James M. Mellard

Although this book was published in 2006, James M. Mellard does not belong to the new generation of "new" Lacanians. Rather, his early work, [b:Using Lacan, Reading Fiction|262667|Using Lacan, Reading Fiction|James M. Mellard|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1173235311s/262667.jpg|254609], shows him to be a typical proponent of the kind of psychoanalytic literary criticism that dominated the 1980s and 1990s. Beyond Lacan finds itself caught half-way between this bygone period and the "new" Lacanians.

The text itself can be divided into three parts. The first, comprising the opening two chapters, examines the notion of the "beyond." As such, Mellard begins by examining how it is that Lacan moves beyond Freud, a topic that is hardly fresh and to which he brings little new insight. The second chapter, however, focuses on the far more tantalizing question of "which Lacan?" - that is to say, which version of Lacan is what makes his work of ongoing interest? Is it the early work on the imaginary, the middle work on the symbolic, or the later work on the real? Or are such periodizations problematic in themselves? This chapter is the highlight of the book.

The second section of the book reverts, unfortunately, to the earlier tradition of Lacanian literary criticism. Mellard examines texts by Ralph Ellison, Flannery O'Connor, Susan Glaspell, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Josephine Hart. Unless you are particularly interested in these authors, this part of the book is not of much value.

The last section of Beyond Lacan examines the work of Slavoj Žižek, who is presented as *possibly* representing the "beyond" of Lacan, in the same way that Lacan is the "beyond" of Freud. Mellard's treatment is thorough and well-argued, but I remain skeptical as to whether Žižek really is the "beyond" of Lacan. Certainly he is something *other* than just a disciple of Lacan, and maybe that is enough.

Overall, Mellard's book is somewhat disappointing. The second and final chapters are certainly worth reading, but the other parts, especially the literary interpretations that take up so many pages in the middle, feel like padding.… (más)