> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theaterdoppelganger.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Autography - Writing the Split Subject into Existence: A 10-week workshop - URL: https://www.theaterdoppelganger.com/autography-writing-the-split-subject-into-existence-a-10-week-workshop/ - Published: 2026-08-09T11:21:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-13T17:43:41.000Z - Author: Kristopher Lichtanski - Tags: Workshops & Seminars ### A Lacanesque Creative Salon Workshop with Kristopher Lichtanski, PhD (and guests) We open our phones seeking connection or inspiration, but end up scrolling through an endless stream of noise: algorithmic outrage, curated personas, and hyper-monetized advice. In a world designed to keep us reactive, genuine human reflection has become a rare commodity. I want to offer an alternative. I am opening up a bi-weekly space on Sunday mornings—not for a corporate webinar or a clinical lecture, but for an **intellectual coffee break and creative salon**. Instead of losing another Sunday morning to the feed, I invite you to bring your coffee, bring your notebook, and join a small community of like-minded thinkers as we explore what it means to physically write ourselves into existence. --- 💡 ****Format:** Bi-Weekly Live Online \[Zoom\] Seminars (****5 Sessions** × 75 Minutes) + 5 asynchronous guided discussions on the off-weeks + Dedicated Cartel Space for the entire 10 weeks. Language of instruction & dialogue: English. Supportive learning and creating environment / all levels of Lacanian knowledge and background are welcome. Active participation in a creative process is expected in this seminar. Space is limited. 💡 ****Dates:** September 13 - November 14, 2026 💡 ****Live Zoom Sessions:** 10:00am – 11:15am Pacific Time on Sundays 9/13, 9/27, 10/11, 10/25, & 11/8. 💡 ****Cost:** $225 \[or 3 monthly payments of $75\] > Please convert to your local time zone before registering. --- **🌟 Patron-Level Support & Discounts** Consider supporting us at a **Patron Level**: Our Patrons and Contributors receive additional discounts ranging from **5% to 20% off** all events, seminars, and workshops. - For full details, visit our [**Box Office**](https://www.theaterdoppelganger.com/box/). - Your unique promo codes will be emailed automatically upon completion of an eligible subscription or one-time contribution. **📚 Bundle & Save** Bundle this workshop with **“Depression through a Lacanian Lens” (Fall 2026)** and receive an **additional $50 off**! --- > Register for the "Autography" workshop **Registration for this workshop is now closed. Subscribe to be notified of the Spring 2027 dates.** --- > Bundle: Register for both workshops and save $50 **Registration for this workshop is now closed. Subscribe to be notified of the Spring 2027 offers and dates.** --- ### WORKSHOP OVERVIEW In standard literary terms, autobiography is the neat, historical narration of a life. But through a Lacanian lens, **autography (*l'autographie*)** is something far more radical: a creative, psychological act of self-construction, alienation, and trauma resolution. When we write "I," we create a fictional double on the page. We chase what language can never fully capture. Drawing on my 30+ years of clinical practice and psychoanalytic theory—alongside the work of figures like James Joyce, Witold Gombrowicz, Witkacy, Bruno Schulz, Roland Barthes, and others—we will explore how we can use auto-theory, text, and performance writing to move past our defensive masks and construct a stabilizing *Sinthome* on the page. From the topological perspective of Lacan's late work, we know that because the human body and language are constantly struck by shifting realities and real-life traumas, the R-S-I Borromean knot can slip. Maintaining psychic stability requires a persistent, creative practice—whether through art, writing, rituals, or idiosyncratic speech—to keep the fragile structure from fraying. Lacan called this supplementary topological structure, the fourth ring, *Sinthome*, which acts as a localized stitch (a supplementary fourth torus ring) that threads through the gaps of the failing or separated R-S-I knot rings. > [Read more about autography here.](https://www.theaterdoppelganger.com/autography/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/37/0e/370e132d-c526-4c7f-a725-e52e1c823ade/content/images/2026/08/Autography-2.png) ### What to Expect: - **75 Minutes of Focused Space on live Zoom sessions (every other week):** 5 minutes to settle in with your coffee, 25 minutes of concept mapping, 30 minutes of live writing /creating prompts and text discussion, and 15 minutes of open Q&A. - **Bi-Weekly Rhythm (10 Weeks Total):** 5 live Sunday sessions spaced two weeks apart, giving your writing and thoughts room to breathe and incubate. - **The Off-Week Discussion Forum & Open Cartel Space (10 Weeks):** A dedicated online course shell and discussion forum hosted on Whop, housing additional supporting materials and space designed for asynchronous elaboration, collaboration, and peer exchanges. - **No Pressure, No Jargon-Slings:** Whether you are an experienced writer, an artist, or simply someone curious about Lacan, this space / workshop is designed as an accessible, deeply human and supportive space to connect, to think together, and to write out loud. --- ### CURRICULUM AT A GLANCE ✨ **SESSION 1:** #### ****The Written 'I' as Illusion — The Mirror Stage & The Split Subject** ****Foundations: The Ego vs. The Subject of Enunciation.** ****Theoretical Focus:** - Lacan’s **Mirror Stage* (**le stade du miroir*) and the misidentification with an external, coherent image. - The clinical split between the **Subject of the Statement* (**sujet de l'énoncé* — the dead 'I' on the page) and the **Subject of the Enunciation* (**sujet de l'énunciation* — the living subject holding the pen). ****Precedent Case Study:** - Roland Barthes (**Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes*) shifting dizzyingly between "I" and "He" to sabotage the imaginary mask. ****In-Class & Off-Week Writing Prompt:** - **The Third-Person "Exorcism:*" Details TBA --- ✨ **SESSION 2:** #### ****The Agency of the Letter & The Fundamental Lack** Unconscious Mechanics: Empty Signifiers and the Chase for **objet* **a*. ****Theoretical Focus:** - "The unconscious is structured like a language" and the agency of the literal letter. - The fundamental lack (**manque*) and the **objet petit a* (the unattainable object of desire) as the engine of writing. ****Precedent Case Studies:** - Serge Leclaire’s clinical case of "Poor Lillian" (**Poordjinn*) and Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz’s (Witkacy) algebraic canvas formulas (**C+Co, T.B.*) that replaced the romantic "artist's signature." ****In-Class & Off-Week Writing Prompt:** - **The Nonsense Cipher:* Details TBA --- ✨ **SESSION 3:** #### ****Autothanatography — Circling the Real & The Death Drive** Trauma & The Limit of Language: Writing the Unrepresentable. ****Theoretical Focus:** - **Autothanatography*: Writing about one's psychological death, grief, or confrontation with the Lacanian **Real*. - The Death Drive (**Todestrieb*) and structural gashes on the page where narrative logic collapses. ****Precedent Case Study:** - Louis Althusser (**The Future Lasts Forever*) attempting to use the Symbolic Order to suture a shattered ego following a catastrophic psychotic break. ****In-Class & Off-Week Writing Prompt:** - **The Structural Gash:* Details TBA --- ✨ **SESSION 4:** #### ****The Failing Father & The Mythological Suture** Paternal Metaphor: Constructing Symbolic Anchors. ****Theoretical Focus:** - Deficits in the **Name-of-the-Father* (**Nom-du-Père*) and the collapse of external authority. - Mythologization as a protective casing built around a structural abyss. ****Precedent Case Studies:** - Bruno Schulz (**Cinnamon Shops*) transforming the castrated, decomposing father into a surreal fairytale; Witold Gombrowicz (**Diary/Ferdydurke*) waging war against the "Mug" (**Gęba*) imposed by society. ****In-Class & Off-Week Writing Prompt:** - **The Mythological Re-Skin:* Details TBA --- ✨ **SESSION 5:** #### ****The Sinthome — Writing the Self into Existence** Integration: The Fourth Ring that Ties the Psyche Together. ****Theoretical Focus:** - Lacan’s **Seminar XXIII* on James Joyce: The **Sinthome* as a singular, creative knot that holds the psyche together when the Symbolic order fails. - Krystian Lupa’s "Scenic Suture" and performance text as a living laboratory for **Full Speech* (**parole pleine*). - Autography as a non-clinical, therapeutic anchor for modern isolation. ****In-Class & Off-Week Writing Prompt:** **The Final Inscription:* Details TBA --- #### 🛠️ Between-Session Mechanics (The Off-Weeks) To keep engagement high without screen fatigue during the alternating "off" weeks: 1. ****Whop Classroom Hub:** Participants submit their writing responses to the bi-weekly prompt. 2. ****Peer Echoes:** Participants leave brief, reflective notes on one another’s texts—focusing not on grammatical critique, but on where they heard the voice of **Full Speech* or felt the presence of the **Sinthome*. 3. ****Synthesis:** The host publishes an exclusive digest highlighting theoretical breakthroughs from the cohort's discussions. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/37/0e/370e132d-c526-4c7f-a725-e52e1c823ade/content/images/2026/08/Clown-and-Pierrot-5a.jpg) --- #### 🎥 Privacy & Recording Policy To cultivate a brave, confidential, and uninhibited environment for personal reflection and sharing, ****live Zoom sessions will not be recorded by the host**. If you miss a live meeting, session notes and discussion prompts will be posted in Whop Classroom to keep you connected and on track. --- #### 🎙️ Participant Recording & Ownership Policy To maintain a safe, confidential space, ****participants are asked not to record the general Zoom sessions** on their personal devices. - However, during designated reading or sharing times, ****you are fully welcome to record your own performance/reading** of your written work using your personal device. - This ensures you retain complete ownership of your creative output, with the freedom to keep, archive, or delete your own recording at any time. --- #### 📋 Cancellation & Refund Policy - ****Payment:** Full payment (or the first payment of an approved installment plan) must be received prior to the first day of the workshop. - ****Before the Start Date:** You may cancel your registration anytime prior to the first day of the workshop for a ****full 100% refund**. - ****Weeks 1–2:** Once the course starts, you may cancel your registration during the first two calendar weeks (prior to the start of the second live Zoom session) for a partial refund of payments made, minus a ****$45 cancellation fee**. - ****After Week 2:** Absolutely ****no refunds** will be issued after the start of the second live Zoom session. --- #### 💻 Technical Disclaimer & Zoom Notice Remote offerings depend on third-party internet service providers across all participants joining the Zoom call, which may result in varying audio/video quality outside of the Host/Presenter’s control. - We are not responsible for any losses or missed session time caused by internet connectivity issues on the participant’s end. - If a major outage occurs outside of participants' control—including a loss of connectivity on the Host/Presenter's end—we will do our absolute best to offer a rescheduled session or make-up time if feasible. --- > Register for the "Autography" workshop [One payment of $225 (plus tax)](https://whop.com/checkout/plan%5FafHt7aYstjpfm?ref=theaterdoppelganger.com) [Three monthly payments of $75 (plus tax)](https://whop.com/checkout/plan%5FzZB5wyhizhxyp?ref=theaterdoppelganger.com) --- > Bundle: Register for both workshops and save $50 [One payment of $400 (plus tax)](https://whop.com/checkout/plan%5F155BXIAqTfPsS?ref=theaterdoppelganger.com) [Three monthly payments of $133.33 (plus tax)](https://whop.com/checkout/plan%5FbJ2KQLVYQDcLI?ref=theaterdoppelganger.com) --- > **Thank you for your interest and patronage!**