New Remarks on the Passage to the Act considers what happens when psychoanalysis and the social sciences are called on to help modern societies overwhelmed by unexplained violence.

Jean Allouch examines key events – the crimes of the Papin sisters, Lacan’s case of Aimée and the murder of Hélène Rytmann by Louis Althusser – and unpacks the concept of the "passage to the act". The book assesses these classic cases, resorting to contemporaneous studies and literature, particularly discussing Marguerite Duras’ novel L’Amante Anglaise. The book also considers modern acts of terrorism.

New Remarks on the Passage to the Act will be of great interest to clinicians, academics and scholars of psychoanalysis, Lacanian studies, sociology, cultural studies and philosophy, and to Lacanian analysts in practice and in training.

Translated by: Oscar Zentner