The Feminine – A Mode of Jouissance, by Marie-Hélène Brousse (NY, Libretto, 2022)
Dear friend, Thank you for asking about the translator of Marie-Hélène Brousse’s book, The Feminine – A Mode of Jouissance (New York, Libretto, 2022), at the London Workshop of the Freudian Field last week (16 May 2026). Yes, Janet Rachel was the name I chose for that publication. I had translated the book with the help of many people, and Rachel turned up towards the end of that process and persuaded me to give her some credit. She has always been interested in the question of femininity and feminism, in fact Rachel and I first got together in the early 1990s just after the breakup from my first love. This was just before I met Lacan and psychoanalysis. Rachel turned up when I cancelled my surname. I was well and truly fed up and wanted to ditch my patronym and set off on my own. After going through the most immediate solution (e.g. reverting to my mother’s maiden name, rejected on the grounds that he was just – ! – another father), Rachel whispered in my ear, reminding me ...