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Jacques Lacan was a French psychoanalyst. ... Lacan reinterprets Freud in the light of structuralist and post-structuralist theories, turning psychoanalysis from an essentially humanist philosophy or theory into a post-structuralist one.
Lacan uses the terminology of Lack to define the feeling of loss felt by the infant when it realizes that it is separated from its mother. ... Lack is equated with desire in Lacans theories. Lack in Lacan also can be termed as lack of Phallus. ... To better understand how Lacan uses the concept of Lack in his psychoanalytic theories, one must understand properly Lacans use of the term in the three fields in which humans develop- the Real, the Imaginary, and the Symbolic. Like Freud who talks about the three stages of polymorphous perversity in infants; the oral, the anal and the phallic stage, Lacan talks about these concepts; need, demand and desire that correspond to these three phases of development -the Real, the Imaginary, and the Symbolic, as mentioned earlier. ... That separation entails some kind of loss; when the child realizes that it is separate from its mother, and starts realizing it has its own identity, it starts feeling Lack. ...
The baby who has not yet undergone through this separation, who has only needs such as the need for food, the need to be changed, which all can be satisfied, and which makes no difference between and the objects that satisfy its needs, lives in the realm of the Real, according to Lacan. ... Because of this feeling of unity, there exists no feeling of Lack or loss; the Real is all fullness and completeness, where theres no need that cannot be satisfied. As there is no feeling of lack perceived, there is no language in the Real.
Now, where Lacan is concerned, this is extremely important. According to Lacan, the unconscious distinguished by Freud as being the thing that controls all actions, thoughts and beliefs of the human being, is structured like language. Thus Lack in Lacan is the main premise of language. ... Language also causes feelings of desire and Lack. It is here that the signifier and signified are realized to be separated, not one and the same- and according to Lacan, the signified in fact does not exist. Thus, the signified or the object we lack or desire is unattainable, leaving this void of Lack empty forever. ... Lacan puts forward the argument that the Real lasts from birth till the baby is somewhere between six and eighteen months, when it starts to distinguish between self and other. Lacan uses a case study which appears in Freuds Beyond the Pleasure Principle to prove his theory. ...
Lacan further emphasises on the cases aspect of language. Lacan says that the fort/da game, which Freud said happened when his nephew was eighteen months old, is about the childs entry into the Symbolic, or into the structure of language itself. The nephew uses language to demonstrate his feeling of Lack. ...
Thus in the realm of the Real, according to Lacan, there is no language because there is no loss, no Lack, no absence; there exists only complete fullness, needs and the satisfaction of these needs.
Approximate Word count = 2556
Approximate Pages = 10.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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