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The Autistic Subject

On the Threshold of Language

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  • With an Introduction by Jean-Claude Maleval
  • Offers a novel understanding of autism based on Lacanian theory
  • Examines autistic subjectivity as a unique mode of being
  • Presents an emerging field of research to an Anglophone audience for the first time

Part of the book series: The Palgrave Lacan Series (PALS)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxxvi
  2. Subjectivity Negativity

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Autism as a Mode of Being

      • Leon S. Brenner
      Pages 3-20
  3. Part II

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 33-35
    2. Repression and the Neurotic Subject

      • Leon S. Brenner
      Pages 37-62
    3. Foreclosure and the Psychotic Subject

      • Leon S. Brenner
      Pages 63-99
  4. Part III

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 101-103
    2. Autistic Foreclosure in the Model of Repression

      • Leon S. Brenner
      Pages 105-123
    3. The Object of Autistic Foreclosure

      • Leon S. Brenner
      Pages 125-209
    4. The Autistic Linguistic Spectrum

      • Leon S. Brenner
      Pages 211-265
    5. Autism as a Singular Subjective Structure

      • Leon S. Brenner
      Pages 267-286
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 287-292

About this book

This book presents a theory of autistic subjectivity from a Lacanian psychoanalytic perspective. Dr. Brenner describes autism as a singular mode of being that is fundamentally linked to one’s identity and basic practices of existence, offering a rigorous alternative to treating autism as a mental or physical disorder. Drawing on Freud and Lacan’s psychoanalytic understanding of the subject, Brenner outlines the unique features of the autistic subjective structure and provides a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary work on the psychoanalysis of autism. 

The book examines research by theorists including Jean-Claude Maleval, Éric Laurent, Rosine and Robert Lefort that has been largely unavailable to Anglophone audiences until now. In this book autism is posited to be a singular subjective structure not reducible to neurosis or psychosis. In accordance with the Lacanian approach, autism is examined with detailed attention to the subject’s use of language, culminating in Brenner’s “autistic linguistic spectrum.” A compelling read for students and scholars of psychoanalysis and autism researchers and clinicians.


Reviews

“Contemporary studies of autism strongly rely on cognitive and neurobiological approaches. This comprehensive and comprehensible book demonstrates that Lacanian psychoanalysis provides a viable alternative. Brenner discusses multiple works that are only available in French, thus opening up perspectives that are not well understood in the English-speaking world.”
(Stijn Vanheule, author of The Subject of Psychosis: A Lacanian Perspective (2011))




“It is no exaggeration to say that The Autistic Subject is a groundbreaking contribution to the study of autism. Brenner’s clear and well-written account, based on Lacan, is both refreshingly new and creatively original.”


(Russell Grigg, author of Lacan, Language, and Philosophy (2009))


Authors and Affiliations

  • Institute for Philosophy, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Leon S. Brenner

About the author

Leon S. Brenner is a research fellow at the University of Potsdam, Institute for Philosophy, Germany. His fields of interest include Lacanian psychoanalysis, philosophy of mind, contemporary French philosophy and autism research.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 139.99
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