The Rani of Chitor: the face

In this paper the author introduces a psychoanalytic concept: the face. This concept has two aspects: it is the particular form in which the subject's identity is revealed to him, and it also demonstrates how the analyst works in the sense of allowing the patient to discover who he is. For this purpose the author makes use of a Hindu legend, which he does not interpret conventionally but narrates, inviting the reader to learn with it. The foundations of this approach lie in the results of his research on the psychoanalytic method and in his consequent position with respect to psychoanalysis: field theory. Fixed interpretive keys are not used; the material, the legend, throws light on an aspect of psychoanalysis itself, while psychoanalysis illuminates the material. The theoretical and methodological reorganisation suggested here helps us to understand the nature of psychoanalytic interpretation and how analysis works in the investigation of the face of human desire.