Slip
"Slip" (glisser [vb], glissement [n.])
Jacques Lacan
Lacan uses the verb "slip" -- and its corresponding noun, "slippage" -- to describe the unstable relationship between the signifier and the signified.
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.
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.
The signified slips and slides under the bat of the Saussurean algorithm in a continuous movement, a movement which is only temporarily detained by the points de capiton.[1]
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.
See Also
References
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.154