Jacques Lacan

Analysis of “The Lottery” and “The Cask of Amontillado” Psychoanalytic theory is based on Freud’s idea that we can realise what does person’s thinks and feels if we look at what he or she perceives in his mind (Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930's-present)). Moreover, it follows that by analysing one of the author’s characters we are really analysing the author itself. We do not need to believe this as a whole. We believe based on experience and on some Psychological theories, that the main…

In Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, the reader is pulled in two directions as he or she must decide for himself or herself if the ghosts are simply projections of the governess’ unconscious or if they are truly haunting both Miles and Flora. These two differing viewpoints are a direct result of James’ use of ambiguity of the text. James’ story then changes from a simple ghost story about a governess, two ghosts, and two children to a story filled with ambiguity and questions, which contribute…

Laura Mulvey is the author of “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”. Where she uses psychoanalytic theories of Freud and Lacan, to critique Hollywood films. A very big argument that she pursues is Freud’s concept of “Scopophilia”. Which is defined as obtaining a sense of pleasure from observing someone else. Freud compares this to a form of sexual domination. Observing someone without their knowledge, is like possessing a kind of mastery over them. Mulvey takes this concept and compares is to…

So there was once a group of friends whose names were Nathan, Vern, Carter, and the short fat one Potato. Nathan, Vern, and Carter have been friends for a while as they just met Potato, Potato has always been the weird kid, (Verns perspective) our teacher explained that he moved from a small island called gimwarre but never told us where it's at, when we ask potato he just says “Gimwarre GIN BUFF MCBOOGY”. We always thought he was weird, but one day when we all went out camping and no adults…

II. Lacan On the individual level, the obsession for an identity, for cohesion, is a result of the subject’s development through the mirror stage of life. This stage begins in the early years of one’s life when the child encounters their reflection in the mirror. Upon this first glimpse of oneself from the outside, the child is given an image of her existence which is far more unified and cohesive than their own subjective experience. Instead of the confusing collection of limbs and body parts…

In Chaim Potok’s The Chosen, Danny Saunders questions the value of raising children in silence. Ironically, due to the fact that Danny’s father has imposed silence upon their relationship, Danny comes to realize how valuable talking can be to his personal growth. By the end of the story, he no longer believes in his father’s strict Hasidic views. The silence between Danny and Reb Saunders forces Danny to find other people to talk to. These people expose him to new ideas, ideas that his father…

the same concept in the writings of both Freud and Lacan? Does Freud’s “substitute for the woman’s penis” (Freud “Fetishism” 842) correlate with Lacan’s “privileged signifier?” (Lacan “Signification” 1187). In The Signification of the Phallus Lacan writes: “it is Freud’s discovery that gives to the signifier / signified opposition the full extent of implications,” crediting Freud with Lacan’s discovery of the phallus as a “privileged signifier” (Lacan “Signification” 1187). This begs the…

Critical Reflection #3: Jane Flax (2004) In Flax’s What Is the Subject? Review Essay on Psychoanalysis and Feminism in a Postcolonial Time (2004), she questions whether or not psychoanalytic theory, which is heavily centred on sex and gender identity, would be able to withstand the inclusion of other factors like race. She argues that both feminism and psychoanalysis has been treated expressed through a white, Western, middle class view and has done little to include issues around race and…

suffices to understand the mirror stage […] as an identification, in the full sense analysis gives to the term” (Lacan 76). He himself is defining this stage of development as a manner of identification. Mirriam-Webster defines that word as a “psychological orientation of the self in regard to something […] with a resulting feeling of close emotional association”. Is this not what Lacan is describing through his explanation of the mirror phase’s applicability to film and media as a whole? The…

MYTH AND FAIRYTALE PSYCHOANALYSIS OF Abstract This paper entitled ‘psychoanalytic theory on Naga-Mandala’ regards as an analysis of psychological side of the play. The psychoanalytic theory is applicable on Naga-Mandala as Girish Karnad disseminates facts about human life and psyche of humans in ancient Indian stories with the changing social codes and morals of modern life. Girish Karnad’s plays are pertinent to the psychological problems, dilemmas, and conflicts defied by the modern Indian…