Lacan's Legacy: New Publications and the State of Psychoanalysis

A review in artpress examines the current state of Jacques Lacan's legacy through several new publications. The article discusses two newly published volumes of Lacan's seminars—Le Séminaire, livre XIX … ou pire and Je parle aux murs—edited by Jacques-Alain Miller, alongside biographical works by Miller (Vie de Lacan), Élisabeth Roudinesco (Lacan, envers et contre tout), and Jean-Claude Milner (Clartés de tout, de Lacan à Marx, d'Aristote à Mao). The author reflects on the difficulty of reading Lacan and the tendency of media to avoid engaging with his texts, instead focusing on settling scores with "lacanisme." The review notes a broader cultural shift where psychoanalysis is being displaced by self-help literature in bookstores, including Gibert Joseph in the Latin Quarter. It critiques a recent radio course by a philosopher who dismissed Lacan based on his interest in James Joyce. The article also recounts artpress's own history with Lacan, including the 1982 cover featuring Gustave Courbet's L'Origine du monde, which was owned by Lacan. The review concludes that Lacan's work remains vital and that reading him is a difficult but worthwhile endeavor.