Podcast Summary: "Vanessa Sinclair et al., 'The Queerness of Psychoanalysis: From Freud and Lacan to Laplanche and Beyond'"

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Lexa Rosiane
Guests: Vanessa Sinclair & Miriam Sauer
Date: September 17, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the groundbreaking edited volume "The Queerness of Psychoanalysis: From Freud and Lacan to Laplanche and Beyond" (Routledge, 2024). Host Lexa Rosiane speaks with two of the three editors, Vanessa Sinclair and Miriam Sauer, about psychoanalysis’s complex history with queerness, the current cultural and clinical challenges facing queer and trans people, and the book’s call to action for greater inclusivity and theoretical expansion in psychoanalysis. The discussion weaves through history, theory, activism, and personal narrative, foregrounding the voices and experiences of queer and trans analysts, scholars, and activists.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction & Editorial Background

[01:31–07:27]

• Purpose of the Book: The collection explores psychoanalysis’s often fraught relationship with queerness: its history, presence, and disruptive effects both in clinical practice and in theory.
  • “It is a call for action to utilize and deepen psychoanalysis’ enormous explicatory powers and bring together voices that have so far been denied a unity of expression while critically reevaluating psychoanalysis’ historical relationship to queerness.” (A/Lexa, [03:15])
• Editorial Motivation: The project was sparked by co-editor Elisavet Ioannidou’s interest in psychoanalysis as a heritage and its queer legacy, especially via the poet H.D. and partner Bryher. The category “queerness” was chosen over “heritage” to better reflect political stakes and the inherent queerness within psychoanalysis.
  • “We’re not queering psychoanalysis, but it’s like the queerness of psychoanalysis already inherent in psychoanalysis itself.” (D/Vanessa, [08:29])

Centering Trans Voices & Psychoanalytic Traditions

[09:35–10:29]

• Trans Liberation as Central: The editors intentionally foreground trans and queer contributors, acknowledging ongoing transphobia within psychoanalysis and aiming for corrective representation.
  • “We have a lot of scholars and analysts who are trans, and it’s all written with trans liberation in mind.” (B/Miriam, [09:35])
• Historical Case Studies: Discussion around Freud’s acceptance of Bryher as a transmasc nonbinary person, demonstrating nuanced openness in psychoanalytic origins.
  • “It uncovers historical traces of Freud welcoming and accepting a transmasc nonbinary person...which just shows the free spirit of Freud, how open he was in many ways.” (B/Miriam, [11:17])

Trans Experiences, Family Romance, and Invented Selves

[23:30–27:58]

• Essays Discussed:
  • Emmy O’Brien’s essay uses oral histories of trans childhoods to explore how non-normative origin fantasies serve as psychological resilience, intertwining Freud’s “family romance” and the creative inventions of queer youth.
    • “Trans people, trans children invent these really beautiful stories of feeling like aliens, of feeling like they don’t fully belong, to make sense of where they’re coming from and situate themselves.” (B/Miriam, [26:23])
• Dedication to Cecilia Gentile: Honoring the Argentinian American writer/activist for her pivotal work and personal testimony of vulnerability and survival.

Contemporary Institutional and Political Hostility

[18:00–21:06]

• US Context: Discussion of cultural backlash and policy hostility toward gender/sexuality diversity, universities retreating from inclusive programs, and the policing of language (“you can’t even write in emails anything about trans or diversity...the algorithms are just looking for and they’ll flag you and you’ll get called in.” D/Vanessa, [19:07])
• Editorial Response: The editorial approach prioritized authentic voice and breadth of form (essays, dialogues, artistic pieces) to resist academic restriction and allow trans/queer contributors to define their own terms.

Mapping Psychoanalytic Theory—Beyond the Canon

[28:25–36:33]

• Limits and Possibilities in Clinical Theory:
  • Miriam’s essay critiques both historic and current psychoanalytic limitations regarding trans subjects, discussing clinicians like Danielle Quinodoz and the evolution from pathologization to conditional acceptance.
  • Theoretical tools from Bion and Laplanche are explored, especially Laplanche’s move away from Oedipus and sexual binarism: “Laplanche...gives us language to talk about sexuality again. He moves away from Oedipus as a necessary reference.” (B/Miriam, [31:46])
• The Frustration of the Archive: There’s a tension between needing canonical thinkers for legitimacy and the desire for new, self-originating traditions:
  • “I keep maybe telling myself and others, trans is okay, because if you just read the white men the right way, you will see that you are okay. And so I was frustrated there at the end.” (B/Miriam, [33:15])
• Broader Perspective: The challenge mirrors those faced by scholars in the Global South needing to reference Western canons for legitimacy.

Experimental Formats & Queering Academic Writing

[36:33–39:32]

• Dialogues and Artistic Essays: The volume includes non-traditional academic contributions—conversations, group discussions, and “dragging” sessions—to capture psychoanalytic insight emerging outside formal theory.
  • “It does kind of queer the book, and that we don’t have to always have these kinds of formal academic essays. We can learn in other ways through conversation and free association.” (D/Vanessa, [37:22])
  • This democratizes theory, rooting it in lived experience.

Queerness, Magic, and Psychoanalysis

[39:32–41:28]

• Magic as a Queer Analogue: Discussion shifts briefly to Vanessa’s background, her husband's connections to Anton LaVey and queer icons, and the frequent overlap of queer experience and magical traditions.
  • “Queer people and magic kind of go together.” (D/Vanessa, [40:01])

Projects, Next Steps & Where to Engage

[41:46–46:52]

• Rendering Unconscious Center: Vanessa is running an online psychoanalytic education center (with all classes archived on Substack) to expand public access to psychoanalytic education and host ongoing discussions inspired by the book.
  • “This important volume puts theory into practice by centering queer and trans voices.” (A/Lexa, [04:19])
  • Center events archive: RU Center for Psychoanalysis Substack ([44:27])
• Miriam’s Current Work: Finalizing a novel imagining a near-future Germany as an apartheid state, exploring the escalation of fascism and transphobia.
• Elizabeth’s Recent Activity: Teaching and producing new work on H.D.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Editorial Philosophy:
  • “We wanted people to write what they wanted to write...and not to feel like, yeah, overedited or silenced in any way.”
    – Vanessa Sinclair ([21:06])
• On Queer Childhood and Survival:
  • “Trans children invent these really beautiful stories of feeling like aliens, of feeling like they don’t fully belong, to make sense of where they’re coming from.”
    – Miriam Sauer ([26:23])
  • “Well, I’m an alien. I was sent here from outer space to evaluate how great you are at being humans, and you all fail miserably.”
    – Shared anecdote about trans childhoods ([27:58])
• On the Challenge of the Canon:
  • “I keep maybe telling myself and others, trans is okay, because if you just read the white men the right way, you will see that you are okay.”
    – Miriam Sauer ([33:15])
• On Freud’s Legacy:
  • “At the heart of psychoanalysis, a real openness to the other and allow it to arrive on its own terms.”
    – Miriam Sauer ([11:17])
• On the Value of Dialogue and Experimental Forms:
  • “We can learn in other ways through conversation and free association, especially with such great minds talking to one another.”
    – Vanessa Sinclair ([37:22])

Major Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Quote | |-------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:31–04:28 | Book introduction and overview | | 07:27–12:36 | Origins of the project; Freud, Bryher, and queer heritage | | 13:42–15:08 | Schreiber, trans traces in psychoanalytic history, upcoming Berlin event | | 18:00–21:06 | US climate, censorship, and the politics of language | | 23:30–27:58 | Cecilia Gentile, O’Brien’s essay on family romance and trans childhoods | | 28:25–36:33 | Clinical case studies, theoretical evolution, Laplanche, and frustration with the canon | | 36:33–39:32 | Inclusion of dialogues and conversations as experimental forms | | 39:32–41:28 | Conversation about magic, queerness and psychoanalysis, Vanessa’s personal story | | 41:46–46:52 | What’s next for the editors—new projects, educational initiatives, and further engagement | | 47:01–50:17 | Reflections on the Das Unbehagen group, psychoanalysis community activism |

Conclusion

This episode is both a celebration and an intervention—highlighting the inclusivity and experimental spirit of "The Queerness of Psychoanalysis," and inviting psychoanalysts, clinicians, scholars, and the public to engage with queer and trans voices on their own terms. The conversation is rich in historical insights, personal testimony, theoretical critique, and an ethic of welcoming difference.

For more information, events, and classes:

• Rendering Unconscious Substack
• RU Center for Psychoanalysis Substack

“It was really fun. And Carl was like, does your group have a journal or something? And I was like, no, but maybe they’d like one...So that’s what this book, the Rendering Unconscious book, is.” – Vanessa Sinclair ([47:26])