The Primary Caregivers' Desire for the Child

Pre-oedipal triangles (starring: φ), properly oedipal squares (starring: -φ), a bit of set theory (don’t shoot the messenger, pls), and the first few graphs en route to that of desire — all begin to take shape in Part 4 of this series on “The Subversion of the Subject and the Dialectic of Desire in the Freudian Unconscious.” But also, with them, something else — something beyond demand, desire, and fantasy alike. Or, as we strike upon it here, “Fuck what you want, tell me what you did.” And with this, two fields of enjoyment come into view: one transgressive and thus beholden to the law (read: desire), and another wending its own way through life as just that (read: the drive).

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