Jacques Lacan occupies a fundamental position in French psychoanalytic theory. Lacan's reinterpretation of Freudian psychoanalytic theory as influenced by Ferdinand de Saussure's structural linguistics has profoundly influenced contemporary critical theory. His opaque style presents a hurdle for many and deliberately engages his audience in a construction of meaning analogous to psychoanalytical self-examination. The response to Lacan is as broad as it is controversial and extends beyond psychoanalytical circles to include reactions from experts in Marxist, feminist, cinematic, social, architectural, media, and literary theory.

Elisabeth Roudinesco documents Lacan's life in Jacques Lacan: Esquisse d'une vie, histoire d'un système de pensée (1993; translated as Jacques Lacan: Outline of a Life, History of a System of Thought), and La bataille de cent ans: Histoire de la psychanalyse en France (1986; translated as Jacques Lacan & Co.: A History of Psychoanalysis in France, 1925-1985, 1990). Jacques-Marie Emile Lacan was born in Paris...