From Library Journal
Lacan's reading of Poe's "The Purloined Letter" has become both notorious and seminal. It is one of the rare texts where Lacan demonstrates his theoretical position in terms of a literary work, a feature that highlights some of the more egregious assumptions of his approach. Jacques Derrida's critique set the stage for a debate that has drawn out some of the leading critics allied to psychoanalytic and deconstructionist thought. This anthology provides Poe's tale, Lacan's and Derrida's texts, and a generous sampling of essays spawned by the debate. A fascinating volume for both the fledgling and the besotted amateurs of contemporary criticism. Alexander Gelley, Univ. of California, IrvineCopyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"A fascinating volume for both the fledgling and the besotted amateurs of contemporary criticism."-- Library Journal


Book Description
Jacques Lacan's seminar on "The Purloined Letter" at once challenged literary theorists and revealed a radically new conception of psychoanalysis. His far-reaching claims about language and truth provoked a vigorous critique by Jacques Derrida, whose essay in turn has spawned further responses from Barbara Johnson, Jane Gallop, Irene Harvey, Norman Holland, and others.

ANNOTATION

Essays and arguements that revolve around a controversial interpretation of Poe's THE PURLOINED LETTER provide a structured exercise in the elaboration of textual interpretation.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In 1956 Jacques Lacan proposed an interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe's "Purloined Letter" that at once challenged literary theorists and revealed a radically new conception of psychoanalysis. Lacan's far-reaching claims about language and truth provoked a vigorous critique by Jacques Derrida, whose essay in turn has spawned further responses from Barbara Johnson, Jane Gallop, Irene Harvey, Norman Holland, and others. The Purloined Poe brings Poe's story together with these readings to provide, in the words of the editors, "a structured exercise in the elaboration of textual interpretation."

The Purloined Poe reprints the full text of Poe's story, followed by Lacan's "Seminar on 'The Purloined Letter,'" along with extensive commentary by the editors. Marie Bonaparte's and Shoshana Felman's discussions of traditional and contemporary approaches to "psychoanalyzing" texts precede Alan Bass's new translation of Derrida's "Purveyor of Truth." The subsequent essays join the Lacan-Derrida debate and offer alternative readings by literary theorists, philosophers, psychologists, and psychoanalysts. The Purloined Poe convenes much of the most important current scholarship on "The Purloined Letter" and presents a rich sampling of poststructuralist discourse.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal