By: Virginia Blum and Anna Secor
Abstract: Authors’ note: Our contribution to this Lacanian issue of Psyart intends not to foreground a specifically Lacanian reading of our film examples, but rather to serve as an example of how Lacan’s highly topological theory may be integrated in the larger field of
psychoanalytic discourse, both because his topologies are inspired by Freud (indeed, Lacan refers to his entire endeavor as the exploration of a Freudian topology, le champ freudien), and because Lacan’s theory serves as a crucial source for fellow travelers such as Laplanche and Pontalis, whose work we do consult specifically in our essay. In other words, we think it is important to emphasize that the continued viability and importance of Lacanian theory depends on its ability to be integrated with the work of other theorists, rather than requiring that commentators subscribe to full-fledged “Lacanianism” as a school or doctrine. We think this is an unfortunate perception in our field, as it may actually restrict the use of Lacanian insights as a resource for a wide range of theoretical inquiry.
.