Owens, C. (2009) Lacan for Critics!, Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 7, pp. 1-4 http !!www."isco#rse#nit.co$!arcp!7.

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L%C%& 'O( C()*)C+! Caro, Owens

The ARCP will be about Lacan! So its real! This little remark was a typical response to the idea for ARCP ! An idea! which be"an in #ublin in $ctober %&&'! o(er a "ood supper and se(eral "lasses of wine when a couple of critical psycholo"ists )not so secretly Lacanian!*+ and ,a-ushi"e Shin"u came to parlay with some .rish Lacanian psychoanalysts at a seminar/ Like all truly "ood ideas 0 as opposed to those other ideas for pro1ects which ne(er really "et "oin" and seem to take a lifetime to ne(er "et done 0 once the date was set for its publication! e(eryone who was approached to write somethin" for this issue was e2cited and enthusiastic/ Acceptin" the in(itation to edit this issue of ARCP has pro(ided me with terrific fun o(er the past couple of years as it has allowed me to (enture outside of the strictly 3clinical4 and re0en"a"e with 3the critical4/ . take this opportunity now to warmly thank .an Parker for the in(itation! and for his passionate support of the pro1ect throu"hout/ . went critical )for the first time+ back in the early *55&4s with Re2 Stainton Ro"ers %/ The "roup of doctoral students and post0doctoral "raduates under Re24s particular mischie(ous and misbeha(in" scholarship became 36eryl Curt47/ As Critical Psycholo"ists we were collecti(ely and indi(idually )sic+ suspicious of any attempts to pri(ile"e sin"ulari-in" discourses which would claim in some way to re0present the sub1ect of psycholo"y/ Psychoanalysis! then! came under our scrutiny as 1ust one of those 3knowled"ed0 into0bein"4 de(ices that storied the sub1ect in a particular way and with specific effects/ At that time! nobody was really readin" Lacan in a way that would predict that a specifically Lacanian psychoanalysis would come into 8uestion as a specifically useful analytic for the critical psycholo"ist/ The inter(enin" years ha(e inde2ed an e(er "rowin" interest in Lacanian studies and applications of Lacanian theory across the disciplines/ This (olume of ARCP is timely as it brin"s to"ether critical thinkers! researchers! and psychoanalysts from a ran"e of disciplines and e(en from outside the disciplines and in(ites them to consider somethin" of the followin" remit in their contributions9
* %*

. refer here to a seminar or"anised by APP. )the Association for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in .reland+ at which .an Parker! Chris #unker and ,a-ushi"e Shin"u were in(ited to speak/ Their papers were subse8uently published in The Letter Lacanian Perspectives on Psychoanalysis! Summer! %&&:/ )Cf/ ./ Parker! 3Losin" Psychoanalysis in Translation; ,/ Shin"u! 3<apanese =yth! 6uddhist Le"end! and the Structural Analysis of Clinical #reams in Relation to the =ournin" Process; C/ #unker! 3Comments on the Presentations "i(en by .an Parker and ,a-ushi"e Shin"u+/ >ollowin" Re24s death! an article dedicated to his contribution to critical psycholo"y was published in ARCP */ Cf/ 6/ Curt! 3Re2 Stainton Ro"ers! *5?%0*5559 A Celebration of his Contribution to Critical Psycholo"y4! Annual Review of Critical Psychology! *! http9@@www/discourseunit/com@arcp@*@htm/ 3 The name assumed by the "roup as it was (ariously embodied o(er the course of se(eral years/ Cf/ 6/ Curt/ )*55?+ Textuality and Tectonics: Troubling ocial and Psychological cience / 6uckin"ham9 $pen Ani(ersity Press/ *

Owens, C. (2009) Lacan for Critics!, Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 7, pp. 1-4 http !!www."isco#rse#nit.co$!arcp!7.ht$

Bhat )if anythin"+ does Lacanian psychoanalysis offer to Critical Psycholo"yC .s it useful for critical thinkin" and researchC .s it problematicC .s it commensurate with it or crucially incompatibleC .s it more trouble than it is worthC Dow do we tackle the problemsC Bhy should we be botheredC Bhat are the ontolo"ical difficulties associated with importin" concepts from another discipline and practiceC Bhat are the political implications of brin"in" psychoanalysis back into critical psycholo"yC This remit o(er the months and years became "radually whittled down to 3Lacan and the Critical4/ These two si"nifiers became the only interestin" ones! .nterestin"ly these two to"ether nicely o(erdetermined the pro1ect! >or critical psycholo"y is not of course the only )un+discipline)d+ to ha(e applied a Lacanian lens in some of its "a-es/ Those whose work is published here! who are influenced in their work 0 whether as clinicians workin" with psychosis! or researchers of the social 0 by 3the critical4 (ariously understood! ha(e each deliberated o(er their choice of 3why LacanC4/ .ndeed! it is a 8uestion . ha(e found myself askin" in some critical conte2ts o(er the past couple of years when listenin" to tortured accounts of 3applied Lacan4! Bhy LacanC Bhat is it you are hopin" to "et from Lacan that you cannot "et elsewhereC Bhy do you need this bit of LacanC Bould a bit of somethin"@someone else ha(e ser(ed you 1ust as well! perhaps betterC Chiesa in his new book ub!ectivity and "therness A Philosophical Reading of Lacan! makes the crucial point that it is essential to encoura"e a 3dynamic usa"e4 of Lacan in se(eral conte2ts in opposition to what he calls a 3soft do"mati-ation4 in certain disciplines/ ? . really think that it is often this soft do"matic usa"e of Lacan that upsets readers unfamiliar with Lacan! and essentially puts them off readin" Lacan themsel(es/ Similarly! the same soft do"ma has the effect of alienatin" those who do read Lacan and puts them off readin"! or e(en bein" interested in! 3appropriations4 of Lacan/ .n the 3interdisciplinary4! and in the 3transdisciplinary4! Lacan4s concepts ha(e found new purchase! but it is essential that a detailed analysis of these concepts takes place! as well as a detailed consideration of the decision to utilise these concepts in the first place/ Each of the contributions to this (olume inde2 precisely this attention to detail that so often in Lacanian0inspired work is miserably mana"ed/ .t is traditional at this point in an editorial introduction to present a summary of each of the articles in a (olume/ . would prefer instead to su""est a framework that mi"ht usefully "uide readers as they na(i"ate their way around these pieces/ As such! the framework consists of fi(e parts9 Part * consists of articles that are addressed directly to 8uestions of the applicability of a specifically Lacanian psychoanalysis to critical disciplines/ Authors of these articles present concerned analyses and considerations of the effects upon the discipline)s+ of an en"a"ement with Lacanian psychoanalysis/ Part % consists of articles that take a particular concept of Lacan4s and interro"ate it for its utility! effects! and conse8uences for critical research/ Part 7 consists of articles that present critical research that incorporates a wholly or partially Lacanian informed methodolo"y/ Part ? consists of two re(iew essays that far from presentin" any merely strai"htforward 3book re(iew4 crucially en"a"e with the problematic
4

L/ Chiesa/ ub!ectivity and "therness: A Philosophical Reading of Lacan! =.T Press! %&& ! p/ *&/ %

Owens, C. (2009) Lacan for Critics!, Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 7, pp. 1-4 http !!www."isco#rse#nit.co$!arcp!7.ht$

in(ol(ement of Lacan with critical psycholo"y/ >inally! Part ' of this (olume consists of two inter(iews9 one with Sla(o1 FiGek conducted by .an Parker! and the other with ,arolos ,ambelopoulos conducted by .an Parker! Erica 6urman and Sta(ros Psaroudakis/ . am (ery taken with a phrase that ,areen =alone and Hilda 6arabino use in their article! which (ery much hits the spot for this special issue of ARCP on Lacan/ Their phrase 3intimate complication4 con1ures up for me somethin" incredibly seducti(e I some kind of delicious pastiche I but somethin" nonetheless of which you mi"ht end up "ettin" more of than you had bar"ained for/ As such! somethin" intimately complicated could be your worst ni"htmare! Either way! somethin" e2cessi(e is fi"ured/ Perhaps it is a bit like that with Lacan4s psychoanalysis and critical psycholo"y/ Perhaps the challen"e for critical psycholo"y will be to decide what to do with 3the e2cessi(e4! the Lacanian rem)a+inder in fact/ $(er to Lacan for somethin" apropos of a concludin" note9 #hat $ teach has caused so%ething of a stir& $ was spea'ing for the benefit of people it concerned directly( for the specific people who call the%selves psychoanalysts& $t had to do with their %ost direct( %ost day)to) day( and %ost urgent experience& $t was done expressly for the%( and its never been done for anyone else& *ut it is true that it had occurred to %e that it %ight be of interest to people to who% it was not addressed and who% it did not concern at all/'

-io.raphic /etai,s Carol $wens is a Lacanian analyst in pri(ate practice in #ublin/ She lectures on Lacanian theory and clinical practice at Trinity Colle"e #ublin and at .ndependent Colle"e #ublin/ She was editor of The Letter Lacanian Perspectives in Psychoanalysis from %&&? to %&&:& She is a foundin" member of the Colle"e of Psychoanalysts in .reland! a member of APP.! and director of the #ublin Lacan Study Hroup/ She has published (ariously on Lacanian theory and practice/ 0$ai, cowensJconnect/ie

</ Lacan/ +y Teaching! Kerso! %&&L! pp/ :&0:*/ 7