Page 171 - DENG501_LITERARY_CRITICISM_AND_THEORIES

Unit 14: The Insistence of the Letter in the Unconscious—Jacques Lacan: Detailed Study

14.5 Key-Words Notes

1. Metafication : A short story or novel which exploits the idea that it is (only) fiction, a fiction
about fiction. Arguably, however, there are metafictional dimensions in any
work of fiction.
2. Metaphor : A basic trope or figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of
its resemblance to another thing, e.g. the verb ‘to fly’ in ‘she flew into his
arms’.

14.6 Review Questions

1. What is the meaning of the texture?
2. Write a brief note on Lacan’s The Insistance of the Letter in the Unconscious.
3. What are the three ‘orders’ put forward by Lacan?
4. How are lock and desire closely connected in Lacan’s theory?
5. Discuss Lacan’s main ideas.
Answers: Self-Assessment

1. (i)(a) (ii)(c) (iii)(a) (iv)(b)
14.7 Further Readings

1. Malcolm Bowie, ‘Jacques Lacan’ in John Sturrock (ed.) Structuralism and Since.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.
2. Sigmund Freud, (tanslated J. Strachey). Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis,
London: Penguin Books, 1973.
3. Jacques Lacan (translated A. Sheridan), Ecrits: A Selection. London: Tavistock,
1977.
4. Elizabeth Wright Psychoanalytic Criticism, London and New York: Methuen,
1984.

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