646
PARTISAN REVIEW
the work of th e dili gent ana lysa nd could be jo ined to the pl easure
principl e. Both hi s brilli ance and hi s bana lity medi a te L acan 's di s–
course with the Other, so that the Freudi an emphas is on unconscio us
guilt and on the pa inful discovery o f the Oedipa l trauma are fo rgollen.
Because " the uncon scious is structured like a language," th e vi cto ry of
the ego o ver the id seems assured; th e id, or
ra,
ta lks fo r Laca n , whil e
fo r Freud it was, on the contrary, irra tiona l, and tended to "act o ut. "
Laca n 's appeal, I beli eve, does no t derive from hi s infinite struc–
tura li st di cho tomi es, o r from the promi se to turn the uncon scious into
the consc io u s, but ra ther from decl ara ti o ns to la rge audi en ces tha t hi s
own un con scious is ana lyzabl e by them , tha t he is their peer in a
common enterpri se. This encourages pop psychoana lysis as well as
some son of mass tran sference. And hi s audacit y and exhibiti oni sm add
verve to the p sychoana lyti c encounter. In 1968 he abandoned " the
couch fo r the street"; he fo rgo t th e students' wea k superegos and
in stead entered into a di a logue with them.
Such " n arciss isti c" public perfo rmances have in the P3St widened
the gap between Lacan and the Ameri can Freudi an s, who trade on
their di gnit y, di stance, and res tra int. But now, perha ps th e rea li za ti on
tha t th eir a loofn ess is counterproducti ve to psychoan alys is itself makes
them mo re willing to ackn owl edge Laca n 's exi stence. Al ong with
Pi aget h e mi ght account for th eir in creasing focus on lan guage during
th e development of the child . The very compli ca tions of lingui sti c
psychoana lys is may di scredit some of o ur mo re simpl eminded fads.
T hus Lacan may indirectl y boos t American psychoan alys is, a lth ough I
doubt tha t thi s " French Freud ," wh om the Pari sians have to some
extent a lready repl aced with " Anti -Oedipu s," will ever es ta bli sh his
practi ce in Ameri ca.
EDITH KURZWEIL
