23 November 2016
Due to the rising conflict regarding the Lacanian psychoanalysis in Slovenia, we are launching an international initiative for its transparency.
In spite of the popular use of Lacan’s works, until recently there were no psychoanalysts in Slovenia. In 2015 the Slovenian Society for Lacanian Psychoanalysis was established.
On 27 September 2016 we informed the media about the attempts of some members of the Lacanian philosophical circle to undermine young Lacanian psychoanalysts, obstruct their events and interfere with their work.
After the first initiative for the transparency of Lacanian psychoanalysis, we published a letter written by Branimir Stojanović, a Serbian psychoanalyst and member of the Belgrade Psychoanalytic Society.
We kindly thank you for the attention on this matter, which is important for the future of psychoanalysis in Slovenia and elsewhere.
International appeal
Seventeen months have passed since the establishment of the Slovenian Society for Lacanian Psychoanalysis. After several incidents caused by the certain Lacanian philosophers, we have a duty to inform you about the situation in Ljubljana.
Slovenia is known in the international academic environment as well as in the media for the use of the psychoanalytic theories as a means of analysis of social, cultural and political phenomena. This was established 35 years ago by the Society for Theoretical Psychoanalysis, popularly known as the «Ljubljana School of Psychoanalysis» and «Ljubljana Lacanian School.» However, until recently there were no Lacanian psychoanalysts in Slovenia. In 2015, the Slovenian Society for Lacanian Psychoanalysis was established by the Slovenian psychoanalysts and scholars.
Since the beginning, the Slovenian Society for Lacanian Psychoanalysis has been facing obstacles that are not only related to the Slovenian environment, which perceives the Lacanian psychoanalysis as a philosophical doctrine, but mostly due to regular interfering, obstructions and degradation made by the certain members of the philosophical circle, notably by Mladen Dolar and the Post-graduate School of SASA, who are trying to prevent the presence of the Lacanian psychoanalysis in Slovenia.
Below are just a few incidents, experienced by the Slovenian Society for Lacanian psychoanalysis:
1. Post-graduate school of SASA has used the official university channels to block the invitation to the first psychoanalytical seminar in Slovenia held on 14 February 2015, aiming to discourage students from attending
2. Philosophical circle tried to undermine the psychoanalytic seminar at the Italian Institute of Culture and other foreign institutes in Ljubljana (February– May 2016)
3. In spite of the work of the Slovenian psychoanalysts the philosophical circle officially uses the name «Ljubljana School of Psychoanalysis» and «Ljubljana Lacanian School»
4. Philosophers present themselves as Lacanian psychoanalysts and theoretical psychoanalysts, which causes genuine misunderstanding of psychoanalysis, specially by deliberately blocking the presence of psychoanalysis for the subject, an open discussion, cooperation and connections with other fields, etc.
The Slovenian Society for Lacanian Psychoanalysis calls for the transparency of psychoanalysis in Slovenia as well as requests that Mladen Dolar and the Society for Theoretical Psychoanalysis stop misleading the public and preventing psychoanalysis from existing.