Introduction to Lacan

This February The Portal will be welcoming cultural theorist Todd McGowan for a full month exploring his latest book The Cambridge Introduction to Jacques Lacan.

Summary

Introduction to Lacan is a course led by Todd McGowan based on his textbook The Cambridge Introduction to Lacan. ​ The course aims to introduce the fundamentals of Lacanian psychoanalysis in our context, in Lacan’s life, his theoretical reception, and his core concepts. ​ The four sessions will isolate each of these dimensions inspired by the Cambridge text, and offer opportunities for extended critical and constructive engagement with McGowan after his presentations and discussions. ​ If you are looking for a Lacan 101 course, this is it.

Meet the Professor

Todd is committed to the idea that theoretical exploration of questions about existence, the psyche, and society can contribute in tangible ways to the creative process. His work often focus on major theoretical figures like Hegel, Marx, or Freud and delves into how their ideas manifest themselves in the most important films, television series, and other media texts. He has written books on comedy, capitalism, and various filmmakers. His work on psychoanalytic film theory has provided a new way of thinking about the relationship between the spectator and the filmic image as founded on desire rather than identification. The unifying thread of all these projects is the belief that theory has the ability to shed fresh light on what seems firmly established and that it can enrich both our lives and our creative endeavors.

The Book and Our Focus

The difficulty of Jacques Lacan's thought is notorious. The Cambridge Introduction to Jacques Lacan cuts through this difficulty to provide a clear, jargon-free approach to understanding it. The book describes Lacan's life, the context from which he emerged, and the reception of his theory. Readers will come away with an understanding of concepts such as jouissance, the objet a, and the big Other. The book frames Lacan's thought in the history of philosophy and explains it through jokes, films, and popular culture. In this light, Lacan becomes a thinker of philosophical importance in his own right, on a par with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Lacan's great contribution is the introduction of the unconscious into subjectivity, which results in a challenge to both the psychoanalytic establishment and to philosophers. The Cambridge Introduction to Jacques Lacan provides readers with a way of understanding the nature of Lacan's contribution.

Preparatory video

Schedule

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