Name: Psychoanalysis & Narrative by Why Theory
Duration: 1 h 18 min 1 s
Description: In this episode, Ryan and Todd conceptualize narrative structure in psychoanalytic terms, addressing how the master signifier, the subject supposed to know, the objet a, the object of desire, and the quilting point manifest themselves in the constitution of a narrative. They look at examples such as Hamlet, Memento, Star Wars, and Wandavision.

Loved this one! Was wondering your thoughts on Richard Brody’s March New Yorker article, specifically his line that there is no “story” latent in the subject. “There’s only what a filmmaker has in mind and wants to show, to hear, to see, to say.”

Hi, so can we say that the complication in the story is the objet a, while     the ending is both the object of desire and the quilting point? Or rather is the quilting point the resolution of the complication whether or not its also the end?

Do you see narrative as being more on the side of temporality or a-temporality and, if its in some way both, could it be something like structure itself or the uncanny - something which seems to be insensitive to this distinction?

Hi, about the relation of quilting point and master signifier: I dont think that there is consensus how they work together or if they are the same thing. For example Zizek (like u guys in the pod) says in the Sublime Object that master signifier interpellates and quilting point gives meaning. In contrast to that Zizek also takes the same stand as Laclau in Less Than Nothing and just says master signifier = quilting point. In addition to this complex mess Lacan also  struggled to clarify the relation between objet petit a and master signifier. Zizek tries to elaborate this in Less Than Nothing and says that objet petit a can be MS for example in the case of leader who interpellates but also gives meaning.

In this episode, Ryan and Todd trace the concept of alienation from its theorization by Hegel, through its development in Marx, to its elaboration in Sartre and Lacan. They focus on Hegel's positive twist to this typically negative concept, and then discuss how subsequent thinkers make use of this concept.

Alienation

In this episode, Ryan and Todd conceptualize narrative structure in psychoanalytic terms, addressing how the master signifier, the subject supposed to know, the objet a, the object of desire, and the quilting point manifest themselves in the constitution of a narrative. They look at examples such as Hamlet, Memento, Star Wars, and Wandavision.

Psychoanalysis & Narrative

Ryan and Todd devote this episode to unpacking Joan Copjec's groundbreaking first book, Read My Desire. In this first part of a two part series, they focus on the first four chapters of the book, devoting most of the episode to an explication of "The Orthopsychic Subject," which is Copjec's critique of apparatus theory in film studies. In so doing, they work through Copjec's understanding of the gaze.

Read My Desire, Pt. 1: Gaze and Excess

In this episode, Ryan and Todd trace the development of the concept of the superego from Freud's invention of it in the Ego and the Id to Jacques Lacan's development of it through his seminars to Slavoj Zizek's theorizing of it as a political category. They examine the link between superego and social authority, focusing on the role that enjoyment plays in superegoic logic.

Superego

Ryan and Todd finish their three-episode examination of Freud's structural theory of the psyche with a focus on the id. They discuss the lack of discussion of the id among theorists and try to fill this lacuna. They then explore its cultural resonance.

Ryan and Todd delve into a shorter text from Freud's later years--"Notes on a Mystic Writing Pad." Freud takes the child's toy that he discovers as a paradigm for how memory works in the psyche. Ryan and Todd tease out the implications of the essay for how to understand the unconscious, and they conclude with an analysis of Jacques Derrida's famous discussion of it in "Writing and Difference."

Mystic Writing Pad

Ryan and Todd question the theoretical implications of the development of streaming for narrative, spectatorship, and politics. They look at the changes that streaming ushers in and the hidden continuity between streaming and earlier aesthetic forms.

Streaming

Ryan and Todd begin a series of discussions about the classical Hollywood genres with the screwball comedy, a genre that centers on the sexual antagonism. They look at the film that kicks off the genre, It Happened One Night, as well as the high point of the genre, Bringing Up Baby, in addition to others. 


Ryan was recently a guest discussing graduate student conferences, which one can listen to here: https://soundcloud.com/lclcoralhistory

Screwball Comedy

In this episode, Ryan and Todd explore the concept of the missing signifier. Rooting this discussion in Alenka Zupancic's book What IS Sex?, they delve into the theoretical and political ramifications of the missing signifier. Following Zupancic, they argue that this signifier is the point of primary repression and marks where enjoyment forms in the social order.

Missing Signifier

In this first of three episodes, Ryan and Todd discuss Jacques Lacan's register of the real. They detail the role that it plays within Lacan's theoretical system, as well as focusing on its importance for thinking about political change.

The Real

In this episode, Ryan and Todd chronicle the varied evolution of the concept of jouissance in the thought of Jacques Lacan and offer their idea of the best formulation of this concept. They touch on the key moments, from the association of jouissance with transgression in Seminar VII to the identification of jouissance with the failure of the sexual relationship in Seminar XX.

Jouissance

Why Theory brings continental philosophy and psychoanalytic theory together to examine cultural phenomena.

Psychoanalysis & Narrative

Why Theory

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