24,656
edits
Changes
Code
,no edit summary
=====Roman Jakobson=====
[[Lacan]] borrows the term "[[code]]" from [[Roman Jakobson]]'s theory of [[communication]].
[[Jakobson]] presents his opposition "[[code]] vs [[message]]" as an equivalent of [[Saussure]]'s ''[[langue]]'' vs ''[[parole]]''.
=====Jacques Lacan=====
=====Code and Language=====
However, [[Lacan]] draws an important distinction between the concepts of [[language]] and [[code]].<ref>{{E}} p84</ref>
[[Code]]s are the province of [[animal]] [[communication]], not of [[intersubjectivity|intersubjective]] [[communication]].
=====Index and Signifier=====
Whereas the elements of a [[language]] are [[signifier]]s, the elements of a [[code]] are ''[[indices]]''.
The fundamental difference is that there is a fixed bi-univocal (one-to-one) relationship between an [[index]] and its [[referent]], whereas there is no such relationship between a [[signifier]] and a [[referent]] or between a [[signifier]] and a [[signified]].
Because of the bi-univocal relation of [[indices]] and [[referent]]s, [[code]]s lack what [[Lacan]] regards as the fundamental feature of [[human]] [[language]]s: the potential for ambiguity and equivocation.<ref>Lacan, {{L}} 1973b</ref>
[[Lacan]] is not always consistent in maintaining this opposition between [[code]] and [[language]].
In this case, it is clear that the term "[[code]]" is being used in the same sense as the term "[[language]]," namely, to designate the set of [[signifier]]s available to the [[subject]].</ref>
==See Also==
