Jacques Lacan’s intellectual journey reflects a nuanced evolution rather than a straightforward return to his early interests. In the 1930s, Lacan was deeply engaged with the Parisian surrealist movement, associating with figures like André Breton, Georges Bataille, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso. This period influenced his appreciation for the irrational and the exploration of the unconscious.
In his later years, particularly during Seminar XXIII: Le Sinthome (1975–76), Lacan focused on the works of James Joyce. He analyzed how Joyce’s innovative use of language functioned as a “sinthome,” a unique symptom or signifier that stabilized his subjectivity. Lacan proposed that Joyce’s writing acted as a fourth ring in the Borromean knot of the Real, Symbolic, and Imaginary, effectively holding his psychic structure together.
While both surrealism and Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness technique delve into the depths of the unconscious and challenge conventional language structures, Lacan’s engagement with Joyce represents a distinct phase in his theoretical development. Rather than a return to surrealism, it signifies an extension of his exploration into how language and individual creativity intersect to shape subjectivity. Thus, Lacan’s study of Joyce culminates his journey by highlighting the role of personalized linguistic constructs in the stabilization of the psyche, building upon but not reverting to his earlier surrealist influences.
