Analyzed by Lacan
A Personal Account
Published on 2. November 2023
Book
Hardback
144 pages
979-8-7651-0620-4 (ISBN)
Description
Analyzed by Lacan brings together the first English translations of Why Lacan, Betty Milan's memoir of her analysis with Lacan in the 1970s, and her play, Goodbye Doctor, inspired by her experience.
Why Lacan provides a unique and valuable perspective on how Lacan worked as psychoanalyst as well as his approach to psychoanalytic theory. Milan's testimony shows that Lacan's method of working was based on the idea that the traditional way of interpreting provoked resistance.
Prior to Why Lacan, Milan wrote a play, Goodbye Doctor, based on her experience as Lacan's patient. The play is structured around the sessions of Seriema with the Doctor. Through the analysis, Seriema discovers why she cannot give birth, namely, an unconscious desire to satisfy the will of her father who didn't authorize her to conceive. She ceases to be the victim of her unconscious, grasps the possibility of choosing a father for her child and thus becoming a mother. Goodbye Doctor has been adapted into a film, Adieu Lacan, by the director Richard Ledes.
Analyzed by Lacan features an Introduction by Milan to both works as well as a new interview with Mari Ruti about her writing and Lacan.
Why Lacan provides a unique and valuable perspective on how Lacan worked as psychoanalyst as well as his approach to psychoanalytic theory. Milan's testimony shows that Lacan's method of working was based on the idea that the traditional way of interpreting provoked resistance.
Prior to Why Lacan, Milan wrote a play, Goodbye Doctor, based on her experience as Lacan's patient. The play is structured around the sessions of Seriema with the Doctor. Through the analysis, Seriema discovers why she cannot give birth, namely, an unconscious desire to satisfy the will of her father who didn't authorize her to conceive. She ceases to be the victim of her unconscious, grasps the possibility of choosing a father for her child and thus becoming a mother. Goodbye Doctor has been adapted into a film, Adieu Lacan, by the director Richard Ledes.
Analyzed by Lacan features an Introduction by Milan to both works as well as a new interview with Mari Ruti about her writing and Lacan.
Reviews / Votes
Betty Milan's portrait of Lacan destroys the cliches collected about him like his antics and opaque riddles. Using both memoir and theatrical staging, Milan defines the conditions for a successful psychoanalysis, that exercise in mutual trust and openness. In the end, Lacan appears as wise but not infallible, a human being like us all, yet determined to let the truth speak. * Jean-Michel Rabate, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania, USA, and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences * It is astonishing and almost miraculous that Milan has succeeded to evoke her analysis with Lacan with such clarity and precision. She has managed to turn it almost into a thriller. I read the book with curiosity, interest, and pleasure. It responds to all the questions that the non-initiated might have about the mysterious analytic sessions that Lacan conducted. In addition, as a writer, Milan transforms her analytic testimony into a literary feat. * Michele Sarde, Georgetown University, USA * Milan is telling her own story, and for her analysis was revelatory. It changed her life and produced the person she has become ... Analyzed by Lacan is the first time Milan has written factually about her experiences with Lacan. * The Times Literary Supplement * A stunning introduction to Lacan's theoretical and clinical work. How better to appreciate the thinking and practice of this exceedingly important theoretician and clinician than to bear witness to an insider's experience, to feel it almost as one's own? Captivating reading not only by a former analysand but by a seasoned writer who truly knows her way around words. * Lois Oppenheim, Montclair State University, USA *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
2 b&w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 146 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
300 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-7651-0620-4 (9798765106204)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Betty Milan is the author of novels, essays, plays, and cronicas that have been published in Brazil, France, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, and China. She has also written for Brazil's leading newspapers and magazines, including the news daily Folha de S.Paulo, Veja magazine, and Veja.com. Before turning to writing, she earned her medical degree at the University of Sao Paulo and trained in psychoanalysis with Jacques Lacan in France, where she served as his assistant at the Department of Psychoanalysis, University of Paris 8.
Content
Preface
Translation from French by Chris Vanderwees
1. Why Lacan (a memoir)
Translation from French by Chris Vanderwees
I. Preliminaries
II. I want to do an analysis
III. I want to be a mother
2. Goodbye Doctor (a play)
Translation from Portuguese by Cliff Landers
3. An Interview with Mari Ruti
Translation from French by Chris Vanderwees
Index
Translation from French by Chris Vanderwees
1. Why Lacan (a memoir)
Translation from French by Chris Vanderwees
I. Preliminaries
II. I want to do an analysis
III. I want to be a mother
2. Goodbye Doctor (a play)
Translation from Portuguese by Cliff Landers
3. An Interview with Mari Ruti
Translation from French by Chris Vanderwees
Index