Desire in Language

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Summary: Beyond Lacan and Freud: Language and Psychoanalysis
Review: In this book Kristeva takes on the issues of language and psychoanalysis, expanding upon Lacan's views on desire and language. (Lacan said: All speech is demand, the demand for love). Kristeva is considered a genius in her field, and highly respected in France (where all this work goes on nowadays). Here she is presented in translation so that the English-reading world can enjoy her work.

The interest in such theories of language, semiotics, post-structuralism and psychoanalysis is slim in the English speaking world, and this is unfortunate. Not enough scholars of language look to Lacan and Kristeva, but they should. The text is difficult, and even more so in translation, but it is worth struggling through. However, for the reader with little background in the subject matter, penetrating Kristeva's work may be almost impossible without guidance.

This book is subtitled 'a semiotic approach to literature and art'. What Kristeva does is apply her theories to the area of aesthetics, especially her specialty area of the novel. Unfortunately, her studies are naturally based on the French novel (19th century), so readers unfamiliar with novellists such as Mallarme might have a problem following this aspect of her work.