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[[Image:graphdesire2.jpg |right{|frame]]Pictured above is Graph II in the series of four graphs that make up Lacan’s topology of desire (taken from Zizek The Sublime Object of Ideology 103). Before laying out how the graph depicts the movement of desire, I will first take a moment to define the symbols it uses. On the far left of the graph is the term style="Signifier," designating the starting point of the act of signification and proceeding to the "Voice," which is the final outcome of the process of significationline-height:2. At the bottom left hand corner of the graph is the symbol I(O), indicating the ego0em;width:100%;text-ideal, the imaginary version of itself with which the ego would like to be identified. Further up on the left hand side is align:justify;"e,|style=" designating the ego itself, caught halfway between the signifying chain ("Signifier" to "Voice") and the egowidth:100%;border:0px solid #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;vertical-ideal. On the bottom right hand side of the graph is align:top"S/|{| width=" (S with a bar through it), designating the barred subject, the subject split by his or her entry into the symbolic and finally never coincident with its own signification. Immediately above the barred S is a delta which feeds directly into the parabolic line which ends at I(O). This delta is the Lacanian algebra for 100%"the prelinguistic mythical subject of pure needcellpadding=" which must 2"pass through the defiles of the signifiercellspacing=" in the course of producing the barred subject (Evans 76). That is, the delta designates the embryonic subject prior to the intervention of the paternal interdiction (5"the defiles of the signifierstyle="), after which time it simply denotes desire, the urge to return to the time and place preceding that rude awakening. Midway up the right hand side of the graph is the symbol text-align:justify;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff"i(o),|-|style=" designating the specular image which the ego encounters in the mirror stage and throughout lifetext-align:justify;color:#000; it is nonline-coincident with either the ego or the ego-ideal, though it is more accurate than the ego-idealheight:2. Everything in the lower half of the 5em;align:justify;"|The [[graph, below the signifying chain, is located firmly in the imaginary order. The two circles at the points where the trajectory of S/<-> I(O) are points de capiton, points at which the signifying chain is anchored to the imaginary by the crossing trajectories of desire and signification. Within the left point de capiton is the symbol "s(O)," the signification of the other, the temporally prior point in the act of signification that bears the meaning of the Other (language) but does not yet articulate it. Inside the right point de capiton ]] is the symbol "O," indicating the Other itself, language in its ever-expanding entirety. The appearance of the Other at this point retroactively punctuates the temporally precedent s(O), allowing it to bring forth its meaning as a particular portion [[topology|topological model]] of the "‘treasure [[structure]] of the signifier’" (Bowie 190) which it guards. As the points de capiton, these two intersections represent the arbitrary but stable points in the signifying chain at which meaning appears to dangle vertically from the process of signification as well as inhering in its syntactic or horizontal movement[[desire]].

In terms of its movement, this ==History==[[Jacques Lacan]] began to develop the [[graph displays the oscillating movement between I(O) and S/ as the fundamental movement of desire from the initial imaginary encounter with the specular image to the formation of the ideal]] in his [[{{Y}}|1957]]-ego and on to the foundation of the barred subject[[{{Y}}|58]] [[seminar]], ''[[Seminar V|Les formations de l'inconscient]]''. Crossing that trajectory from left to right is the signifying chain<ref>[[Jacques Lacan|Lacan, from Signifier to Voice as an instance of the speech which makes of the subject a "parlêtreJacques]]." This movement is only provisionally unidirectional, however; between the points ''[[Seminar V|Les formations de capiton there is a retrogressive movement by which the punctuation l'inconscient]]''. [[Seminar V|The Formations of the Other fixes the meaning Unconscious]]. [[{{Y}}|1957]]-[[{{Y}}|58]]</ref> The [[graph of the signification desire]] reappears in some of the other following [[seminar]]s in the particular utterance. This fixation is also a deflectionvarious forms, however, as it interferes with the direct path between although the subject and the ideal-ego. Furthermore, the placement most well known [[form]] of the arc of this deflection above the signifying chain reveals that it is an unconscious process, since though we may be aware of the temporal construction of meaning appears in the linear development of grammar, its effect on our psyche is one "[[The Subversion of an always-already established meaning. Finally, the two smaller cells contained in Subject and the lower half Dialectic of the graph play on the analogy between the imaginary identification between the specular image (i(o)) and the ego (e) and the way Desire in which the signification of the Other (s(O)) is never quite coincident with the Other itself (O); both are imaginary relationsFreudian Unconscious]]. The first short-circuits the symbolic order by refusing to articulate its processes of identification"<ref>[[Jacques Lacan|Lacan, while the second represents the imaginary aspect Jacques]]. "[[Works of the signifying chainJacques Lacan|Subversion du sujet et dialectique du désir dans l'inconscient freudien]]." ''[[Écrits]]''. [[Paris]]: Seuil, the realm of the signified as the arbitrary sound1966. p.793-images which lend some semblance of coherence to the symbolic order827. As a final addition to this graph, we might position the objet a at the center "[[The subversion of it all as the absent still point around which subject and the machinery dialectic of desire, signification, and identification turns in the psychic life of the subjectFreudian unconscious]]." [[Ecrits: A Selection]]. Trans. Alan [[Sheridan]]. [[Bruce Fink]]. [[London]]: Tavistock. 1977. New York: W. W. Norton. 2004. p. 292-325</ref>

== def Four Stages==The '''In this paper, [[Lacan]] builds up the [[graph of desire''' is a conceptual tool from the psychoanalytic theory of ]] in four [[Jacques Lacanstages]].

===Elementary Cell===The first of these stages in the "[[graph of desire|elementary cell]]" of the [[graph of desire|graph]].<ref>{{E}} p.303</ref> The horizontal line represents the [[diachronic]] [[signifying chain]]; the horseshoe-shaped line represents the vector of the [[subject]]'s [[intention]]ality. The [[double]] intersection of these two lines illustrates the [[nature]] of [[time|retroaction]]: the [[message]], at the point marked '''s(A)''' in the [[graph of desire|elementary cell]], is the ''[[point de capiton]]'' determined [[time|retroactively]] by the [[particular]] [[punctuation]] given to it by the [[Other]], '''A'''. The [[linguistic|prelinguistic]] [[mythical]] [[subject]] of pure [[need]], indicated by the [[triangle]], must [[pass]] through the defiles of the [[signifier]] which produces the [[divided]] [[subject]], '''$'''. ===Intermediate Stages===The intermediate stages of the [[graph of desire]] are not meant to show any [[progress|evolution]] or [[development|temporal development]], since the [[graph of desire|graph]] always [[exists]] as a [[whole]]; they are simply pedagogical devices used by [[Lacan]] in [[order]] to illustrate the [[structure]] of the [[graph of desire|complete graph]].<ref>{{E}} p.315</ref> Nevertheless, [[Lacan]] never intended to describe the genetic stages of a [[biological]] [[development]]. Rather, it represents the "[[logical]] moments" of the [[birth]] of a [[speaking]] [[subject]]. ===Complete Graph=== In the [[completed graph]] there are not one but two [[signifying chain]]s. The lower [[chain]] (from the [[signifier]] to the [[voice]]) is the [[conscious]] [[signifying chain]], the level of the [[statement]]. The upper [[chain]] (from ''[[jouissance]]'' to [[castration]]) is the [[signifying chain]] in the [[unconscious]], the level of the [[enunciation]]. The [[structure]] is thus duplicated: the upper part of the [[graph]] is [[structured]] exactly like the lower part. ==See Also=={{See}}* [[Desire]]* ''[[Point de capiton]]''||* [[Signifier]]* [[Signifying Chain]]||* [[Structure]]* [[Subject]]||* [[Unconscious]]* [[Topology]]{{Also}} ==References==<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small"><references/></div> |-|} |style="width:200px;background-color:#ffffff;vertical-align:top;color:#000"|{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="text-align:justify;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff"|-|style="color:#000;line-height:2em;width:100%;";| {| align="[[right]]" style="line-height:2.0em;margin-left:10px;text-align:right;background-color:#fcfcfc;border:1px solid #aaa" | [[French]]: ''[[graphe du désir]] |} [[Image:GRAPHOFDESIRE-ONE.jpg||thumb|]][[Image:GRAPHOFDESIRE-TWO.jpg|thumb|]][[Image:Vector2.jpg|thumb|]][[Image:Goodwill.jpg|thumb|]]  |-|}<!-- Start of right-column -->|}  [[Category:Psychoanalysis]][[Category:Jacques Lacan]][[Category:Dictionary]][[Category:Concepts]]