Culture/Clinic 1: Applied Lacanian Psychoanalysis Paperback - 2013

From the publisher

Culture/Clinic 1 is the first in a new annual series that will spotlight interesting contemporary applications of the work of the renowned psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Each C/C book will revolve around a theme. This premier publication circles a controversial topic: there is no such thing as mental health; there are only symptoms that fit more or less well with prevailing discourses.

This volume considers the difference and proximity between culture and clinic. The first section delves into the main theme, "We're All Mad Here," with three interventions by Lacan, published for the first time in English. Jacques-Alain Miller elucidates Lacan's idea that "everyone is mad," demonstrating that it is key to understanding the later Lacan and to clinical practice. Maire Jaanus explores the distinction between happiness and desire. Pierre-Gilles Guguen brings the perspective of the clinical diagnosis to bear. Russell Grigg reassesses the Wolf Man, Sophie Marret-Maleval pays tribute to Lewis Carroll, and Jonathan D. Redmond constructs a psychoanalytic reading of the film Memento.

"The Analytic Experience" is the second section, in which three analysands reveal their own personal experiences with psychoanalysis. Following this is "Cultural Fictions," which engages with contemporary culture; included here are chapters on American television by Grard Wajcman and Laurent Goumarre. Last is "Speaker's Corner," which highlights original Lacanian-oriented research in psychoanalysis. This section begins with a new look at the Policlinic, which opened in Berlin in 1920 to make psychoanalysis more widely available to those who could not afford it and led to greater standardization of psychoanalytic training. "Speaker's Corner" ends with an interview with Ethan Watters, who discusses the culturally determined nature of mental illness and treatments. Both international and interdisciplinary, these essays provide a unique space for global dialogue between the findings of cultural studies and clinical practice.

Contributors: Heather Chamberlain; Laurent Goumarre; Russell Grigg, Deakin U; Pierre-Gilles Guguen, Paris 8 U; David Hafner; France Jaigu; Jacques Lacan; Sophie Marret-Maleval, Paris 8 U; Jonathan D. Redmond, Australian College of Applied Psychology; Laura Sokolowsky; Grard Wajcman, Paris 8 U.

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