Lacanian Thought

Lacanian thought refers to the work of French psychoanalyst and poststructuralist Jacques Lacan (19011981). In curriculum studies, his ideas are used to explore desire in the classroom, challenge the belief that identity is a fixed concept, and examine the subject's relationship with language. His writings and lectures are collected in Ecrits, published in 1966, and in several volumes that contain his seminars delivered between 1953 and 1981. The three orders of the Lacanian selfthe imaginary, the symbolic, and the realwere influenced in part by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, structuralist Ferdinand de Saussure, and surrealist Salvador Dali.

The imaginary refers to a phase before the acquisition of language and therefore of an identity separate from a caretaker. Subjects are defined through an imagined sense of self based upon ...