Register for Our Current Series: ON A DISCOURSE THAT MIGHT NOT BE A SEMBLANCE (Seminar XVIII)

In the spring of 1970, Lacan took a break from Seminar XVII to answer a series of questions on Belgian radio. The text he prepared for this event came to be known as “Radiophonie,” and it has been confounding Lacanians ever since.

Among the most elusive passages in “Radiophonie” is the following:

The unconscious, one sees, is only a metaphoric term in designating the knowledge that only sustains itself in presenting itself as impossible, so that from that it is confirmed as being real (to be understood real discourse).

And it was precisely here, on the (im)possibility of real discourse, that Lacan began his next seminar: On a Discourse That Might Not Be a Semblance (Seminar XVIII). It’s to this momentous 1971 seminar that our lecture series now turns.

From September to November, we’ll be reading and discussing Seminar XVIII. In addition to sharing weekly recorded lectures with all registered participants, I’ll be hosting live Zoom discussions of these materials every other Friday from 10am-12pm PST (see the full schedule below).

I’m also pleased to announce that we’ll be joined by a cadre of scholars and clinicians from the Association for Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy in Ireland (APPI). In anticipation of their November congress on “Returning to the Clinical Case Study,” our friends at APPI will be reading Seminar XVIII with us, participating in our live discussions, and maybe even hosting some in-depth interviews along the way. Should be lit!

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Schedule of Events:

15 September: Zoom Discussion, 10am PST. Readings to be discussed: Lacan, On a Discourse That Might Not Be a Semblance (Seminar XVIII), Chapters 1-2.

29 September: Zoom Discussion, 10am PST. Readings to be discussed: Lacan, On a Discourse That Might Not Be a Semblance (Seminar XVIII), Chapters 3-4.

13 October: Zoom Discussion, 10am PST. Readings to be discussed: Lacan, On a Discourse That Might Not Be a Semblance (Seminar XVIII), Chapters 5-6.

27 October: Zoom Discussion, 10am PST. Readings to be discussed: Lacan, On a Discourse That Might Not Be a Semblance (Seminar XVIII), Chapters 7-8.

10 November: Zoom Discussion, 10am PST. Readings to be discussed: Lacan, On a Discourse That Might Not Be a Semblance (Seminar XVIII), Chapters 9-10.

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Registration Costs:

In an effort to keep Lectures on Lacan accessible to all, I’ve decided to offer our complete series on Seminar XVIII, lectures and discussions included, on a donation basis.

The suggested donation for the complete series is $200 for professionals or $100 for students and trainees, but any donation, big or small, will allow you to register for the series. To register, click on the button below or use the QR code beneath it.

Thank you for supporting Lectures on Lacan, and I look forward to reading Seminar XVIII with you this fall!

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About Prof. Dr. McCormick:

Samuel McCormick, Ph.D., is an award-winning teacher and scholar. He lectures widely on Lacanian psychoanalysis, is Professor of Communication Studies at San Francisco State University, and was recently appointed EURIAS & Marie-Curie Research Fellow at Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies in Denmark. His first book, Letters to Power: Public Advocacy Without Public Intellectuals, won the Franklyn S. Haiman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Freedom of Expression, the James A. Winans - Herbert A. Wichelns Memorial Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric and Public Address, and the Everett Lee Hunt Award. His second book, The Chattering Mind: A Conceptual History of Everyday Talk, was recently published by the University of Chicago Press.

More about Lectures on Lacan and Prof. Dr. McCormick HERE.