opinions and analyses, even if one does not agree with them, offer stimulus to classdiscussion. While you may not find everything you would like to see in a Barthlecture series in this book, at the end of the day we must remember that this is not thebook that Professor Gunton intended us to read, and we are, therefore, fortunate tosimply listen in.

Ethan WorthingtonUniversity of Aberdeen

Marcus Pound, Theology, Psychoanalysis and Trauma. London: SCMPress, 2007, 188pp. £60.00

This is a fascinating first book from Marcus Pound. His challenge is rather daunting:to take three notoriously dense moments of Western thought – the discursive andunusual style of the nineteenth-century Lutheran philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, thegnomic writings of the late-twentieth-century French post-Freudian thinker JacquesLacan and the mysteries of the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation – andweave them into a coherent narrative. It is to his credit that, by and large, he succeeds.Whether or not readers agree with Pound’s conclusions they will have to admire thecare and erudition with which he executes his task. Kierkegaard and Lacan haveexcited a controversial and contradictory reception and again it is to Pound’s creditthat, if nothing else, this book offers one of the best summaries of Lacan’s workin an accessible and comprehensive fashion for contemporary theologians. I willconsider each of his three subject areas in turn.

The first area is that of traditional Roman Catholic teaching ontransubstantiation and the Real Presence in the Eucharist, which he feels not onlyneeds defending but offers unique possibilities for entering into the ChristianWeltbild today. Pound’s view on transubstantiation, and here he relies heavily onThomas Aquinas, is that it is best described in terms of a ‘traumatic event’ that eruptsfrom God’s time into our own. Further, he argues ‘that the liturgy of the Eucharist isanalogous to analysis inasmuch as it helps to procure subjective reflection upon thetruth’ (p. 155). The idea and argument is intriguing, however as I read his last chapteron ‘Towards a Liturgical Therapeutics’ I longed for some reference, if only passing,to recent theology of the Eucharist following the Second Vatican Council. There wewere reminded of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist through his ministers, peopleand ‘under the eucharistic species’. Whilst Pound’s concentration on the presence ofChrist in the species is illuminating I felt at times he sometimes overstated his caseand could perhaps have found some other recent studies in the field helpful.

The second area Pound tackles is the writings of the French post-Freudian thinkerJacques Lacan. As with his discussion of the Eucharist so with his discussion ofpsychoanalysis – we are confronted with another ritualized act with its own mysteriesand rites. I found the discussion of Lacan’s theories interesting, but as a practisingpsychotherapist myself I found his assertion that ‘approximately half of the world’s

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psychoanalysts employ his ideas in their clinical work’ (p. xiii) rather odd, onereference being given to back up this assertion. Certainly from my experience ofanalysis and therapy in the UK I would find this an exaggeration. And again, as withhis discussion of the Eucharist Pound does enjoy intellectual speculation sometimesat the expense of existential content. The assertion that Lacan, in one bound, hastransformed Freudian analysis from ‘the modern to the postmodern’ through therelocation of ego psychology into the semiotics of language, again seems ratherfar-fetched. The clinical associations of Freud, and in particular the Object RelationsSchool, through the identification of trauma with deep psychic pain seem to rest onsomething more than the preoccupation with language, important though that is. Iwould challenge the aim of analysis as ‘to procure subjective reflection upon the truth’.Most clients coming to analysis in deep pain and trauma are not beholden to such agrand theory, they simply want relief from deep-rooted suffering and often cannot findthis through any other means, seeing analysis as a final resort. Yet, although I do notshare Pound’s enthusiasm for Lacan I cannot but admire his exposition of the Frenchthinker’s approach. It is notoriously dense, and I found Pound’s exposition masterfuland lucid and would recommend the book on this count alone.

Turning finally to Kierkegaard, Pound’s method to ‘transpose the work’ ofKierkegaard ‘into the key’ of Lacan, and vice versa, is bold and innovative. Theanalysis of Kierkegaard and his juxtaposition with Lacan was perhaps, for me,the most satisfying aspect of the work. The subtlety of the Dane’s approach ispolished anew and the connections between the two theorists seems closest here.Take, for example, Pound’s analysis of Lacan’s and Kierkegaard’s use of humour inchapter 5, ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Clinic’. This is of the higheststandard and will certainly help to clarify many aspects of the two authors’ thinking.

Pound concludes by stating that he has used Kierkegaard to reconfigure hisreading of Lacan, such that he argues that Kierkegaard is the true predecessor ofLacan rather than Freud. Secondly, he claims that sacred liturgy is properly speakinga ‘theological therapeutic’. These are bold claims backed by bold arguments.

As will be evident by this point, Pound’s is not an easy book to summarize. It isalso not an easy book to read. It requires a considerable degree of alertnessthroughout and I found a second reading was worthwhile. Pound seems to owe ameasure of debt to the ‘Radical Orthodoxy’ school of theology and its mostprominent spokespersons – Milbank and Pickstock et al. – find a place here. Yet hewears his allegiance to the group lightly and does not let some of their more extremeclaims overburden his own fascinating analysis. As I have noted, some of hisstatements on liturgical and psychotherapeutic practice occasional sound a littlelacking in existential content. However, this is not at all to take away from theenjoyment and stimulation of his challenging and innovative juxtaposition of threepivotal moments in Western thought. Pound writes with great style and assurance andthis fascinating first book promises more innovations to come.

Peter TylerSt Mary’s University College, Twickenham

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