IFS-002 | What are We Going to Be Covering?
In this episode/session of InForm: Seminar, I introduce what I'll be covering in the first season --Lacan's Seminar XI - The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. I talk about why I picked this, about the difficulty of reading Lacan, and how I plan to offer up my reading of this text.
Notes:
- I'm offering a reading, my reading, not the reading of Seminar XI.
- Lacan's seminar was originally spoken. It was not a written text. So, even though I'm reading a written text, this writing is based on someone speaking extemporaneously. I think this makes it different than a text that someone wrote.
- When Lacan was teaching (i.e., speaking extemporaneously) about psychoanalysis, he would not always talk in a clear line. Instead, he would start making one point and then zig and zag. He would bring up something that occurred to him as he spoke, and he would start to explore "side streets" that branched off from the central thought he had started from.
- Thus, in each session of Lacan's seminar, there are usually several paths (i.e., trains of thoughts) that can be followed.
- In my reading, I've tried to isolate (extract) what I believe is the main train of thought in each section. I try to highlight what I think is the main thought or point and then offer some commentary on it.
- This means I leave lots of interesting content un-highlighted and un-explored.
- What I believe is the main point of a session of Seminar XI is not what another reader (perhaps you) would see as the main point. Be that as it may, it is the choice I made. I sincerely hope that my reading (and the effort to put that reading into writing here) is of use to you.
