Slip

From No Subject

French: glisser [vb], glissement [n.]

[edit] Jacques Lacan

[edit] Signifier and Signified

Lacan uses the verb "slip" -- and its corresponding noun, "slippage" -- to describe the unstable relationship between the signifier and the signified.

[edit] Signification

The term thus emphasizes the different ways in which Saussure and Lacan conceive of signification; for Saussure, signification was a stable bond between signifier and signified, but for Lacan it is an unstable, fluid relationship.

[edit] Bar

It is impossible to establish a stable one-to-one link between signifiers and signifieds, and Lacan symbolizes this by inscribing a bar between them in the Saussurean algorithm.

[edit] Point de capiton

The signified slips and slides under the bar of the Saussurean algorithm in a continuous movement, a movement which is only temporarily detained by the points de capiton.^[1]

[edit] Psychosis

When there are not enough points de capiton, as is in the case in psychosis, the slippery movement of signification is endless, and stable meanings dissolve altogether.

[edit] See Also

Bar Language

Linguistics Point de capiton

Psychosis Saussurean algorithm

Sign Signification

Signified Signifier

[edit] References