When Freud meets queer theory

Author Jennifer Izaakson’s critique of structuralism and post-structuralism, Queer Freud, challenges Marxist and queer theories of the subject. With reference to Freudian concepts of bisexuality, castration, and Oedipality, Queer Freud sets itself against popular post-structuralist accounts of the origin of radical subjection, calling instead for a return to Sigmund Freud for an alternative theory of the subject.

The driving question — whether there is a subject beyond ideology — leads to psychoanalytic understandings of the psyche, which often lie outside traditional explanations rooted in social construction, language, and politics. At the heart of each person, there is an indeterminate subjectivity constituted through early childhood experiences, and understood through Freud’s foundational and universal concepts.

Author Jennifer Izaakson’s critique of structuralism and post-structuralism, /Queer Freud/, challenges Marxist and queer theories of the subject. With reference to Freudian concepts of bisexuality, castration, and Oedipality, /Queer Freud/ sets itself against popular post-structuralist accounts of the origin of radical subjection, calling instead for a return to Sigmund Freud for an alternative theory of the subject.

The driving question — whether there is a subject beyond ideology — leads to psychoanalytic understandings of the psyche, which often lie outside traditional explanations rooted in social construction, language, and politics. At the heart of each person, there is an indeterminate subjectivity constituted through early childhood experiences, and understood through Freud’s foundational and universal concepts.