The stabilisation of ego identifications in psychosis

The paper discusses the stabilisation of psychotic fragmentation which can occur in psychoanalytic treatments of patients with psychosis. The paper examines the writing practice of James Joyce with reference to its construction of Joyce as the artist and the manner in which he uses his continuous writing practice to inscribe himself and his name into literary history. The clinical significance of this practice is examined according to the theory of writing as a stabilising symptom, drawing on the work of Jacques Lacan in his later seminars.