Queer Theory, Psychoanalysis, and the Symptom: A Lacanian Reading
Sheila Cavanagh
Refereed Article, 2019
Cavanagh, S. L. (2019a). Queer theory, psychoanalysis and the symptom: A Lacanian approach. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 20(4), 226–230.
In Clinical Encounters in Sexuality Giffney and Watson have made an intricate tie between (at least) two divergent fields. This essay considers the sexual impasse between queer theory, including queer of color critique, and psychoanalysis, mapped out in the collection, in terms of the Lacanian sinthome. In Le Sinthome Lacan describes the sinthome as a jouissant fault point that enables something in/of the failed sexual relationship to work out. In this review, I touch upon political, theoretical, and disciplinary fault lines so carefully navigated, crafted, and animated in this exemplary collection.