Lacan in Public: Psychoanalysis and the Science of Rhetoric

245 Pages·2012·1.471 MB·English

by  Christian Lundberg

Lacan in PubLic
Rhetoric, Culture, and Social Critique
Series Editor
John Louis Lucaites
Editorial Board
Barbara Biesecker
Carole Blair
Joshua Gunn
Robert Hariman
Debra Hawhee
Steven Mailloux
Raymie E. McKerrow
Toby Miller
Austin Sarat
Janet Staiger
Barbie Zelizer
Lacan in PubLic
Psychoanaly sis and the Science
of Rhetoric
CHRiSTiAn LunDBERG
THE univERSiTy of ALABAMA PRESS
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2012
The university of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487- 0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the united States of America
Typeface: Bembo and Stone Sans
Cover image: copyright Blueximages | Dreamstime.com
Cover design: Todd Lape/Lape Designs
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of
American national Standard for information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, AnSi Z39.48- 1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lundberg, Christian o. (Christian oscar)
Lacan in public : psychoanalysis and the science of rhetoric / Christian Lundberg.
p. cm. — (Rhetoric, Culture, and Social Critique.)
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSBn 978-0-8173-1778-2 (trade cloth : alk. paper) — iSBn 978-0-8173-8641-2
(e book) 1. Lacan, Jacques, 1901–1981—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Rhetoric.
3. Psychoanalysis and literature. 4. Psychoanalytic interpretation. 5. Structuralism
(Literary analysis) 6. Criticism—History—20th century. i. Title.
P301.L86 2012
808.0092—dc23
2012015850
To Beth Lundberg, my exception to the universal predicate

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
introduction: Lacan’s uncanny Rhetoric xi
1. on failed unicity: Rhetoric and Structuralist Poetics 1
2. Locating Rhetoric 17
3. Speech/Communication 44
4. Toward an Economy of Trope 73
5. Reference, Enjoyment, and the Materiality of Rhetoric 98
6. Lacan in Public 124
7. Trope, Affect, and Public Subjectivity 151
Postscript 178
notes 193
Bibliography 213
index 223

Acknowledgments
This book is a product of the efforts of a number of people whose names do
not appear on the title page but without whom it would not have been pos-
sible. i would like to thank my colleagues in the Department of Communi-
cation Studies at the university of north Carolina (unC) at Chapel Hill
for their support and feedback, in clud ing my fellow rhetoricians C arole Blair,
Bill Balthrop, Eric King Watts, Cori Dauber, and Robbie Cox. i also owe
debts of gratitude to Dennis Mumby, Julia Wood, Rich Cante, Ken Hillis,
and the incomparable Della Pollock. i am profoundly grateful for an out-
standing cohort of junior colleagues, in clud ing Renee Alexander- Craft, Sarah
Dempsey, Michael Palm, Tony Perucci, and Kumarini Silva. Sarah Sharma,
who began at unC the same time that i did, deserves a special note of
thanks for being an unparalleled interlocutor and friend. finally, i would like
to thank Lawrence Grossberg, who has been a generous mentor, a source of
encouragement, and a model for responsible scholarly practice. i cannot ex-
press how deeply i value his counsel and friendship.
i am also very thankful for the outstanding collection of people with
whom i had the opportunity to work as a graduate student in the Program in
Rhetoric and Public Culture at northwestern university. Robert Hariman,
Bill Keith, and Keith Topper have been continuing sources of support. Dilip
Gaonkar has been a model of rigor and intellectual creativity: most of what i
know about rheto ric i owe to him. Angela Ray, David Zarefsky, Tom Good-
night, and irv Rein each played a significant role in my development while
at northwestern. Alessia Ricciardi introduced me to many of the texts that
i treat here. finally, Daniel fitzmier, Brett ommen, Randy iden, R andall
Bush, and Tim Barouch served as tireless conversation partners around many
of the issues that inform this book.
There are a number of people whose work made this book possible.
Barbara Biesecker has been incredibly generous with her time and insight
into the intersections of rheto ric and psycho analy sis, and i am humbled by