Between Language and Jouissance

A lucid guide through the labyrinth of Lacanian theory

This book provides an illuminating account of the theory of subjectivity found in the work of Jacques Lacan. Guiding readers through many facets of Lacanian theory, Bruce Fink unpacks such central notions as the Other, object a, the unconscious as structured like a language, alienation and separation, the paternal metaphor, jouissance, and sexual difference. He demonstrates that, against the tide of post-structuralist thinkers who proclaim “the death of the subject,” Lacan explores what it means to come into being as a subject in its ethical and ontological dimensions. Presenting Lacan’s thought in the context of his clinical preoccupations, The Lacanian Subject offers one of the most balanced, sophisticated, and penetrating views of Lacanian psychoanalysis available.