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− | {{Les termes}}
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− | A [[signifier]], an element of [[language]], is a material [[representation]] of a [[linguistics|linguistic]] [[sign]].
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− | In [[psychoanalysis]], it is a [[phoneme|phonemic]] sequence of the [[discourse]] that intervenes in [[conscious]] and [[unconscious]] processes to determine the [[subject]] engaged in the discourse.
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− | A [[signified]] is the idea or concept associated with a [[signifier]], which together constitute the [[linguistics|linguistic]] [[sign]].
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− | These elements, which come from [[Ferdinand de Saussure]]'s [[linguistic theory]], were introduced and problematized in the field of [[psychoanalysis]] by [[Jacques Lacan]] during his "[[return to Freud]]" phase in the early 1950s.
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− | Lacan relied on the following main points of Saussure's structural model.
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− | The [[linguistics|linguistic]] [[sign]], which belongs to [[language]], establishes a relationship between a [[signifier]] (acoustic wave form) and a [[signified]] (concept).
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− | The directed and temporal sequence of an articulation presupposes the division of [[language]] into two axes: the [[syntagmatic axis]], which refers to a system of [[speech]] as a system of [[sign]]s capable of being combined and concatenated, and the [[paradigmatic axis]], which refers to a system of [[language]] as a system of [[sign]]s selected and substituted for particular meanings.
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− | A [[sign]] taken in isolation does not define a [[meaning]]: a [[signifier]] can refer to several [[signified]]s.
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− | Each sign thus gains its value by being placed in the context of other signs.
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− | The "break" between a flow of sounds and a flow of thought associates the signifier with a signified.
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− | [[Freud]]'s definition of [[psychoanalysis]] as a [[treatment]] through [[speech]] led [[Lacan]] to propose that the "[[unconscious is structured like a language]]."
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− | This theory, advanced and developed on the basis of Freud's work, led Lacan to assign to the [[signifier]] and to the [[structure]] of [[language]] a fundamental role in the [[unconscious]] processes of the speaking [[subject]].
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− | At the level of the [[primary process]]es, [[Lacan]] posited an analogy between [[condensation]] and [[metaphor]], as a substitution of [[meaning]], and between [[displacement]] and [[metonymy]], as a connection in [[meaning]].
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− | At the level of the expressions of the [[unconscious]], the elaboration of [[symptom]]s appears to be analogous to the mechanisms of [[metaphor]], while witticisms and [[slips of the tongue]] appear to be analogous to metaphorical [[condensation]] and/or [[metonymy|metonymic]] [[displacement]].
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− | The dynamic of [[desire]] in the speaking [[subject]] is expressed in an indefinite sequence of signifiers operating metonymically.
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− | However, this notion only holds because [[Lacan]] transformed [[Saussure]]'s definition of the [[linguistics|linguistic]] [[sign]] and, more specifically, that of the [[signifier]] in the [[structure]] of [[language]].
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− | He referred to this as his "[[linguisteria]]" (''linguistérie'').
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− | [[Analysis]] of the [[neurosis|neuroses]], the [[structure]] of [[unconscious]] formations, and the [[discourse]] of [[psychosis|psychotics]] led [[Lacan]] to believe that the [[signifier]] is autonomous and dominant over the [[signified]].
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− | The [[bar]] that separates S from s shows the relationship between the [[subject]] and the [[language]].
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− | The [[subject]] is thus subordinated to [[signifier]]s, without always having access to the [[meaning]] that they delimit.
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− | This is seen clearly in [[psychosis|psychotic]] [[discourse]], which unleashes the [[signifier]].
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− | The [[primacy of the signifier]] implies that [[signified]]s draw their coherence only from a [[network of signifiers]].
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− | The relationship between [[signifier]] and [[signified]] can come undone at any time.
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− | [[Lacan]] replaced [[Saussure]]'s "break" (''coupure''), Saussure's correspondence between the flow of [[signifier]]s and the flow of [[signified]]s, with the ''[[point de capiton]]'' (literally, "quilting stitch"), the operation that stops the indefinite [[slip|slippage]] of [[meaning]] by making a deferred limitation.
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− | The logic of the [[signifier]] thus defined by [[Lacan]] calls for a change in how the [[unconscious]] processes are analyzed.
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− | [[Lacan]] focused on how the [[unconscious]] expresses itself in the [[patient]]'s [[language]], as revealed through meter, punctuation, and interpretative breaks. Within this logic, certain [[signifier]]s, such as "[[phallus]]", "[[Name-of-the-Father]]", and "[[lack in the Other]]", are invested with a fundamental [[metapsychology|metapsychological]] value.
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− | ==See Also==
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− | * [[Signifier]]
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− | * [[Signified]]
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− | * [[Signification]]
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− | * [[bar]]
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− | * [[points de capiton]]
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− | * [[meaning]]
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− | == References ==
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− | <references/>
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− | [[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
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− | [[Category:Terms]]
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− | [[Category:Symbolic]]
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− | [[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
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− | signification (signification)
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− | In Lacan's pre-1950 writings, the term 'signification' is used in a general way to connote both meaningfulness and importance (e.g. Ec, 81).
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− | In 1946, for example, Lacan criticises organicist psychiatry for ignoring 'the significations of madness' (Ec, 167; see Ec, 153- 4).
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− | In the period 1953-7 the term retains these vague associations with the [[Real]]m of meaning and language, and is thus located in the [[Symbolic]] order (S4, 121).
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− | == References ==
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− | <references/>
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− | [[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
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− | [[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
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− | [[Category:Dictionary]]
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− | [[Category:Concepts]]
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− | [[Category:Terms]]
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