Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
The French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) started his exploration of the human mind ecause durin! his "or# he disco$ered that there "ere certain cases that could not e explained somatically% &n order to understand psychiatrist patients' it "as not enou!h to understand the human ody' ut also the condition in !eneral% (s that other doctor' Freud' had encountered the same pro lems' Lacan decided to reread Freud attenti$ely% )specially the later studies cau!ht his attention% &n these studies the analyst*s focus shifted from a search of *a real truth* to conceptions of a complex and multilayered idea of truth' in "hich the lin!uistic representation pre$ailed o$er a reality eyond lan!ua!e that is !one fore$er' lost to oth spea#er and listener% +radually' Lacan then de$eloped his notions of the ,ym olic order' the &ma!inary -rder' and the .eal% /e called this enterprise a *.etour 0 Freud*% This differs from the manifold interpretations of Freud some later psychoanalysts' such as the e!opsycholo!ists' ha$e !i$en% Lacan is also inde ted to structuralism' ut he adds some stri#in! chan!es to the theory% 1e can say that he loo#ed at Freud throu!h structuralist !lasses' "hich resulted in a unique theory' "ith as uildin! stones the three -rders mentioned a o$e% The central idea is that man is a cultural ein!' and that this culture is in essence sym olic% The coordinates if man*s life are sym ols' are lin!ual' not the thin!s lan!ua!e refers to%
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first has to do "ith com inin! and is called a metonymical1 process' and the second has to do "ith ma#in! choices and is called a metaphorical process%
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si!nifiers is the constituti$e element% The meanin!' the si!nified' is not !i$en in ad$ance' ut comes into ein! throu!h the !ame of the si!nifiers' so the meanin! has to e found on the le$el of the sentences' and is determined y the context% The procedures of selection and com ination' of metaphor and metonymy' are used y Lacan to disco$er the la"s that !o$ern the chain of si!nifiers to process meanin!% They are also for Lacan fundamental procedures in the formation of lan!ua!e and si!nificance% 1hat does Lacan say a out reference in his theory< The si!ns mediate a reference to a reality' ut this reality is not present in the ,ym olisation' ut is re-presented% ,o the immediacy is lost% The price that is paid for the ,ym olisation is thus the loss of the primordial o 4ect' the o 4ect a' the o 4ect of desire% 1hat remains is an emptiness' a trace' somethin! remindin! of a fullness% 1e "ill say more a out this "hen "e discuss *the .eal*% For Lacan' the unconscious has the same structure as lan!ua!e' and is also constituted of a chain of si!nifiers% Therefore it is also called the -ther' (% ,ymptoms such as dreams are si!nifiers' and therefore !o$erned y metaphor and metonymy' the Freudian Verdichtung and Verschiebung% The formation of sym ols is mainly a metaphorical process' "hereas the structure of desire is metonymical% &t is a desire for somethin! that is lost' that cannot e o tained' as "e "ill see later' and it is pro4ected' deferred to somethin! that can e o tained' ut "ill not' in the end' !i$e satisfaction% This deferrin! "ill !o on and on% The Lacanian su 4ect is a split one' and lan!ua!e is the cause of this% 1e ha$e seen that a youn! child is introduced throu!h the mirror ima!e in the &ma!inary -rder% 3ut to ecome a su 4ect' it has to e introduced in the ,ym olic -rder% (t first the mother and the child ha$e an &ma!inary relation% The child fulfills the desire of the mother% (t a certain point ho"e$er' the father appears% The La" of the Father for ids an incestuous relation% This is called castration% The child is for idden an immediate desire of the mother' and can no" ha$e a desire of its o"n% &t also !ains a position of its o"n5 the position as =hild (and not as identified "ith 8other and Father)% The child' that has een the o 4ect of desire' the phallus of the mother' no" realises that it cannot 3) a phallus ut there is a promise that it can /(>) one% This is the formation of the Ichideal "hich is al"ays in the future' a promise;% Thus the child is introduced in the ,ym olic -rder% &t is su 4ect to the la"' to lan!ua!e and has an o"n position% ,o' the ,ym olic -rder is *imposed* on the child' it has ecome su 4ect' ut this su 4ect is su 4ect to the la"' to lan!ua!e% The !enesis of the su 4ect means also the split of the su 4ect% To spea# a out thin!s means to e silent a out other thin!s and therefore the su 4ect that is spo#en' that appears in speech' is not the same as the su 4ect that spea#s% &n the identification of a su 4ect throu!h its narrati$e not all thin!s are said% The thin!s not said may e 4ust as important% (s said efore' a relation' strictly spea#in!' needs a third term to introduce the difference' and no" that the child is introduced in the ,ym olic -rder' a real relation' no lon!er the &ma!inary one et"een mother and child' is possi le% There is a separation et"een the unity of t"o' et"een the relation and the ,ym olic representation' and this lea$es and emptiness% The phallus' the ,ym olic -rder "ith all its rules and o li!ations is this third
; The Idealich is' on the contrary' &ma!inary and present5 it is a reality "hich one is not' in the present% The identification "ith this Idealich is moreo$er total' "hereas the identification "ith the ichideal is partial' limited to somethin! "hich has ,ym olic $alue%
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term' it also introduces the dimension of time' of history' the present and the promise of the future' and ta#es a"ay the immediate representation% To accept the discrepancy et"een representation and represented is the asis of e$ery human community% &f there has not een such ,ym olic castration' for instance ecause the mother does not ac#no"led!e any la"' and the entrance to the ,ym olic -rder is loc#ed' the child has not ecome a su 4ect' and this can lead to psychosis% There are no rules' no identity' no desire' and the person has no ans"er to the question *1ho am &<*% This pro$es that it is not only the La" of the Father that is important ut also the "illin!ness of the mother to o ey to the rules% ,he plays an equally important role and can loc# the de$elopment of the child% &n sum "e can say that the !enesis of the su 4ect co-occurs "ith the entrance into lan!ua!e' "hich has to e paid "ith the price of ecomin! a split su 4ect and the loss of the o 4ect that causes our desire%
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&ma!inary
,ym olic
Object a
.eal
The arro"s do not indicate a causal relation' ut a process of ,ym olisation% Throu!h the object a, the ,ym olic -rder refers ac# to the .eal -rder% &t is the place "here the * ro#enness* of the su 4ect '"here the !ap in the ,ym olic -rder ecomes apparent% For Lacan' this is typically situated in the openin!s of the ody% The $oice and the mouth are therefore examples par excellence of the object a% Throu!h his loo# and throu!h his $oice the su 4ect !ets in touch "ith others% 3ut at the same time' he loses his loo# or his $oice5 he can ne$er see or hear it himself% Thus the price that has to e paid for communication6,ym olisation is the loss of the primordial o 4ect a' at "hich the su 4ect*s desire is pointed% &n sum' "e can say that the .eal is that "hich comes efore ,ym olisation' and "hich pro$o#es desire% 1hen it is approached too closely' it is a horrifyin! reality' ut it also ma#es ,ym olisation possi le% The psychotic and the deceit of the ,ym olic -rder 1e all ha$e to li$e "ith the fact that there is somethin! missin! in the ,ym olic -rder (, (( 666))% There is no final fixed meanin! or truth that "ould offer a !uaranteed support to the entire system% The -ther seems to e a closed' consistent system' ut there is al"ays a !ap% 1e ha$e to elie$e' ho"e$er' that our culture corresponds to some truth' in order to li$e a normal life% For a psychotic person the introduction in the ,ym olic -rder has someho" failed% Therefore his relationship "ith this -rder is not sound% )$erythin! in the "orld has to e interpreted' has to fit in a plan% Thus the ,ym olic -rder is used in an &ma!inary "ay5 the phantasm of a closed ,ym olic -rder can only e realised on the le$el of fantasy% Asychotics ta#e this phantasm for .eal% 3ut this has to fail5 there "ill al"ays e thin!s that escape ,ym olisation% 1hen his attempts to *understand* the "orld #eep failin!' the psychotic "ill elie$e that the ,ym olic -rder is decei$in! him% 3ecause he cannot accept that the ,ym olic -rder is not fully *closed* he "ill elie$e that there is an *-ther of the -ther* responsi le for this deceit% This *-ther of the -ther* is a #ind of marionette player5 he holds the strin!s of the ,ym olic -rder and thus manipulates it% Aaranoiac constructions such as the Doppelgnger or the e$il pursuer are &ma!inary examples of this% For a !ood introduction in Jacques Lacan*s thin#in! try this5 CiDe# ,la$o4' Looking !ry" n Introduction to #ac$ues Lacan through %opular &ulture% =am rid!e' 8&T Aress' 1991% 188p%
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