lacan semiotics/event lecture

8/18/2019 Lacan Semiotics/Event Lecture

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The Lacanian Semiotics of an Event

Dr. Duane RousselleTrent University, PeterboroughLecture and Seminar to PhD Students

I am here to anser a !uestion. It is not my !uestion, but it is an insistent !uestion. "nd it has indeedinsisted since at least the #$%&s hen Lacan 'rst o(ened his mouth to s(ea) to all of us* hy is the or) of Lacan im(ortant to students of culture, activists, revolutionaries, and so on+ in other ords, hy isLacan im(ortant to us The ord -us has /ermanic roots, uns, hich sounds a lot li)e the 0rench-l1un, the 2ne. I ant to highlight this homo(hony at (lay ithin the !uestion because it accentuatesthe synthetic or collectivi3ing function of the ego, of the Lacanian imaginary.

Let us (resume for the moment that a signi'er is a number.

-2ne 4draing of a cat5

-To

It follos that a number re(resents an ob6ect for another number. # re(resents a cat, an ob6ect, for 7,another number.

8ou can see clearly the ay in hich a number functions along the a9es of language that Roman :a)obson de'ned as metonymic and meta(horic.

The metonymic dimension of language is the security of that o(eration 0reud described as displacement, orshift work. ;etonymy describes the (rocess by hich one ord or (hrase comes to stand-in-place-of . 0ore9am(le, the (hrase -hite house stands-in-place-of the President of the United States and all of his staff.In our case e shall claim that metonymy is the (rocess by hich a number stands-in-place-of an ob6ect+and it stands in (lace of an ob6ect (recisely because it does not access the ob6ect. -2ne is not the cat, itis a -unit of the cat < it is a =attened out version of the cat, it is hat remains hen e remove all of itsunnecessary (ro(erties >it being furry, orange, and so on?.

Recall that dis(lacement is not e9clusively a function of the dream@or). 0reud found in it the )ey tounderstanding the very foundation u(on hich that other mechanism < condensation – o(erates.Dis(lacement is logically (rior to condensation, metonymy is logically (rior to meta(hor, and both aretechni!ues enacted u(on the ob6ects of the unconscious.

I1ll move forard.

Sign A Bame of BumberSigni'er A BumberSigni'ed A 2b6ect

The Saussurean Sign is a bit li)e the Name e give to a Bumber, a Signier is li)e the number itself, and a

-There is # 4number5 cat 4ob6ect5

-There are 7 4number5 cats 4ob6ect5

-one re(resents cat 4ob6ect5 forto 4another number5

4meta(horic5

4;etonymic5



Signied is li)e the Object re(resented by that Bumber.

Saussure made a sign e!ual to the union of a signied and signier, such that the signied is (laced abovethe signier * -4t5he linguistic sign unites, not a thing and a name, but a conce(t 4signi'ed5 and a sound@image 4signi'er5.

Saussure1s ;odelSign C Signi'ed Signi'er

Lacan1s model begins ith a chain of signi'ers, or a secondary signi'er, hich e shall denote as S7,and (laces it in a relationshi( of retroaction ith a (rimary signi'er, S#. The (rimary non@sensicalsigni'er comes at the beginning but its meaning or sense comes at the end, after the intervention andhard or) of the secondary signi'er.

Lacan1s ;odel

S7 C S#Signi'ed

Thus, S7 @@ S# 4S7 determines or makes sense of S#5.

S7 Sd S# C S7 S#

Lacan1s ;odel >Signifying Fhain?

S7# C S#Signi'ed 4it is inverted5

S77 C S#Signi'ed 4it is inverted5

S7n C S#Signi'ed 4it is inverted5

Thus, the signi'ed is really 6ust re(resented by another signi'er, and does not have any inde(endencefrom the chain of signi'ers. Ghereas Saussure claimed that the signi'er and signi'ed ere relativelyautonomous, Lacan claimed that the secondary signi'er, in effect, determines or (roduces the signi'ed.

The master signi'er refers only to itself, or, at least, attem(ts to refer only to itself. It is an im(ossibility.The master signi'er, because it stands alone, re!uires something outside of itself to ma)e sense of this

nonsensical self@movement. This is hat semioticians refer to as the signi'ed < it is this signi'ed hichbecomes rationali3ed by the secondary signi'er, by the slave. 8ou can see the ay in hich a slave doesthe dif'cult or) for the master.

S2 – chain

S#

Sd

S7



Lets return to the numbers.

The name of number is invented as a uni!ue solution < a substitution < of the (roblem of a numbersoriginal dis(lacement from its object or objects. The number is a (rimary signi'er 4S#5 and the ob6ect of thatnumber is a semblance of the signi'ed.

;etonymy is the (rocess by hich a number stands-in-place-of by dis(lacing its ob6ect or ob6ects, andmeta(hor is the (rocess by hich a name is invented, as if out of thin air, to substitute for the originaldis(lacement. ;etonymy dis(laces a number from its ob6ect by standing in (lace of it+ meta(horcondenses numbers together into a set of ob6ects.

Ghere, or hat, is the sub6ect 8ou can imagine that each signi'er ithin the signifying chain is a(rison bar that loc)s the sub6ect ithin her s(ace. The sub6ect attem(ts to s!uee3e her ay out of that(rison by (ushing herself beteen the bars. 2f course, this is an im(ossible tas). This is the prison houseof language.

E9ce(t that it is even orse than all of that for the sub6ect.

The sub6ect is not merely con'ned by language but is in effect tortured by it. The various dis(lacementsand condensations of the chain < the metonymic and meta(horic mechanisms < repetiti!ely torture thesub6ect. Imagine for a moment one signi'er tied to the sub6ect1s rists and another tied to the sub6ect1s

feet. Those signi'ers are (ulling the sub6ect from either end, effectively splitting the subject, tearing herlimb from limb.

The Lacanian (sychoanalyst attem(ts to release the sub6ect from the (rison house of language to effecta s(lit of a different )ind. "nd she does that according to the ancient Pythagorean la of beauty.

Drive circles its the ob6ect in a re(etition hich avoids its goal. Desire =ees from its ob6ect, forever

S77 4-To5S7

# Bame 4-2ne5

meta(horic

Signifying Fhain

S## Bumber C # S#

7 C 7

meta(horic

2b6ect Signi'ed H&

metonymic

;etonymic



outard. "he circuit of the dri!e is impossible, the trajectory of desire is unsatisable. Drive is a circle, and Desire isa straight line (ointed toard in'nity.

The analyst traces a different line for the analysand in relation to the ob6ect of the signifying dimension.Jo The analyst cuts. The analyst cuts ithin the clinical session at (recise moments, at moments, fore9am(le, hen the sub6ect is in some unusual (ro9imity to the ob6ect. 8ou1ll notice from the goldens(iral diagram above that there are three circumambulations around the missing ob6ect, three cuts,before it is (ossible for the tri( to turn bac) inard. In this model, there are to turns inard, that is,to sets of three. If this ere a ;obius stri( e ould have returned bac) to the original side. Kut thisdiagram demonstrates that e return to the original side in a different location.

This, I thin), accounts for Lacan1s obscure statement in his eleventh seminar that -4t5here is in effect noother ay of accounting for the term durcharbeiten 4or)ing@through5 4...5 e9ce(t to conceive ho theloo( must be run through more than once. The analysand attem(ts to circle the ob6ect ithoutmoving in toard it, or else she attem(ts to run aay from it < the cuts1 of analysis consist of theanalyst1s attem(t to )ee( the analysand from running aay. This is ho e can conceive of ho theloo( must be run through more than once.

"fter several of these cuts have been made by the analyst, the sub6ect reaches hat 0reud referred to asthe hard roc) of castration an9iety. It is the limit (oint of analysis, the (oint at hich the sub6ect isrevealed in its na)ed form, and its ob6ect is elevated in its traumatic form. The sub6ect is ultimately s(litno longer beteen one signi'er and another, but, 'nally, beteen the signifying chain itself < thedimension of language, the something1 < and the non@symboli3ed dimension of being itself, of nothingness.1

0reud sto((ed here.

Lacan moved further than 0reud by claiming that it is (ossible for the sub6ect to begin to bend the barsof her (rison, to re6ect the ay language tortures her, and to begin to torture language itself. Ge canmove beyond castration an9iety through an act. This is the moment of (assage from an9iety to a ne(ossibility. This is hen the sub6ect is not only s(lit, but the s(lit becomes sub6ectivi3ed. This is themoment hen the analysand becomes e!ui((ed ith the desire of an analyst < the desire to continue to gothere where the #ero was. It is the creative moment of (sychoanalysis, the revolutionary moment hensomething ne becomes (ossible in the life of the sub6ect.

There ere 3ero as, it is 2ne1s duty to come into being < to re(hrase the (o(ular 0reudiane9(ression* here it as, $ shall be.

I return no to the numbers.

-2ne @ # @@ H&

Ge have here the number -2ne, ritten.



The name of the number -2ne ta)es as its ob6ect the -unit e de'ne by H&.

I (lace the 3ero in brac)ets to demonstrate that this is a contradictory ob6ect < it is an ob6ect which is not One. I mean that literally* it is an ob6ect hich is not One.

0rege1s or) demonstrated that at the beginning of the system of numbers there is a 2ne hich ta)esthe ob6ect H& to (roduce the logical function of there being a number not identical ith its ob6ect < and so it does not ta)e its ob6ect. H& is the ob6ect hich is not identical ith itself, so it follos that # ise!ual to H& (recisely because it is e!ual to being not identical ith itself.

" number is ne!er without its ob6ect.

:ac!ues@"lain ;iller claimed that this trium(h of the -2ne over the ob6ect H& occurs as if by a coup de force. The error is (assed inde'nitely and eternally through the signifying chain. This is hat Lacaniananalysts refer to as the symptom. "he symptom is the sub6ect1s uni%ue solution to the (roblem of torture* it isthe re(etition of a meta(horical o(eration ithin the chain. Ge shall see that it is also an act of love.

0or Eli3abeth Karrett Kroning there ere %% sonnets on love. She rote, in sonnet Bumber %M*

Jo do I love thee Let me count the ays.I love thee to the de(th and breadth and height

;y soul can reach, hen feeling out of sight0or the ends of Keing and ideal /race.

It is because of love that I can count the ays.

&esire is a metonymy. It is alays the desire to desire, the continuation of desire. Kut Love is a meta(hor,the re(etition of hich invo)es the sym(tom. The true lover invents another ay to love < he ill go tothe moon for love, that is, he ill count to in'nity. "nd through his love he reveals more than ever that

he loves only as a demand for himself to be loved by the big 2ther. This is hat love reveals in the end*the demand to be loved oneself, to be loved as 2ne.

"ll of this is to claim that love is giving hat One doesn1t have... 2r, stated more accurately, love is theinvention of a ne ay to avoid hat 2ne is ne!er without. Love is a meta(hor and its function is tocondense, that is, to bring us together < to bring 2nes together.

0rege once again (rovided us ith a nice understanding of the ay in hich the lover counts the ways...Every number, claimed 0rege, inherits its on successor . The successor -dras a ne line in reality,invents a ne number hich im(oses itself on the se!uence of old numbers. So much thought has beendirected in (hiloso(hy toard that -bad in'nity of the eternal dis(lacement. It is alays (ossible to

(roduce another number, another signi'er, n'(. "s you no doubt already )no, this is a fake innity, ina sense, (recisely because it adds one to the already established system of signi'ers < it does not changethe basic synta9 or grammar of the signi'ers themselves.

0or e9am(le, n'( is only (ossible because of the o(eration of counting, of succession. Ghat it fails to do isinvent an altogether different o(eration, a ne a)iom if you li)e.

It is much more dif'cult, (erha(s even im(ossible to acce(t that other bad in'nity hich Lacan namedthe Real. It is a real hich never ceases not being written. It resists the signifying dimension, offering itself



as nothing but that e9cessive error hich (asses through the signifying chain.

Saussure had a great insight. Je claimed that hen a ne sign is added to a signifying system < in our vernacular this is the ne name of number – all of the other values of signs are changed as ell. Putsim(ly, a ne ord changes the (recision and relative im(ortance of each and every other sign in thelanguage. This is the true netor) !uality of signi'ers.

Kut he ent on to claim that changes to languages ta)e time. Intuitively, of course, this ma)es a lot of sense. Ge can not 6ust invent a ord and e9(ect (eo(le to understand hat e mean by that ord."lthough, to be sure, this is the trademar) of (sychosis* the (sychotic actively (roduces neologisms,conce(ts, li)e the great Deleu3ian. Psychotics are conce(t generating machines.

In any case, a ne ord can only be sloly acce(ted by a community of s(ea)ers, if at all, because of the tremendous (ressure of a given linguistic community.

Language is fundamentally obsessional and conservative.

8ou might begin to imagine from all of this ho it is that panic attacks or).

" (anic attac) occurs hen a bit of nonsense is introduced into the signifying chain < it is a fear ithoutan ob6ect, described very ell by "nton Fhe)hov in his essay on his on (anic attac)s, -Panic 0ears.Je described three cases in hich something irrational bro)e through the imaginary fabric of hiseveryday e9istence. The (anic as resolved only hen an e9(lanation as (rovided for these strangeoccurrences.

In the orld of com(uter data there is a (ractice referred to as writing o!er the #eros. The non@used data < the 3eros < become symbolically activated within the real, that is, ithin the non@used data itself. Thenon@used bits of data become ritten over ith symbolic 3eros to ensure that they are not onlydiscarded by the symbolic but also symbolically !oided out, or symbolically injected with #eros.

The symbolic here rites itself into the real. This e9(lains Lacan1s insistence that hat is foreclosed inthe symbolic rea((ears in the real.

Psychosis occurs, in some cases, hen that hich never ceases not being ritten < 3eros < becomesintensely activated. During the onset of (anic you can feel the ay it multi(les e9(onentially. The(erson having a (anic attac) ill describe this in lucid terms, as I have* -I can feel it coming, -it isgoing to hit me really hard soon. "nd then, all at once, ithout a suf'cient time delay, the (erson isovercome ith (anic < he screams.

It is not that the (sychotic is cut off from reality. Rather, he has too much of it. It all comes rushing in. This

e9(lains hy the (sychotic often feels in touch ith /od, ith the absolute, ith everything < he loseshimself, his 2ne, to the (ure in'nity of reality.

Thus, hen the 3eros are activated all of the !alues of the signifying system also change, and they do so rapidly.

This demonstrates the (rofoundly (sychotic dimension of an *!ent.

I return no to the !uestion ith hich I began today.



Lacan began in the clinic. The analyst, li)e the teacher, is im(licated in an impossible profession. Theanalysand, li)e the student, is im(licated in a desire to )no, hich is the condition of desire as such.The student as)s a !uestion of the teacher and ishes to arrive at some )noledge. Ghether he believeshimself to have the )noledge, or he believes the teacher to have the )noledge matters very little.Ghat matters is that all activity begins ith a !uestion hich ta)es the form of a demand made to the2ther* -hat can you do to ma)e my sym(tom disa((ear transforms into the demand -you must cure

me, or -you must itness the (otency of my being.

It is the big 2ther ho is su((osed to )no, and it is the big 2ther ho, because he is su((osed to)no or su((osed to itness, is, sim(ly, supposed.

;y claim is that man is not de'ned by his tools or by his labour. Je is not de'ned by his obedience to amaster or by his servitude. Je is de'ned by his !uestion < the !uestion he didn1t )no he has alaysbeen as)ing. ;an is a !uestion as)ing creature, ...

homo #etetikos 4searching or in!uiring man5.

So long as e continue to as) !uestions e have not yet )illed /od.

lacan semiotics/event lecture

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