ABSTRACT
Lacan elaborated his influential notion that psychosis is characterised by a gap between the ‘psychotic subject’ and the world, and in particular by foreclosure of the name-of-thefather, in a seminar (presented during 1955-6) in which he revisited Freud’s influential analysis of the published Memoirs of Judge Schreber (Benvenuto and Kennedy, 1986). Given the extent of fascination that this remarkable autobiographical work has aroused, it comes as no surprise to find that Foucault regarded it, and the classic ‘case history’ texts surrounding it, as epitomising the formation of disciplinary power (Foucault, 1975/1977 pp. 193-4).1 Because of their content, and because these various narratives of experience reflect cultural developments during a period described as crucial in terms of the construction of public masculinities, they also function as vivid dramatisations of the complex interface between the politics of ‘mental health’ and gender (Hearn, 1992). In this final historical discussion, then, my primary concern will be to trace these two political strands within a genealogical story about disciplinary appropriations of biographical experience. The ready availability of what Foucault called multiple discontinuous commentaries helpfully enables us to approach this material from different angles, and illustrates the potential value of critical postmodern perspectives that acknowledge ambiguity, paradox, pluralism and contradiction, as well as the materiality of power (Foucault, 1973/1975). I begin this discussion with a brief summary of events, and refer to Schreber’s own book and some of the more critical contributions to the literature for further detail (Schreber, 1903/2000; Schatzman, 1973; Porter, 1987; Lothane, 1992; Santner, 1996).
