The French word for enjoyment. It has become part of the vocabulary of Anglophone critical theory and more particularly psychoanalysis because of the translations of the work of Barthes, Roland, Bataille, Georges, Kristeva, Julia, and Lacan, Jacques, among others. In contrast to the English word âenjoymentâ, jouissance can also mean orgasm. Early attempts at translating it as âblissâ, as for instance in Richard Millerâs translation of Barthesâs The Pleasure of the Text (1975), lack this dimension, and though it captures something of the spiritual dimension of the word it still lacks its intensity. Central to its usage in critical theory is its opposition to âplaisirâ (pleasure)---pleasure is usually seen as the opposite of jouissance in that it is seen as a coming to an end, whereas jouissance is regarded as limitless. The connection to orgasm is quite ambiguous in this respect because the implication is that jouissance occurs on a higher plane to that of the merely physical; it is an orgasm of the mind or spirit not just the body. The opposition between pleasure and jouissance is modelled on Frege, Gottlobâs opposition between âLustâ (pleasure) and âGenussâ (enjoyment), as discussed by KojĂšve, Alexandre. In psychoanalysis this opposition is interpreted as a prohibition on jouissance---the pleasure principle regards jouissance as excessive and destabilizing. On this view, pleasure can only be pleasurable so long as it is not too pleasurable. In contrast, jouissance can only be jouissance if it goes beyond mere pleasure and risks death and courts disaster.