| The primary goal and the original contribution of this dissertation is to uncover and analyze the way in which Jacques Lacan's theory of desire is based on his reading of texts and concepts produced during the Middle Ages. Lacan's belief that the history of philosophy conceals the crucial role that desire plays in the search for knowledge pervades his writings. His texts, Écrits, The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, The Four Fundamental Concepts , and Encore outline desire in relation to the Middle Ages. My research will articulate the relationship between Lacan's theory of desire and his role as a medievalist. Such a connection is important to contemporary work within the fields of medieval studies and critical theory.;The influences of Lacanian desire are observable in various contemporary discourses among many disciplines. By juxtaposing Lacan's theories with analyses of the medieval texts upon which those theories are based, my dissertation will produce a new view of psychoanalysis in a literary context. In addition, my dissertation will extend the dialogue between literature and psychoanalysis as a means of comprehending the foundations of desire that are located in medieval texts. The method that Lacan takes in approach to his subject, alternately desire, language, Freud, and the Middle Ages, through its detours, recaptures the changes within the definition of Medieval Studies as a disciplinary field. |
