Difference between revisions of "Absence"

From No Subject - Encyclopedia of Psychoanalysis
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 1: Line 1:
−
{{Les termes}}
 
−
Absence
 
−
The [[symbolic]] [[order]] is characterized by the fundamental binary opposition between absence and presence.<ref>(S4, 67-8)</ref>  In the symbolic order “nothing exists except upon an assumed foundation of absence.”<ref>(Ec, 392)</ref> This is a basic difference between the symbolic and the [[real]]; 'There is no absence in the real. There is only absence if you suggest that there may be a presence there where there isn't one.”<ref>(S2, 313)</ref> (see [[Privation]]).
 
−
As Roman Jakobson showed with his analysis of [[phonemes]], all linguistic phenomena may be entirely characterized in terms of the presence or absence of certain 'distinctive features'. Lacan sees the game of [[fort-da]], which [[Freud]] describes in ‘’[[Beyond the Pleasure Principle]]’’,<ref>(Freud, 1920g)</ref> as  a primitive phonemic opposition representing the child's entry into the symbolic order.
 
−
The two sounds made by the child, O/A, are “a pair of sounds modulated on presence and absence,”<ref>(E, 65)</ref> and these sounds are related “to the presence and absence of persons and things.”<ref> (E, 109, n. 46)</ref>
 
−
Lacan notes that the word is 'a presence made of absence' (E, 65) because (i) the symbol is used in the absence of the thing and (ii) signifiers only exist insofar as they are opposed to other signifiers.
 
−
Because of the mutual implication of absence and presence in the symbolic order, absence can be said to have an equally positive existence in the symbolic as presence. This is what allows Lacan to say that 'the nothing' (‘’le rien’’) is in itself an object (a partial object).<ref>(S4, 184-5)</ref>
 
−
It is around the presence and absence of the [[phallus]] that [[sexual difference]] is symbolically apprehended by the child.
 
  
 +
== The Symbolic Order ==
 +
According to [[Jacques Lacan]], the [[symbolic]] [[order]] is characterized by a binary opposition between [[absence]] and [[presence]].<ref>{{S4}} p.67-8</ref> 
  
 +
[[Lacan]] asserts the mutual implication of [[absence]] and [[presence]] in the [[symbolic]] [[order]].
 +
 +
In the [[symbolic]] [[order]] "nothing exists except upon an assumed foundation of absence."<ref>{{Ec}} p.392</ref>
 +
 +
[[Lacan]] argues that "there is no absence in the real. There is only absence if you suggest that there may be a presence there where there isn't one."<ref>{{S2}} p.313</ref>
 +
 +
== Fort-Da ==
 +
According to [[Lacan]], the game of [[fort-da]], introduced by [[Freud]] in "[[Beyond the Pleasure Principle," represents the [[child]]'s entrance into the [[symbolic]] [[order]].
 +
 +
The phonemic opposition - "fort" and "da" - are "a pair of sounds modulated on presence and absence."<ref>{{E}} p.65</ref>
 +
 +
== Language ==
 +
The [[symbol]] is used in the [[absence]] of the thing.
 +
 +
[[Lacan]] argues that the [[word]] is a "presence made of absence."<ref>{{E}} p.65</ref>
 +
 +
[[Absence]] has a positive [[existence]] in the [[symbolic]] as [[presence]].
 +
 +
[[Lacan]] argues that "the nothing" (''le rien'') is in itself an [[object]] (or '[[partial object]]').<ref>{{S4}} p.184-5</ref>
 +
 +
== Sexual Difference==
 +
[[Sexual difference]] is apprehended by the [[child]] [[symbolic]]ally around the [[presence]] and [[absence]] of the [[phallus]].
 +
 +
==See Also==
 +
* [[symbolic]]
 +
* [[presence]]
 +
* [[object]]
 +
* [[fort-da]]
 +
* [[child]]
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
−
[[Category:Lacan]]
+
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 +
[[Category:Dictionary]]
 +
[[Category:Symbolic]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]

Revision as of 19:04, 19 June 2006

The Symbolic Order

According to Jacques Lacan, the symbolic order is characterized by a binary opposition between absence and presence.[1]

Lacan asserts the mutual implication of absence and presence in the symbolic order.

In the symbolic order "nothing exists except upon an assumed foundation of absence."[2]

Lacan argues that "there is no absence in the real. There is only absence if you suggest that there may be a presence there where there isn't one."[3]

Fort-Da

According to Lacan, the game of fort-da, introduced by Freud in "[[Beyond the Pleasure Principle," represents the child's entrance into the symbolic order.

The phonemic opposition - "fort" and "da" - are "a pair of sounds modulated on presence and absence."[4]

Language

The symbol is used in the absence of the thing.

Lacan argues that the word is a "presence made of absence."[5]

Absence has a positive existence in the symbolic as presence.

Lacan argues that "the nothing" (le rien) is in itself an object (or 'partial object').[6]

Sexual Difference

Sexual difference is apprehended by the child symbolically around the presence and absence of the phallus.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre IV. La relation d'objet, 19566-57. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1991. p.67-8
  2. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p.392
  3. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book II. The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis, 1954-55. Trans. Sylvana Tomaselli. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge Unviersity Press, 1988. p.313
  4. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.65
  5. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.65
  6. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre IV. La relation d'objet, 19566-57. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1991. p.184-5
Retrieved from "https://nosubject.com/index.php?title=Absence&oldid=8449"