Rethinking Desire: The Objet Petit A in Lacanian Theory

Abstract

The concept of the objet petit a is central to Lacan's theory of desire, which arguably represents his major contribution to psychoanalysis. It is an expression of the lack inherent in human beings, whose incompleteness and early helplessness produce a quest for fulfillment beyond the satisfaction of biological needs. The objet petit a is a fantasy that functions as the cause of desire; as such, it determines whether desire will be expressed within the limits of the pleasure principle or “beyond,” in pursuit of an unlimited jouissance, an impossible and even deadly enjoyment. Parallels between the objet petit a and Winnicott's transitional object are explored and its functions illustrated through analysis of Pedro Almodovar's film Talk to Her. A clinical case is presented in which the question of desire seemed crucial.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barzilai, S. (1999). Lacan and the Matter of Origins. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.

Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams. Standard Edition 4/5.

——— (1915). The unconscious. Standard Edition 14:166—215.

Harari, R. (2001). Lacan's Seminar on Anxiety: An Introduction. New York: Other Press.\

Kirshner, L. (2001). Narcissistic couples. Psychoanalytic Quarterly 70:789— 806.

Lacan, J. (1958). Desire and the interpretation of desire. Yale French Studies 55/56:11—52, 1977.

——— (1960). The subversion of the subject and the dialectic of desire in the Freudian unconscious. In Ecrits: A Selection , transl. A. Sheridan. London: Tavistock, 1977, pp. 292—325.

——— (1960—1961). Le seminaire livre VIII: Le transfert. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.

——— (1962—1963). Le seminaire livre X: L'angoisse. Paris: Éditions du Seuil .

10.

——— (1964). The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis , transl. A. Sheridan. New York: Norton, 1981.

11.

——— (1972—1973). Encore, the Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book XX, ed. J.-A. Miller, transl. B. Fink. New York: Norton, 1975.

12.

Laplanche, J. , & Pontalis, J.-B. (1967). The Language of Psycho-Analysis , transl. D. Nicholson-Smith. London: Hogarth Press, 1973.

13.

Putnam, H. (1981). Reason, Truth, and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

14.

Roudinesco, E. (1993). Jacques Lacan, transl. B. Bray. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.

15.

Sheridan, A. (1977). Translator's note. In J. Lacan, Ecrits: A Selection. London: Tavistock , pp. vii—xii.

16.

Winnicott, D.W. (1953). Transitional objects and transitional phenomena . In Playing and Reality. New York: Basic Books, 1971, pp. 1—25. ——— (1962). Ego integration in child development. In The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment. London: Hogarth Press, 1965.

17.

——— (1967). The location of cultural experience. In Playing and Reality, New York: Basic Books, 1971, pp. 95—110.

18.

ŽIžEK, S. (1989). The Sublime Object of Ideology. London: Verso.