Letters from Tomis

My Socialist Hall of Fame

During this chaotic era of vile rhetoric and manipulative tactics from our so-called bourgeois leaders, I am invigorated by the opportunity to reflect on Socialists, Revolutionaries, Philosophers, Guerrilla Leaders, Partisans, and Critical Theory titans, champions, and martyrs who paved the way for us—my own audacious “Socialism’s Hall of Fame.” These are my heroes and fore-bearers. Not all are perfect, or even fully admirable, but all contributed in some way to our future–either as icons to emulate, or as warnings to avoid in the future.

Jacques Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who significantly influenced psychoanalytic theory, philosophy, and critical theory. His work is particularly associated with structuralism and post-structuralism, blending Freudian psychoanalysis with linguistic and philosophical ideas from thinkers such as Ferdinand de Saussure and Martin Heidegger.

Lacan studied medicine and psychiatry at the University of Paris, where he became interested in psychoanalysis. He was deeply influenced by the works of Sigmund Freud, but he introduced his own theoretical innovations that challenged mainstream psychoanalytic thought. His famous “return to Freud” emphasized a structural and linguistic approach to the unconscious, drawing heavily on Saussure’s structural linguistics and Lévi-Strauss’s structural anthropology.

One of Lacan’s most significant contributions was his division of the psyche into three registers: the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real. He also introduced concepts such as the mirror stage, which describes the formation of the ego through identification with an external image, and the objet petit a, representing the unattainable object of desire. His theories on language, subjectivity, and desire have had a profound impact on fields such as literary criticism, film studies, feminist theory, and philosophy.

Throughout his career, Lacan was a controversial figure, known for his complex and often cryptic style. He was a charismatic lecturer, delivering seminars that attracted intellectuals from various disciplines, including philosophers Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida. In 1964, after a break with the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA), he founded the École Freudienne de Paris (EFP), which became a hub for his teachings.

Lacan’s work continues to be influential, particularly in Continental philosophy, psychoanalysis, and critical theory. His legacy is carried forward by scholars and clinicians who expand upon his insights into language, the unconscious, and the formation of subjectivity.

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Selected Bibliography

Primary Works by Lacan

• Écrits (1966) – A collection of Lacan’s key theoretical essays.

• The Seminar of Jacques Lacan (1953–1980) – A series of lectures given by Lacan, published posthumously in multiple volumes.

• The Seminar, Book I: Freud’s Papers on Technique (1953–1954)

• The Seminar, Book II: The Ego in Freud’s Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis (1954–1955)

• The Seminar, Book XI: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis (1964) – One of the most widely read volumes.

• The Seminar, Book XX: Encore (1972–1973) – Focuses on love, desire, and the feminine.

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Selected Secondary Sources on Lacan

• Bowie, Malcolm. Lacan (1991) – An accessible introduction to Lacan’s ideas.

• Evans, Dylan. An Introductory Dictionary of Lacanian Psychoanalysis (1996) – A reference guide to key Lacanian concepts.

• Fink, Bruce. The Lacanian Subject: Between Language and Jouissance (1995) – A clear and structured explanation of Lacan’s theories.

• Roudinesco, Élisabeth. Jacques Lacan & Co.: A History of Psychoanalysis in France, 1925–1985 (1990) – A historical account of Lacan’s influence in France.

• Zizek, Slavoj. Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture (1991) – An application of Lacanian theory to film and literature.