Tiresias and the breast: thinking of Lacan, interpretation, and caring

Lacan's intellectual complexity and fascination with language are too often taken as an indication that in his conception of analysis there is no room for caring and love. In this paper we argue that this impression represents a misunderstanding of Lacan. We explore the role of the analyst according to Lacan, both as the 'subject of absolute knowledge', 'supporting the function Tiresias' and the 'man of care' with breasts. To Lacan, the process of analysis is an adventure into the realm of the exotic where there is a complexity of excitement and deep anxiety, an interplay of words and illusive exploding breasts, the birth and death of desire, and the confrontation with the illusion of 'self'. The analyst recognises the patience and courage necessary to face this and to understand that 'life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it' (Morley, 1925, p. 188).