Veliki drugi i (ne)mogućnost dostizanja realnog: lakanovski pristup priči „Crna mačka” Edgara Alana Poa

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze the narrator of “The Black Cat” by using Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic approach. In an attempt to explain what seems like utterly irrational actions, we took a closer look at the story through Lacan’s notions of the Symbolic, the Real and the big Other. The black cat will be represented as the big Other, a figure that has full control over the Symbolic order in which the narrator is trapped. Frustration due to his inability to escape from this order leads to the narrator’s desire to destroy what he sees as an obstacle on his path towards attaining the Real. No matter the number of attempts to kill the cat, which would lead to his freedom, the narrator’s desire remains unfulfilled. As the black cat is represented as the big Other, the narrator’s attempts to murder the creature are seen as an attempt to escape the Symbolic. The possibility of leaving the Symbolic and reaching the Real are examined in the paper as the narrator’s ultimate attempt at freedom.