Jacques Lacan's commentaries on Freud had revolutionary implications not only for the analytic movement but also for contemporary philosophy and literary criticism. Lacan held that if the unconscious, as Freud described it, exists, it functions linguistically, rather than symbolically or instinctually. He refers to the unconscious as a language: "the discourse of the Other." In The Language of the Self Lacan offers a significant and fertile return to the heart of the Freudian texts.

Originally published in paperback under the title Speech and Language in Psychoanalysis, this book is based on Anthony Wilden's translation of "Fonction et champ de la parole et du langage en psychanalyse," a 1953 article that became a manifesto for a generation interested in a new reading of Freud. Wilden expands and amplifies the text with extensive notes and a commentary that places Lacan's work in the context of contemporary thought.

Jacques Lacan was much more than a psychoanalyst. In his investigations of language and his twenty year long seminar in France, he explored a realm of topics interesting to scholars in a variety of fields: sexuality, language, the self, the unconscious. Probably his most groundbreaking work - partially contained in this volume - concerns the importance of language as expressing our desire, our need for love - a desire, by the way, that can never be fulfilled and results in pain and frustration.

Anthony Wilden provides a decent translation, but all translations of Lacan's work - like the writings of Derrida - face a very difficult task. Highly recommended...