"Desire is a relation to being to lack. The lack is the lack of being properly speaking. It is not the lack of this or that, but lack of being whereby the being exists"
Context:
Jacques Marie Émile Lacan was a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, known for his very controversial critical & film theories. His theory of Lack (manque) is a concept that is always brought back to desire; He states that lack is what causes desire to arise. The main basis to take from Lacan's theory is that one will never be satisfied with themselves or the life they live; the subject will always desire something more or what they consider 'better' than what they have. There are different types of lack, as there are equally a number of things to desire.
Imaginary Phallus:
- also known as the symbolic castration.
- the symbolic is a linguistic dimension; it is not equal to language however. It is focused around the domain of culture rather than nature. The concepts of death and lack intertwine to create the 'pleasure principle', which creates almost like a pattern of repetition due to death being almost like a driving course for the subject.
Real Breast:
- also known as the imaginary frustration.
- the main images of this 'order' are synthesis, autonomy, duality and similarly. The Ego (as previously discussed in Freudianism) and the imaginary order live in a place of radical alienation; they live in a narcissistic relationship.
Symbolic Phallus:
- also known as the real privation.
- 'the real' in Lacan's opinion is not synonymous with reality. He instead seines it as "the impossible" because it is simply impossible to image, impossible to integrate into the imaginary phallus which in turn makes it impossible to attain.
Mirror Stage:
At first, Lacan proposed that the 'mirror stage' was part of an infant's development, but by the 1950s he has adapted and evolved his theory for he no longer considered the 'mirror stage' to be momentary; but instead a permanent structure of ones life. It was the idea that this infant's first view of themselves would be the most perfect being they had lay their eyes on, and so they would live to be as perfect as that reflection. But as the person would grow up, it could develop into more materialistic things or status or even their personal appearance. This constant guideline or what could be considered as an expectation would then lead to a constant game of expectation and reality; when the subject would have what they desired, they would never be truly happy as their expectations or idealised emotion would not be satisfactory enough, and so they would continue or move on to the next best thing. We see this in media, and in particular film in genres like drama or 'coming of age films' where the protagonist strives to get what they want but they aren't happy still.
Sources:
https://bodyimagecsun.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/lacan-mirror-stages-with-body-image-and-dorian-gray/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lack_(manque)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Symbolic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Lacan
http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Psychoanalysis-CINEMA-AND-THE-MIRROR.html
http://nosubject.com/Cinema_Criticism
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/4w75en/jacques-lacan-was-sort-of-a-dick-323
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