Difference between revisions of "Discourse"
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"[[Discourse]]" ([[Fr]]. ''[[discours]]'') | "[[Discourse]]" ([[Fr]]. ''[[discours]]'') | ||
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[[Lacan]] identifies four possible types of social bond, four possible articulations of the [[symbolic order|symbolic network]] which regulates [[intersubjectivity|intersubjective relations]]. | [[Lacan]] identifies four possible types of social bond, four possible articulations of the [[symbolic order|symbolic network]] which regulates [[intersubjectivity|intersubjective relations]]. | ||
| − | These "[[four discourses]]" are the [[discourse of the master]], the [[discourse of the university]], the [[discourse of the hysteric]], and the [[discourse of the analyst]]. | + | These "[[four discourses]]" are the [[discourse|discourse of the master]], the [[discourse|discourse of the university]], the [[discourse|discourse of the hysteric]], and the [[discourse|discourse of the analyst]]. |
[[Lacan]] represents each of the [[four discourses]] by an algorithm: each algorithm contains the following four [[algebraic]] [[symbol]]s: | [[Lacan]] represents each of the [[four discourses]] by an algorithm: each algorithm contains the following four [[algebraic]] [[symbol]]s: | ||
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The [[symbol]]s always remain in the same order, so each [[discourse]] is simply the result of rotating the [[symbol]]s a quarter turn. | The [[symbol]]s always remain in the same order, so each [[discourse]] is simply the result of rotating the [[symbol]]s a quarter turn. | ||
| − | The top-left position ("the agent") is the dominant position which defines the [[ | + | The top-left position ("the agent") is the dominant position which defines the [[discourse]]. |
In addition to the four [[symbol]]s, each algorithm also contains an arrow going from the agent to the other. | In addition to the four [[symbol]]s, each algorithm also contains an arrow going from the agent to the other. | ||
Revision as of 07:08, 30 July 2006
Jacques Lacan
Whenever Lacan uses the term "discourse" (rather than, say, "speech") it is in order to stress the transindividual nature of language, the fact that [speech]] always implies another subject, an interlocutor.
Thus the famous Lacanian formula, "the unconscious is the discourse of the Other" designates the unconscious as the effects on the subject of speech that is addressed to him from elsewhere; by another subject who has been forgotten, by another psychic locality (the other scene).
Four Discourses
In 1969, Lacan begins to use the term "discourse" in a slightly different way, though one that still carries with it the stress on intersubjectivity.
From this point on the term designates "a social bond, founded in language."[1]
Lacan identifies four possible types of social bond, four possible articulations of the symbolic network which regulates intersubjective relations.
These "four discourses" are the discourse of the master, the discourse of the university, the discourse of the hysteric, and the discourse of the analyst.
Lacan represents each of the four discourses by an algorithm: each algorithm contains the following four algebraic symbols:
What distinguishes the four discourses from one another is the positions of these four symbols.
There are four positions in the algorithms of the four discourses, each of which is designated by a different name.
The names of the four positions are shown below; Lacan gives different names to these positions at different points in his work, and this figure is taken from the 1972-3 seminar.[2]
Each discourse is defined by writing the four algebraic symbols in a different position.
The symbols always remain in the same order, so each discourse is simply the result of rotating the symbols a quarter turn.
The top-left position ("the agent") is the dominant position which defines the discourse.
In addition to the four symbols, each algorithm also contains an arrow going from the agent to the other.
The four discourses are shown in the figure below.
---
In 1971, Lacan proposes that the position of the agent is also the position of the semblance.
In 1972, Lacan inscribes two arrows in the formulas isntead of one; one arrows (which Lacan labels "impossibility") goes from the agent to the other, and the other arrow (which is labelled "powerlessness") goes from production to truth.[3]
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre XX. Encore, 1972-73. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1975. p.21
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre XX. Encore, 1972-73. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1975. p.21
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre XX. Encore, 1972-73. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1975. p.21
