A Trans∗ Zapping of Psychoanalysis

Psychoanal Rev. 2021 Dec;108(4):387-410. doi: 10.1521/prev.2021.108.4.387.

Abstract

In France, transsexualism was introduced in psychoanalysis through the mediation of medicine. The statements of psychoanalysts on transgender people are considered as offensive by the people concerned. Since the 1970s, trans∗ people have refused to be objectified as "clinical cases" and have decided to "zap" psychoanalysis, the vehicle for a violent, discriminatory rhetoric redolent of psychiatry. Is a critical debate between the knowledge derived from the Freudian field and from the gay, lesbian, and trans∗ field possible in order to revamp the questionings on gender and sexuality? Can psychoanalytical theory and practice overcome their political-psychiatric origins by taking into account the knowledge and theories of transpédégouines ("transgaylesbian" or "queer")?

Keywords: Bourcier; Preciado; psychoanalysis; transgender; zap.

MeSH terms

  • Female
  • Humans
  • Psychoanalysis*
  • Psychoanalytic Theory
  • Sexual and Gender Minorities*
  • Transgender Persons*
  • Transsexualism*