The picture above shows Lacan posing alongside numerous other European intellectuals of the 1930s, including Picasso and Satre. At the time this photograph was taken Lacan was busy refining his theories of the deceptive and disruptive capabilities of the image. He stands on the far left, shaking his head so as to distort the camera’s depiction.

 

  • On 20th November in San Francisco, Dr. Jacques Siboni of the excellent Lacan study group Lutecium gave a lecture on Lacan’s four discourses. He has kindly posted them on YouTube (in three parts), and you can find them here.

 

  • Dr. Siboni has also put together this website, Topologos.org, devoted to arts, topology, psychoanalysis and politics bringing together some of his previous works on these themes and inviting the contributions of others. You can already find some gems on the site, such as this rare, but excellent quality, 1973 recording of an interview with Lacan by Nadine Nimier on French radio station France Culture (in French, of course).

 

  • Affiliated Psychoanalytic Workgroups and the Philadelphia Lacan Study Group is hosting a study weekend on ‘The Art of Madness’ at New York’s Fordham University from 28th-29th April 2012. They are taking submissions for papers, abstracts of which should be submitted before 31st January. More details and how to register are available here.

 

  • The Australian Centre for Psychoanalysis has published its programme of its four-year training programme for 2012, available here. It also has a calendar detailing other events organised by the Centre throughout 2012 here.

 

  • Raul Moncayo’s new book, ‘The Emptiness of Oedipus: Identification and Non-Identification in Lacanian Psychoanalysis’ is out now. The book looks at Lacan’s work on identification in his ninth seminar of 1961-62. Read the synopsis and order online from the publisher here to get a 10% discount.

 

  • If you speak French, take a look at this newly-published commentary on Seminar V which Jacques-Alain Miller gave in September. It was published (with Miller’s permission) in the French-language daily news service Lacan Quotidien recently and is in two parts, here and here. If you don’t speak French, as Lacan Quotidien occasionally translates certain highlights from their newsletters into English look out for a translation of this text shortly.

 

  • Also for French-speakers, Gerard Miller’s documentary marking the 30th anniversary of Lacan’s death, ‘Rendez-vous chez Lacan’ is now available on DVD via his site here.