understand the essential contribution of Lacan’s work.”

–Cultures en Mouvement

“Vanier’s presentation clearly and succinctly reveals Lacan’s final effort to mold his theory in a formal language. . . . The very quickness of the presentation, while avoiding reductionism, renders vivid and exciting the landmarks of Lacan’s thought.”

—Etudes