The Planning Committee for the Miami Symposium 2013 thanks each and every one of the participants who made this event possible with their attendance and their work, and who were able to transform this meeting into a real « Festival » of epistemic and human exchange, as Pierre- Gilles Guéguen indicated in his recent article for the Lacan Quotidien No. 329.
Colleagues from 19 countries actively participated in this event, sharing their clinical singularities and knowledge through their presentations. We’d like to highlight the vast amount of attendees and the bountiful number of papers received. We’d like to express special gratitude for this. The significant attendance, among which Argentinians and Americans stood out by their numbers, was proof of the great commitment to psychoanalysis. Further below is a graphic showing the attendance breakdown by countries of origin.
In his opening statement, Leonardo Gorostiza emphasized that the objective of the Symposium was to launch the first issue of Culture/Clinic, a publication of the University of Minnesota Press, edited by Maire Jaanus and Jacques Alain Miller, with the collaboration of Marie-Hélène Brousse. Highlighting the significance of this new publication, he pointed out that, according to what’s stated in the editorial, the objective of this publication was to provide « a space for open debate and controversy, in which the clinical experience, always unique, as well as the current state of civilization, which must entails collective considerations, can exchange their points of view and overcome what often becomes a paralyzing opposition between the individual and the social. »
By locating the coordinates of current times, he pinpointed that we live in an era that is now frequently found outside the limits of the aegis of the Father and tradition, proving the limitations of the Freudian Oedipus in finding a way to understand the transformations of the clinical practice nowadays, as well as to shed light on current social phenomenon. « As a matter of fact –he concludes—we are confronted by what has been called a feminization of the world, which might be one of the deepest phenomena of our era, one that we can debate and discuss during this Symposium. »
This was confirmed through the development of the table discussions. An intense debate took place in the plenaries as well as in the simultaneous meetings, driving forward the formalization of several of these topics, and displaying the value of the work done throughout the world with Jacques Lacan’s teachings.
On Friday, May 31th at 1:30 p.m., the event opened with a presentation of Culture/Clinic by Maire Jaanus, Veronique Voruz, Scott Wilson, Marie-Hélène Brousse and Russell Grigg, followed by a lecture by guest of honor Joan Copjec with commentary by Elisa Alvarenga, Marie-Hélène Brousse and Veronique Voruz. Afterwards, a roundtable of Miami professors Irma Barron and Diana Barroso (CAU) with Daniel Brady and Nan Van Den Bergh (FIU) and commentary by Pierre-Gilles Guéguen followed. The afternoon moderators were María Cristina Aguirre and Thomas Svolos.
On Saturday June 1st, a full day of conference took place in which colleagues from all over the world presented 64 papers in four simultaneous rooms, each with their respective discussion, addressing various topics such as « The Women of Today, » « Feminine Masquerade, » « Mother vs Woman, » « Women’s Destinies, » « Hysteria Once Again, » « Madness, Women and film, » « Feminine Jouissance » and 25 other stimulating subjects.
On Sunday, June 2nd, the Symposium took off with a panel titled « Women of Today: Lacanian Women. » Marie-Hélène Brousse, Flory Kruger and Jorge Forbes participated in the panel, which was discussed by Leonardo Gorostiza. After the coffee break, during the table panel titled « Female Psychoanalysts Who Have Finished their Analysis, » four women, AE and former AE, discussed their experiences. They were Graciela Brodsky, Anne Lysy, Silvia Salman and Ana Lydia Santiago, with commentary by Eric Laurent and Angelina Harari as a participating moderator.
The Symposium concluded with a large table composed of psychoanalysts from different countries, who, for five minutes each, shared closing remarks with their event impressions. They were Rômulo Ferreira da Silva, María Cristina Aguirre, Mauricio Tarrab, Gerardo Réquiz, Nancy Gillespie, Jorge Chamorro and Jorge Forbes. Lastly, on behalf of the Planning Committee, Karina Tenenbaum and Juan Felipe Arango expressed special acknowledgement and thanks.
A true « historical event » took place in Miami, and each attendee was a witness to it. In a recent email, our colleague in Australia, Russell Grigg, called this event the « Miracle in Miami. »
It is our wish to see this miracle repeated, and to see the exchange expanded from north to south and east to west of the United States, with the participation of our colleagues throughout the world. This event enabled us to witness the results of the constant clinical and epistemic work of psychoanalysts as a consequence of a community that maintains a constant dialogue for the advancement of psychoanalysis.
This Miami event was made possible thanks to each one of the key players, and also thanks to the constant work of the Lacanian orientation in the world.
We would like to extend a round of applause to our guests, both national and international.
We give special thanks to Jacques Alain Miller who, although he had to cancel his trip at the last minute, was very present during the Symposium through the constant quotes and elaborations that were brought up of his teachings and guidance.
Lastly, a particular acknowledgement should be made to those who contributed to organizing this event in the US and in each one of the countries, a long list of supportive colleagues among which are Fabián Naparstek, Angelina Harari, Marcelo Veras, María Hortensia Cárdenas, Oscar Ventura, Florencia Shanahan, Dominique Holvoet, Thomas Svolos, and María Cristina Aguirre, who, along with the editors of the « On the Road » newsletter, Juan Felipe Arango and Isolda Arango-Alvarez kept us informed of the latest news.
For those interested in purchasing some photos of the event, visit the Webpage of the photographer who offered his services: http://www.prizmaphoto.com/tms2013.html ;http://www.prizmaphoto.com/tms2013.html
http://www.prizmaphoto.com/tms2013.html
See you next time!
Alicia Arenas
On Behalf of the Planning Committee
The Miami Symposium 2013
