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The Self and Its Pleasures: Bataille, Lacan, and the History of the Decentered Subject
Why was it France that spawned the radical post-structuralist rejection of the humanist concept of 'man' as a rational, knowing subject? In this innovative intellectual & cultural history, Carolyn J. Dean sheds new light on the origins of post-structuralist thought, paying particular attention to the reinterpretation of the self by Jacques Lacan, Georges Bataille, and other French thinkers.
To explain the genesis of the new concept of the self, Dean examines an array of evidence from medical texts to literary works. She focuses on the criminal as a metaphor for an other self that the mental hygiene movement, French psychoanalysts, and the surrealists sought to rescue.
By exploring their construction so-called female crimes in particular, she traces how those movements, aimed at self-renewal, in fact laid the foundation for the undoing of identity. Dean considers, finally, how that dialectic of renewal and loss shaped the self that was theorized in different ways by Bataille and Lacan.
To explain the genesis of the new concept of the self, Dean examines an array of evidence from medical texts to literary works. She focuses on the criminal as a metaphor for an other self that the mental hygiene movement, French psychoanalysts, and the surrealists sought to rescue.
By exploring their construction so-called female crimes in particular, she traces how those movements, aimed at self-renewal, in fact laid the foundation for the undoing of identity. Dean considers, finally, how that dialectic of renewal and loss shaped the self that was theorized in different ways by Bataille and Lacan.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 26, 2018
A bit of a strange book. Towards the end of the book Dean suggests that the legacy of Bataille and Lacan (at least vis-a-vis subject[ivity[) is "that it might be possible to be for and against dissolution [of the self] at the same time." I found myself often confused on what the book was actually arguing for: large portions are historical sections (like in 1893 this psychiatrist thought this about whatever) which admittedly is interesting. It was never a dull read - every subject Dean touches upon I have an interest in some way: the boundaries between sanity/insanity, gender, mental illness, de Sade (more on that later), and surrealism and Bataille. I don't really know what her overall argument is, even after reading the introduction. Bataille also hardly features in this. There are three parts, part 1 deals with lacan (extensive history of sanity/insanity, feminity/gender otherness, schizophrenia/psychosis;, interpretations, lacan's intepretation - his ideas on psychosis are interesting). part three has two chapters, the first one is mostly about the surrealists view on the self and the second is bataille. and then part two is like 80 pages about de Sade? I know there is a link between bataille-lacan-de sade but I just thought it was strange, the title of the book should really include de Sade in it.
Honestly I was expecting Bataille and Lacan's theories of subjectivities, maybe critiques against it, the history surrounding how they came to their ideas. Instead I got kind of a disjointed book about a bunch of different things that aren't quite disparate or heterogeneous but really blur the lines of being a random collection of associated things. But still, I found each thing talked about interesting and it was never boring. There's quite a bit of psychoanalytic talk so be familiar with basic Freud. I think she explains most of the Lacan.
Honestly I was expecting Bataille and Lacan's theories of subjectivities, maybe critiques against it, the history surrounding how they came to their ideas. Instead I got kind of a disjointed book about a bunch of different things that aren't quite disparate or heterogeneous but really blur the lines of being a random collection of associated things. But still, I found each thing talked about interesting and it was never boring. There's quite a bit of psychoanalytic talk so be familiar with basic Freud. I think she explains most of the Lacan.
December 2, 2024
This was a surprising book. This was a reasonably #randomread for me. I am currently working on a project on academic emotions - and this popped up in the search.
At its clearest, this is a book about how "repressed otherness became the structuring principle of male subjectivity." Yes, the book is dominated by Bataille and Lacan, probing the legal and medical status of the irrational.
Where I was surprised and intrigued was through the discussion of "female deviance," and how misogyny is revealed through monsters, vampires, serial killers and the imagined victimization of men.
A fascinating binary opposition is constructed: "pleasure and reality."
Intriguing.
While I may disagree with the arguments - and the focus on Bataille and Lacan - this was a fascinating, well researched and well argued book.
At its clearest, this is a book about how "repressed otherness became the structuring principle of male subjectivity." Yes, the book is dominated by Bataille and Lacan, probing the legal and medical status of the irrational.
Where I was surprised and intrigued was through the discussion of "female deviance," and how misogyny is revealed through monsters, vampires, serial killers and the imagined victimization of men.
A fascinating binary opposition is constructed: "pleasure and reality."
Intriguing.
While I may disagree with the arguments - and the focus on Bataille and Lacan - this was a fascinating, well researched and well argued book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews