Introduction

This introduction explores a ‘phenomenology of incarnation’ as it pertains to the revelation of the invisible and intangible recesses of unconscious life in and as the body. Our central claim is that we must overcome a univocal understanding of the body, especially if psychoanalysis is to be situated in the living rather than the abstract. As such, Lacanian theory and phenomenology are brought into conversation for their mutually beneficial contributions to the heterogeneity of embodied life. By situating Lacanian discourse alongside these philosophical explorations, we can begin to appreciate how Lacan’s sundry senses of bodily manifestations converge with and diverge from phenomenological considerations. This sets the stage for the chapters that follow, which address concepts from Freudian/Lacanian psychoanalysis and philosophy relevant to the place of the body in unconscious life.