Identification in Lacanian Psychoanalysis (Audio Lecture)

As part of the clinical Wednesday series hosted by the DC Lacanian Forum, I gave a presentation on the theme of identification. I begin with an analysis of identification in Freud’s Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego and look at Borch-Jacobsen’s critique of Freud in his controversial The Freudian Subject. From there, I move on to Lacan’s theory of identification from his 1961 – 62 Seminar IX on Identification. In conclusion, I turn to the work of Raul Moncayo, a San Francisco based Lacanian analyst who has written on the role of nonidentification and emptiness. Using his distinction between unary trace and unary trait I look at how collective group identity on the side of the unary trace functions in today’s political landscape.