Subjectivity, desire and theory: Reading Lacan

Abstract

Subjectivity in cultural studies is believed to be culturally constructed. Unlike humanists cultural theory marks subject as cultural construction rather than fixed and timeless entity. Formation of subjectivity reflects the social process that constitutes us as subjects. A Subject is not born but is transformed into one from a concrete being by his immersion into culture. Subjectivity is precisely the condition of our being which enables us to recognize ourselves as subjects or persons. Subjectivity is something in us by which we understand the world around us. The present paper is a reading of Lacan with some help from some other thinkers to understand how a subject is formed. It further outlines role of desire in formation subject and finally there is an attempt to relate the nature and dimensions of the subjectivity with what theory has to aim and subsequently aims to achieve.