Abstract: The Lacan studies in China have generally treated the theory of specular images and the theory of discourses as two separate areas of research. However, there exists a hidden connection between the two theories, particularly between figure III of the optical model and the discourse of the hysteric. Louis-Ferdinand Céline's Journey to the End of the Night, as a literary example of the discourse of the hysteric, highlights the split of the subject. This paper tries to interpret the novel through a Lacanian approach, with a particular focus on the figure III of the optical model, and hopes to bridge the gap between the theory of specular images and the theory of four discourses. The paper aims at clarifying the transformative mechanism between the two theories, and maintains that, at a certain level, the transformative matrix of the four discourses is a highly abstract and evolutionary version of the rotating figure of the optical model.

Key words: Jacques Lacan, split subject, specular image, four discourses, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Journey to the End of the Night