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Sex for Structuralists

The Non-Oedipal Logics of Femininity and Psychosis

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Makes a critical and timely intervention into the fields of feminist and psychoanalytic theory
  • Bridging the gap between transgender studies and Lacanian psychoanalysis
  • Aims at reviving interest in structuralism through re-readings of the foundational texts of Claude Lévi-Strauss
  • Offers an uncompromising defense of Sigmund Freud’s invention in an era of increasing interest in neuroscientific approaches that efface what is unique to psychoanalysis

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
  2. The Criteria of the Future

    • Shanna de la Torre
    Pages 1-18
  3. Two Traumas, Not One: The Feminine in Myth

    • Shanna de la Torre
    Pages 61-82
  4. The Mythologist’s Aesthetic Task: Amelia

    • Shanna de la Torre
    Pages 83-101
  5. Sex for Structuralists: From Myth to Fantasy

    • Shanna de la Torre
    Pages 103-126
  6. How Do We Use Structuralism?

    • Shanna de la Torre
    Pages 127-132
  7. Back Matter

    Pages 133-134

About this book

This book argues that structuralism makes itself useful when it engages with the non-Oedipal logics of femininity and psychosis. Building from the psychoanalytic belief that norms repress unconscious desire while structures open onto the creative resources of the symbolic, Sex for Structuralists looks to key texts in myth, trauma, and unconscious fantasy by Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, and Claude Lévi-Strauss. It also examines innovative writings by contemporary Lacanian thinkers in order to discover what becomes of structuralism when the ground upon which it ostensibly stands (namely, that of the zero symbol or the incest prohibition) drops out from under it.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Minneapolis, USA

    Shanna de la Torre

About the author

Shanna de la Torre is a social worker in practice in Minnesota, USA. She received her MSW from the University of Minnesota and her PhD in Romance Studies from Cornell University, USA. Her writings have appeared in differences: A Feminist Journal of Cultural Studies, International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Transgender Studies Reader, Volume 2, and TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Sex for Structuralists

  • Book Subtitle: The Non-Oedipal Logics of Femininity and Psychosis

  • Authors: Shanna de la Torre

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92895-1

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and Psychology, Behavioral Science and Psychology (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-92894-4Published: 17 August 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-06541-6Published: 26 January 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-92895-1Published: 03 August 2018

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VIII, 134

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Gender Studies, Sexual Behavior, Personality and Social Psychology

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access