Principles of Psychoanalytic Analysis of Psychotic Literary Features - An Illustration on the Work of Pablo Palacio

Aug 23, 2026

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Linguistic attributes of psychosis, as theorized by Jacques Lacan in both early and late accounts, suggest an unmediated relation between subject and signifier. Lacan’s later work, including the 1955 and 1975 seminars, frames psychosis as a subjective structure and as a Borromean knot, illustrated through his reading of James Joyce. Building on this framework, the thesis performs a psychoanalytic-literary analysis of Pablo Palacio’s short stories and novel to test whether psychotic dynamics can be identified and extrapolated. Findings locate psychosis in literature under defined concepts and yield new principles for characterising psychotic literary language and its creative force.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages490

Reading Time20 h 35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Why psychosis and why literature?

Chapter I. Lacan’s Early Ideas on Psychosis

Chapter II: Lacan’s Late Ideas on Psychosis

Chapter III: Psychoanalysis, Literature and Madness

Chapter IV: Methodological Considerations I: Psychosis and Literature – Scope and Limits

Chapter V: methodological Considerations II: Literary Analysis

Introduction to Literary Analysis

Literary Analysis of Débora

Literary Analysis of Lateral Light

Literary Analysis of Women Gaze the Stars

Literary Analysis of the Anthropophagus

Literary Analysis of the One and Double Woman

Summary of Literary Analysis

Discussion

Appendix

Translation of Débora

Translation of Lateral Light

Translation of Women Gaze the Stars

Translation of the Anthropophagus

Translation of the One and Double Woman

Principles of Psychoanalytic Analysis of Psychotic Literary Features: An Illustration on the Work of Pablo Palacio. Jonathan Davidoff Psychoanalysis Unit Division of Psychology and Language Sciences University College London 2 ‘I Jonathan Davidoff Menasse, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis.’ 4 Acknowledgements The limits of language and knowledge of a doctoral research are difficult to trace and therefore its indebtedness is not completely acknowledgeable to begin with. I would like to thank in the same way, without traceable limits, my professors, teachers, supervisors, analysts and guides, recent and not so recent, who lovingly and insistently have seen me through so much saying and writing. I would like to extend my gratitude to those who have so kindly fostered the space for that saying and writing, wittingly and unwittingly. I have in mind those people, whose company, presence, absence and support inhabit the chapters of this research. I am thinking of those who did not give up on me in the difficult moments - when my research chapters felt like too much or too little. Also, my gratitude goes to the people who, in specific moments of cleavage, lovingly chose to do that which enabled my road – alphabetically. I would like to thank my family, the people of whom I participate in the real, who day after day have shared with me the scriptless film, and have made it feel familiar. I would like to express appreciation for my colleagues from work for taking some of my allocated pot of daily grind just so I could undertake this research. My gratitude as ever to my friends, old and new, who are my chosen family. Finally, I simply would like to express my gratitude as gratitude; recognise and acknowledge my fortune for having had the opportunity to undertake my doctoral research. Index Abstract 7 Introduction 9 Chapter I. Lacan’s Early Ideas on Psychosis 37 Chapter II: Lacan’s Late Ideas on Psychosis 75 Chapter III: Psychoanalysis, Literature and Madness 115 Chapter IV: Methodological Considerations I: Psychosis and 167 Literature – Scope and Limits Chapter V: methodological Considerations II: Literary Analysis 209 Introduction to Literary Analysis 243 Literary Analysis of Débora 253 Literary Analysis of Lateral Light 276 Literary Analysis of Women Gaze the Stars 293 Literary Analysis of the Anthropophagus 311 Literary Analysis of the One and Double Woman 327 Summary of Literary Analysis 345 Discussion 365 Appendix Translation of Débora 404 Translation of Lateral Light 451 Translation of Women Gaze the Stars 459 Translation of the Anthropophagus 467 Translation of the One and Double Woman 477 Abstract The linguistic attributes of psychosis described by French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in his early and late theories of psychosis point to a radical, unmediated and objectified relation between subject and signifier. In his third seminar in 1955, Lacan revisited psychosis and he posited it as a subjective structure alongside neurosis and perversion. Later, in his twenty-third seminar in 1975, Lacan revisited again the notion of psychosis positing it as a Borromean knot. Apropos, he examined some of the work of Irish writer James Joyce. His writing, argued Lacan, entailed dynamics such that prevented him from having a psychotic breakdown. Joyce’s mode of jouissance via his writing provided unity to his subjective structure. This rests, following Lacan, upon Joyce’s linguistic know-how (sinthome) which provided a symbolic space for imaginary, symbolic and real to be disjointed, and thus become joint. It follows that there ought to be linguistic and literary dynamics that, under this theoretical framework, are recognisable as psychotic. This research consists of a psychoanalytic-literary analysis of four short stories and a nov

FAQs

What theoretical framework guides the thesis’s analysis of psychosis in literature?

The thesis uses Jacques Lacan’s early and late theories of psychosis, including his seminar-based formulations (psychosis as subjective structure and as a Borromean knot) and related insights drawn from his reading of James Joyce.

Which authors and works are analyzed in this research?

The analysis focuses on four short stories and a novel by Ecuadorian writer Pablo Palacio, examined through a psychoanalytic-literary method.

What do the findings claim about locating psychosis in literary works?

The results confirm that psychosis can be identified in literary works under specific conceptual definitions, and they propose novel principles for characterising psychotic literary language and understanding psychosis’s creative power.

Aug 23, 2026

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