What do you think?
Rate this book
Reading Seminars I and II: Lacan's Return to Freud
In this collection of essays, Lacan's early work is first discussed systematically by focusing on his two earliest Freud's Papers on Technique and The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis. These essays, by some of the finest analysts and writers in the Lacanian psychoanalytic world in Paris today, carefully lay out the background and development of Lacan's thought. In Part I, Jacques-Alain Miller spells out the philosophical and psychiatric origins of Lacan's work in great detail. In Parts II, III, and IV, Colette Soler, Eric Laurent, and others explain in the clearest of fashions the highly influential conceptualization Lacan introduces with the terms "symbolic" "imaginary" and "real" Part V provides the first sustained account in English to date of Lacan's reformulation of psychoanalytic diagnostic categories-neurosis, perversion, psychosis, and their subcategories-their theoretical foundations, and clinical applications (ample case material is provided here)
- GenresPsychoanalysisTheory
460 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
6 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 22, 2019
“If you are looking for a debasement of humanity, read Lacan.” – Miller
I am, so I do. And I read others’ readings, as witness this. Miller’s introductory lectures provide a comprehensive overview—bordering on the facile, but maybe he just makes it look easy—of Lacan’s trajectory prior to 1953, retracing the movement from a hermeneutics of the Imaginary to a philosophically supple inflection of structuralism. With the exception of “On Perversion” (which is actually a studious condensation of two lectures) all of Miller’s contributions here are surprisingly approachable, non-technical commentaries, emphasizing historical context and connections rather than arcane exegesis. Miller often appears to be intent on paving a bowdlerized path to understanding his polished version of Lacan…
It is worth keeping in mind throughout this collection that most of the texts are actually speeches by French analysts delivered in English during a conference aimed at introducing Lacan to the English.
Soler’s four contributions opening the Symbolic section are commendably lucid summaries, helping orient newcomers and establish the requisites for conversant Lacanese. Nothing too strenuous if you’ve done the heavy lifting, but good exercise nonetheless. At this point I still appreciate reiterations by others of things I’m supposed to know. Laurent’s section on Oedipus takes a more mathematical approach to the myth, something I’m less adept with, hence the notion of isolating and denuding the combinatory of meaning itself was given a new valence for me. He outlines the momentous points of traversing the fantasy, undertaking subjective destitution, and finally the liberation of the purely syntactic elements of meaning. Fink’s entry, “The Subject and the Other’s Desire,” hits all the high notes from a familiar yet difficult song and in such a mellifluous voice I’m grateful for the chance to hear new resonances. Especially noteworthy is his trenchant recounting of the emergence of $, S1, S2, and objet a from the nascent subject’s attempts to come to grips with the phallus as the signifier of the mOther’s desire. As you can tell, it is not specific to Seminars I and II, in fact the discussion of alienation and separation leans heavily on S. XI and Fink skillfully ranges all across Lacan’s oeuvre. It is the second best piece in the collection.
As for the Imaginary section, the contributions by Koehler and Brousse are probably the most germane to the early Seminars, treating as they do the questions of psychoanalytical technique (Klein with and/or vs. Lacan, and the transference) and the dialectic of language (Symbolic) and ego (Imaginary identifications). My thoroughgoing political solidarity with the aim of Feldstein’s essay “The Mirror of Manufactured Cultural Relations” is severely hampered by his atrocious writing. It’s a fucking trainwreck of grandiloquent Academicker-than-thou. From the pivot point of the mirror stage he travels far and wide, taking little more than the name of Lacan with him. It is by no means a worthless writing, however: there are insightful aspects under the bombast. Here is the gist:
“... such calibrated rewards and punishments encourage an aggressive "paranoid symptomatology" invested with the self-reflexive ability to read one's mind and erase from it (into the repressed recesses of unconscious oblivion) thoughts that have been censored. Unlike the ideal ego, the ego-ideal is associated less with the image in the mirror than with the censorious, self-observing voice of conscience... It is in the transition of influence from the intrapsychic ideal ego to the intersubjective ego-ideal that the paranoia of self-punishment is yielded as a result of the superimposition of the latter over the image of the former.”
Regarding the Real, Fink wryly tackles Lacan’s notoriously opaque “Postface to ‘The Purloined Letter’” and, in the end, makes it something like clearer. Miller & Co. enact a scanded encounter of “Kant w/ Sade.”
In between, Ellie Ragland steals the show. Her work here is simply astounding, so relentlessly dense and fascinating it made me wonder if I’d ever read Lacan at all. Not only the best in this collection, but easily among the best instances of Lacanian commentary. I’m going to truncate this review so I can read it again as soon as possible.
Soler’s text on “Hysteria and Obsession” is a useful delineation for clinical treatment, or general awareness for non-practitioners, emphasizing their respective comportments with regard to desire and Others. As aforementioned, Miller’s “On Perversion” is a pedagogic abbreviation on the cusp of the canonical. The "Other Texts” are an array of odds and ends. By definition, they don’t belong here since they are not readings of S. I & II, but there is plenty to be gleaned by newcomers and appreciated by initiates. I’m going to read Ragland (again) now and so should you.
I am, so I do. And I read others’ readings, as witness this. Miller’s introductory lectures provide a comprehensive overview—bordering on the facile, but maybe he just makes it look easy—of Lacan’s trajectory prior to 1953, retracing the movement from a hermeneutics of the Imaginary to a philosophically supple inflection of structuralism. With the exception of “On Perversion” (which is actually a studious condensation of two lectures) all of Miller’s contributions here are surprisingly approachable, non-technical commentaries, emphasizing historical context and connections rather than arcane exegesis. Miller often appears to be intent on paving a bowdlerized path to understanding his polished version of Lacan…
It is worth keeping in mind throughout this collection that most of the texts are actually speeches by French analysts delivered in English during a conference aimed at introducing Lacan to the English.
Soler’s four contributions opening the Symbolic section are commendably lucid summaries, helping orient newcomers and establish the requisites for conversant Lacanese. Nothing too strenuous if you’ve done the heavy lifting, but good exercise nonetheless. At this point I still appreciate reiterations by others of things I’m supposed to know. Laurent’s section on Oedipus takes a more mathematical approach to the myth, something I’m less adept with, hence the notion of isolating and denuding the combinatory of meaning itself was given a new valence for me. He outlines the momentous points of traversing the fantasy, undertaking subjective destitution, and finally the liberation of the purely syntactic elements of meaning. Fink’s entry, “The Subject and the Other’s Desire,” hits all the high notes from a familiar yet difficult song and in such a mellifluous voice I’m grateful for the chance to hear new resonances. Especially noteworthy is his trenchant recounting of the emergence of $, S1, S2, and objet a from the nascent subject’s attempts to come to grips with the phallus as the signifier of the mOther’s desire. As you can tell, it is not specific to Seminars I and II, in fact the discussion of alienation and separation leans heavily on S. XI and Fink skillfully ranges all across Lacan’s oeuvre. It is the second best piece in the collection.
As for the Imaginary section, the contributions by Koehler and Brousse are probably the most germane to the early Seminars, treating as they do the questions of psychoanalytical technique (Klein with and/or vs. Lacan, and the transference) and the dialectic of language (Symbolic) and ego (Imaginary identifications). My thoroughgoing political solidarity with the aim of Feldstein’s essay “The Mirror of Manufactured Cultural Relations” is severely hampered by his atrocious writing. It’s a fucking trainwreck of grandiloquent Academicker-than-thou. From the pivot point of the mirror stage he travels far and wide, taking little more than the name of Lacan with him. It is by no means a worthless writing, however: there are insightful aspects under the bombast. Here is the gist:
“... such calibrated rewards and punishments encourage an aggressive "paranoid symptomatology" invested with the self-reflexive ability to read one's mind and erase from it (into the repressed recesses of unconscious oblivion) thoughts that have been censored. Unlike the ideal ego, the ego-ideal is associated less with the image in the mirror than with the censorious, self-observing voice of conscience... It is in the transition of influence from the intrapsychic ideal ego to the intersubjective ego-ideal that the paranoia of self-punishment is yielded as a result of the superimposition of the latter over the image of the former.”
Regarding the Real, Fink wryly tackles Lacan’s notoriously opaque “Postface to ‘The Purloined Letter’” and, in the end, makes it something like clearer. Miller & Co. enact a scanded encounter of “Kant w/ Sade.”
In between, Ellie Ragland steals the show. Her work here is simply astounding, so relentlessly dense and fascinating it made me wonder if I’d ever read Lacan at all. Not only the best in this collection, but easily among the best instances of Lacanian commentary. I’m going to truncate this review so I can read it again as soon as possible.
Soler’s text on “Hysteria and Obsession” is a useful delineation for clinical treatment, or general awareness for non-practitioners, emphasizing their respective comportments with regard to desire and Others. As aforementioned, Miller’s “On Perversion” is a pedagogic abbreviation on the cusp of the canonical. The "Other Texts” are an array of odds and ends. By definition, they don’t belong here since they are not readings of S. I & II, but there is plenty to be gleaned by newcomers and appreciated by initiates. I’m going to read Ragland (again) now and so should you.
July 18, 2018
Having been severely disappointed with Reading Seminar XI: Lacan's Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, I approached this volume with some trepidation. I needn't have worried: Seminars I and II are far more accessible than XI, and so the commentators did a much better job this time around.
As in the other book, Jacques-Alain Miller opens the proceedings, and his self-styled "Pilgrim's Progress" of Lacan's development from out of phenomenology and existentialism is, once again, illuminating.
The second section of the book, under the title "Symbolic," has some very dull commentary by Colette Soler, Éric Laurent, and Bruce Fink, but ends with a nice piece by Anne Dunand, in which she considers the interplay between Lacan and Claude Lévi-Strauss.
The third section, "Imaginary," is only slightly less dull. I particularly dislike the final essay in this section by Richard Feldstein, which uses Lacan to rail against the tactics of the American right. While I agree with him politically, I think this kind of analysis is generally trite and misses the point at a deeper level.
The fourth section, "Real," is easily the book's strongest section. Fink is blandly awful as usual in his reading of Lacan and Poe, but Ellie Ragland's essay on the real is difficult albeit rewarding, and the extended discussion with Miller (and Žižek) about "Kant avec Sade" is really good.
The fifth section, "Clinical Perspectives," is of no interest to anyone. Surely it could have been cut to save printing costs. Seriously.
The sixth section, "Other Texts," does not contain much of interest. Maire Jaanus's essay on hatred threatens to break into something more interesting - why, oh why, didn't he revisit the joys of evil discussed by Miller and Žižek in their chapter? - but never quite finds its feet, while Žižek connects Lacan and Hegel in a way that starts out interestingly, but also falters by becoming too close too the latter, obscuring how exactly these two are "with" each other.
There is a seventh section, a translation from the Écrits, but since the publication of the complete Écrits, it is no longer necessary.
Overall, this collection has some good chapters, but it hardly lives up to the insights of the original material.
As in the other book, Jacques-Alain Miller opens the proceedings, and his self-styled "Pilgrim's Progress" of Lacan's development from out of phenomenology and existentialism is, once again, illuminating.
The second section of the book, under the title "Symbolic," has some very dull commentary by Colette Soler, Éric Laurent, and Bruce Fink, but ends with a nice piece by Anne Dunand, in which she considers the interplay between Lacan and Claude Lévi-Strauss.
The third section, "Imaginary," is only slightly less dull. I particularly dislike the final essay in this section by Richard Feldstein, which uses Lacan to rail against the tactics of the American right. While I agree with him politically, I think this kind of analysis is generally trite and misses the point at a deeper level.
The fourth section, "Real," is easily the book's strongest section. Fink is blandly awful as usual in his reading of Lacan and Poe, but Ellie Ragland's essay on the real is difficult albeit rewarding, and the extended discussion with Miller (and Žižek) about "Kant avec Sade" is really good.
The fifth section, "Clinical Perspectives," is of no interest to anyone. Surely it could have been cut to save printing costs. Seriously.
The sixth section, "Other Texts," does not contain much of interest. Maire Jaanus's essay on hatred threatens to break into something more interesting - why, oh why, didn't he revisit the joys of evil discussed by Miller and Žižek in their chapter? - but never quite finds its feet, while Žižek connects Lacan and Hegel in a way that starts out interestingly, but also falters by becoming too close too the latter, obscuring how exactly these two are "with" each other.
There is a seventh section, a translation from the Écrits, but since the publication of the complete Écrits, it is no longer necessary.
Overall, this collection has some good chapters, but it hardly lives up to the insights of the original material.
February 20, 2024
I think this was a pretty excellent collection. I skimmed the last few essays but overall I found the book incredibly helpful in getting a firmer grasp of Lacanian thought. I take off a star for just two reasons. Firstly, just a few essays didn’t hit for me or added to my confusion at times. The second and more important issue with the book is that the book really isn’t a deep dive into Seminars I and II. Much of the essays actually address or focus on points Lacan makes in later seminars, and since I’ve only read Seminars I and II, I had trouble following along or lost sight of the stakes of Lacan’s return to Freud. I will definitely be rereading many of these though. Looking forward to Seminar III!
January 15, 2022
A mixed bag. Miller's introduction is indispensable, as are Soler's presentations on the symbolic register. I think Fink's contributions here are largely lifted from his books. Feldstein's bit on the mirror of manufactured cultural relations is probably the most interesting and creative bit of theory here
November 1, 2025
"You are in analysis as soon as you no longer know what words mean."
A lot of these lectures barely mention Seminars I and II, which was kind of disappointing, but still there is plenty of interesting material, especially the lucid lectures by Jacques-Alain Miller and Colette Soler. I'm going to look into reading some more Soler.
In the early 50s Lacan was still emphasizing how American analysts had turned psychoanalysis upside down by privileging the ego and settling on what he considered the imaginary axis, when the thing to do was produce unexpected meaning by shifting to the symbolic axis. Hence the "return" to especially the early Freud who wrote about dreams, jokes and slips, clearly exploring the symbolic. For these analysts lecturing in the 90s, Lacan's later ideas about jouissance, object a, traversing the fantasy, etc., probably seemed more relevant. It has been said that Lacan is not really "Lacan" until Seminar XI.
A lot of these lectures barely mention Seminars I and II, which was kind of disappointing, but still there is plenty of interesting material, especially the lucid lectures by Jacques-Alain Miller and Colette Soler. I'm going to look into reading some more Soler.
In the early 50s Lacan was still emphasizing how American analysts had turned psychoanalysis upside down by privileging the ego and settling on what he considered the imaginary axis, when the thing to do was produce unexpected meaning by shifting to the symbolic axis. Hence the "return" to especially the early Freud who wrote about dreams, jokes and slips, clearly exploring the symbolic. For these analysts lecturing in the 90s, Lacan's later ideas about jouissance, object a, traversing the fantasy, etc., probably seemed more relevant. It has been said that Lacan is not really "Lacan" until Seminar XI.
November 28, 2008
Gripping! A real page turner! In all seriousness, this is an excellent group of essays that not only address Seminars I and II but also discuss Lacan's early work in relation to his later ideas. I am recommending it to students as they begin to read Lacan's seminars. That means you, Travis.
September 15, 2008
Interesting but oh so technical.
January 9, 2009
Just don't.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews