Cormac Gallagher – Where was Jacques Lacan in 1971-72 – …ou pire and The Knowledge of the Psychoanalyst
 
THE LETTER 30 Spring 2004, pages 1-18
 
Introduction
 
In a recent review of an exhaustive study on The Smiths – a 1970’s band – the writer remarks: “This is not a book for anoraks – it’s a book for anoraks with furry trims”.
 
Something similar might be said about the texts I am going to discuss in this paper – the seminar with the curious title of …ou -pire, and the series of talks called The knowledge of the psychoanalyst. Many Lacanians have gone to their graves, and many more will, without ever having opened them. They have not been officially edited or published in French and so one has to search around to find unattributed pirate editions or those that have been put together for private use by different associations.