Freud and Lacan: Witz and the Formation of the Unconscious
Alexi Kukuljevic
Institute of Studies in Art and Art Education, Art Theory
2025W, scientific seminar (SEW), 4.0 ECTS, 2.0 semester hours, course number S05657
Scientific bachelor seminar for teacher education
Description
In this seminar, we will read Freud’s Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious (Der Witz und seine Beziehung zum Unbewußten) and the first part of Jacques Lacan’s seminar The Formations of the Unconscious from 1957-58 in which he introduces his audience to the core thesis that the “unconscious is structure like a language” through a reading of Freud’s book on der Witz. The class is both an introduction the problem of the unconscious as it is conceived by Freud and Lacan and to the problem more generally of the meaning of jokes, comedy, and humor, and the interrelation between sense and nonsense. Why are jokes so often both disturbing and pleasurable and thus disturbingly pleasurable and pleasurably disturbing? Why do they so often make such clever use of language through the linguistic play, the use of puns, or logical fallacy? For both Freud and Lacan, jokes are not just idle fun but something to be taken utterly seriously: a human, all too human, practice that brings to fore the precarity of the sense that human being makes of the world. Jokes and more broadly, the comical attests to the fact that the human animal does not make sense and is thus condemned to impossible task of making sense of this nonsense. This class is designed to be complimentary to the seminar “Introduction to Lacan” offered by Amanda Holmes in the philosophy department.
14.10.2025 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 24 (VZA, EG)
21.10.2025 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 23 (VZA, EG)
28.10.2025 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 24 (VZA, EG)
04.11.2025 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 24 (VZA, EG)
25.11.2025 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 24 (VZA, EG)
02.12.2025 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 24 (VZA, EG)
09.12.2025 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 23 (VZA, EG)
16.12.2025 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 24 (VZA, EG)
13.01.2026 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 26 (VZA, EG)
20.01.2026 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 25 (VZA, EG)
27.01.2026 - 14:00 bis 16:00 | Seminarraum 26 (VZA, EG)
Examination Modalities
Attendance, Short Essay / Text
Comments
"Auch deutschsprachige BA-Abschlussarbeiten sind willkommen!“
Dates
Tue, 14 October 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 24
Tue, 21 October 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 23
Tue, 28 October 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 24
Tue, 04 November 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 24
Tue, 25 November 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 24
Tue, 02 December 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 24
Tue, 09 December 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 23
Tue, 16 December 2025, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 24
Tue, 13 January 2026, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 26
Tue, 20 January 2026, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 25
Tue, 27 January 2026, 14:00–16:00 Seminar Room 26
Course Enrolment
Via online registration
Curriculum Allocation
Art Education: subject kkp (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: aus Kunsttheorie 067/003.20
Art Education: subject kkp (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/003.80
Art Education: subject kkp (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: IT: Bachelorseminar Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/003.85
Art Education: subject kkp (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 067/003.80
Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Seminar aus dem Bereich Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften 067/003.25
Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 067/003.80
Art Education: subject tex (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 071/003.80
Art Education: subject dae (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 072/003.80
Art Education: subject dex (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 074/003.80
Art Education: subject dex (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: IT: Bachelorseminar Wissenschaftliche Praxis 074/003.85
Art Education: subject dex (Master): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: Lehrveranstaltung nach Wahl aus wissenschaftlicher Praxis, SE 074/003.80
Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Seminar aus dem Bereich Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften 074/003.25
Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Lehrveranstaltungen nach Wahl aus Wissenschaftliche Praxis 074/003.80
TransArts - Transdisciplinary Arts (Bachelor): Theoretical foundations: Theoretical foundations 180/003.01
Expanded Museum Studies (Master): Electives: Art Theory 537/080.12
Stage Design (2. Section): Kunsttheorie und Kulturwissenschaften: Kunsttheorie 542/207.03
Media Arts: Specialisation in Transmedia Arts (2. Section): Wissenschaft, Theorie und Geschichte : Kunsttheorie 566/208.13
Media Arts: Specialisation in Digital Arts (2. Section): Wissenschaft, Theorie, Geschichte: Kunsttheorie 567/208.13
Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften (Master): Electives Area 1: Art Theory 568/005.05
Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften (Master): Electives Area 2: Art Theory 568/006.05
Design: Specialisation in Design and Narrative Media (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Fundamentals: Humanities 576/203.02
Design: Specialisation in Communication Design (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Humanities 577/203.02
Conservation and Restoration (2. Section): Geisteswissenschaften: Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte 588/204.10
Fine Arts (2. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Art Theory, Cultural Studies, Art History, Philosophy 605/202.01
Fine Arts (2. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Free Electives out of Scientific and Research Practice 605/202.80
Design: Specialisation in Applied Photography and Time-based Media (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Humanities 626/203.02
Co-registration: possible
Attending individual courses: possible