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Loading... Literature and Psychoanalysis: The Question of Reading: Otherwiseby Shoshana Felman
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It remains the best work on literature and psychoanalysis, essential reading for anyone interested in pursuing the relations between the two or wanting to know about the possible effects of the French re-reading of Freud for a reading of literature.--'The Year's Work in English Studies.' Even the strictest clinical focus could profit from these essays, since there is always more to be learned about the complexities of language and narrative form, the colors and shapes in the language of the self struggling free of its silences.--'Modern Psychoanalysis No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)801.92Literature By Topic Literary Theory Psychoanalytic CriticismLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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As with many collections about Lacan from this time period, there is plenty of dross here that is not very interesting to today's reader. However, there are a number of historical texts available in this edition that are useful for tracing the interpretation and understanding of Lacan in Anglophone circles.
The first of these is Shoshana Felman's introduction, which nicely summarizes the tension between the discourses of literature and psychoanalysis. Also of interest is her long chapter on Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, although I would suggest that it is better to read it as it (re)appears in her book [b:Writing and Madness: Literature/Philosophy/Psychoanalysis|187416|Writing and Madness Literature/Philosophy/Psychoanalysis|Shoshana Felman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348203277s/187416.jpg|181169].
Another piece that I really liked was Peter Brooks's essay on narrative, which he theorizes using Beyond the Pleasure Principle. This essay is innovative and insightful, and one of the collection's highlights.
Two other pieces are important here, not because they are of lasting value, but because they have been influential touchstones in Lacanian criticism. First, there is Fredric Jameson's long essay that attempts to reconcile Lacan with Marxism, and which (to me, anyway) just comes across as nonsense. The real is the same thing as history? I don't think so! Second, there is Barbara Johnson's look at the contradictions of Derrida's reading of Lacan, which makes some good points but seems pretentious and outdated from today's perspective.
All in all, this is a book that, while it has lost a lot of resonance, remains historically interesting for readers of Lacanian criticism. ( )