Freud invented psychoanalysis. Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) prevented it from disappearing into deviations and compromises. His written work and oral seminars have made a decisive contribution to the analytical clinic and to universal knowledge. Lacan is a difficult author, which is why we need to talk about him in a logical, non-polemical way.
The aim of Understanding Lacan is didactic: how does Lacan reinvent psychoanalysis, finding a way out of Freud’s impasses? The genius of Freud is matched by the genius of Lacan.
Hervé Castanet, a university professor, is a member of the École de la Cause freudienne and a psychoanalyst in Marseille. He has published some twenty books, including Tricheur de sexe (2010) and Comprendre Freud (2024) with Max Milo.
For the “Understanding/Graphic essay” collection, Yves Rouvière has illustrated Freud (2024), Marx and Capital (2024), Sade (2023) and Anarchism (2025).