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=====Jacques Lacan==========Ferdinand de Saussure=====[[Lacan]]'s frequent references to the "[[letter]]" must be seen within the context of [[Saussure]]'s [[discussion ]] of [[language]]. In his ''[[Saussure|Course in General Linguistics]]'', [[Saussure]] privileges [[speech|spoken]] [[language]] above [[writing|written]] [[language]], on the grounds that the former appears before the latter both in the [[time|history]] of [[human|humanity]] and in the [[life]] of the [[individual]]. [[Writing]] is conceived of as a mere secondhand [[representation]] of [[speech|spoken]] [[language]], and the [[signifier]] is conceived of as purely an acoustic [[image]] and not as a graphic one.<ref>[[Saussure|Saussure, Ferdinand de]]. ''[[Saussure|Course in General Linguistics]]'', 1916. Ed. Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, trans. Wade Baskin, Glasgow: Collins Fontana.</ref>

=====Spoken and Written Language==Materiality===In his ''When [[Saussure|Course in General LinguisticsLacan]]'', takes up [[Saussure]] privileges 's [[speech|spokenwork]] [[language]] above [[writing|written]] [[language]], on the grounds that the former appears before the latter both in the [[time|history]] of [[human|humanity]] and in the life 1950s, he adapts it freely to his own purposes. He thus conceives of the individual. [[Writingletter]] is conceived of , not as a mere secondhand graphic representation of a sound, but as the [[speechmaterialism|spokenmaterial basis]] of [[language]], and the [[signifier]] is conceived of as purely an acoustic image and not as a graphic oneitself.<refblockquote>"By ''letter'' I designate that [[Saussure|Saussure, Ferdinand dematerial]]. ''support that [[Saussure|Course in General Linguisticsconcrete]]'', 1916discourse borrows from language. Ed. Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, trans. Wade Baskin, Glasgow: Collins Fontana"<ref>{{E}} p.147</ref></blockquote>

=====Jacques Lacan==========Material Basis of Language=====When The [[letter]] is thus connected with the [[Lacanreal]] takes up , a [[Saussurematerialism|material substrate]]'s work in that underpins the 1950s, he adapts it freely to his own purposes[[symbolic order]]. He thus conceives The [[concept]] of the [[lettermaterialism|materiality]]implies, not as a mere graphic representation of a soundfor [[Lacan]], but as both the indivisibility and the [[materialism|material basisidea]] of locality; the [[letter]] is therefore "the essentially localized [[languagestructure]] itselfof the signifier."<ref>{{E}} p.153</ref>

<blockquote>"By ''===Meaning===As an element of the [[real]], the [[letter'' I designate that material support ]] is [[meaning]]less in itself. [[Lacan]] illustrates this by referring to ancient [[Egyptian hieroglyphics]], which were indecipherable to Europeans for so long. Until Champollion was able to decipher [[them]] on the basis of the Rosetta Stone, no one knew how to [[understand]] these enigmatic inscriptions, but it was nevertheless clear that concrete discourse borrows from languagethey were organized into a signifying [[system]]."<ref>{{S1}} p. 244-5; {{E}} p. 147160</ref></blockquote>In the same way, the [[signifier]] persists as a [[meaning]]less [[letter]] which makes the destiny of the [[subject]] and which he must decipher.

=====Materiality=====The A [[lettergood]] example of this is thus connected with the [[realcase]] of the [[Wolf Man]], a in which [[materialism|material substrateFreud]] noted that underpins the [[symbolic ordermeaning]]less [[letter]] V reappeared under many guides in the [[Wolf Man]]'s life. The concept of <ref>{{F}} "[[materialismWorks of Sigmund Freud|materialityFrom the History of an Infantile Neurosis]] implies, for " 1918b [1914]. [Lacan[SE]]XVII, both 3.</ref> As the indivisibility and example of the idea of locality; [[Wolf Man]] demonstrates, the [[letter]] is therefore "the essentially localized structured of that which [[return]]s and [[repetition|repeats]] itself; it constantly insists in inscribing itself in the signifier."<ref>{{E}} p[[subject]]'s life. 153</ref>

=====Meaningless in itself==Repetition===As an element [[Lacan]] illustrates this [[repetition]] by reference to [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s story ''[[The Purloined Letter]]''.<ref>Poe, Edgar Allan. 1844. "The [[Purloined Letter]]," in ''Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe'', New York: Pocket [[Library]], 1951.</ref> Playing on the [[double]]-meaning of the term "[[realletter]]", [[Lacan]] presents [[Poe]]'s account of a written document (a [[letter]]) which passes through various hands as a [[metaphor]] for the [[lettersignifier]] which circulates between various [[subject]]s, assigning a peculiar [[position]] to whoever is possessed by it.<ref>{{L}} 1955a. "[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Le séminaire sur 'La lettre volée']]", in [[meaningJacques Lacan]], ''[[Écrits]]'', [[Paris]]: Seuil, 1966, pp. 11-61 ["[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Seminar on 'The Purloined Letter']]", trans. Jeffrey Mehlman, ''Yale [[French]]less Studies'', 48 (1972): 38-72.</ref> It is in itselfthis paper that [[Lacan]] proposes that "a letter always arrives at its destination."<ref>{{Ec}} p.41</ref>

=====Examples==========Egyptian Hieroglyphics==To the Letter===It is because of the [[role]] of the [[letter]] in the [[unconscious]] that the [[Lacananalyst]] illustrates this by referring to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, which were indecipherable to Europeans for so long. Until Champollion was able to decipher them must focus not on the basis [[meaning]] or the [[signification]] of the Rosetta Stone, no one knew how to understand these enigmatic inscriptions[[analysand]]'s [[discourse]], but it was nevertheless clear that they were organized into a signifying system.<ref>{{S1}} p. 244-5purely on its [[formal]] properties; {{E}} p. 160</ref> In the same way, the [[signifieranalyst]] persists as a must read the [[meaninganalysand]]less 's [[letterspeech]] which makes the destiny of the as if it were a [[subjecttext]] and which he must decipher, "taking it literally" (''prendre à la lettre'').

=====Wolf Man=====A good example of this is the case of the [[Wolf Man]], in which [[Freud]] noted that the [[meaning]]less [[letter]] V reappeared under many guides in the [[Wolf Man]]'s life.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|From the History of an Infantile Neurosis]]," 1918b [1914]. [[SE]] XVII, 3.</ref> =====Repetition=====As the example of the [[Wolf Man]] demonstrates, the [[letter]] is essentially that which [[return]]s and [[repetition|repeats]] itself; it constantly insists in inscribing itself in the [[subject]]'s life. =====Example==========''The Purloined Letter''=====[[Lacan]] illustrates this [[repetition]] by reference to Edgar Allan Poe's story ''The Purloined Letter''.<ref>Poe, Edgar Allan. 1844. "The Purloined Letter," in ''Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe'', New York: Pocket Library, 1951.</ref> Playing on the double-meaning of the term "[[letter]]", [[Lacan]] presents Poe's account of a written document (a [[letter]]) which passes through various hands as a [[metaphor]] for the [[signifier]] which circulates between various [[subject]]s, assigning a peculiar position to whoever is possessed by it.<ref>{{L}} 1955a. "[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Le séminaire sur 'La lettre volée']]", in [[Jacques Lacan]], ''[[Écrits]]'', Paris: Seuil, 1966, pp. 11-61 ["[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Seminar on 'The Purloined Letter']]", trans. Jeffrey Mehlman, ''Yale French Studies'', 48 (1972): 38-72.</ref> =====A Letter Always Arrives at its Destination=====It is in this paper that [[Lacan]] proposes that "a letter always arrives at its destination."<ref>{{Ec}} p.41</ref> =====Role of the Analyst=====It is because of the role of the [[letter]] in the [[unconscious]] that the [[analyst]] must focus not on the [[meaning]] or the [[signification]] of the [[analysand]]'s [[discourse]], but purely on its formal properties; the [[analyst]] must read the [[analysand]]'s [[speech]] as if it were a text, "taking it literally" (''prendre à la lettre''). =====Letter and Writing=====There is thus a close connection between the [[letter]] and [[writing]], a connection which [[Lacan]] explores in his [[seminar]] of 1972-3.<ref>{{S20}} ppp. 29-38</ref>  Although both the [[letter]] and [[writing]] are located in the [[order]] of the [[real]], and hence partake of a [[meaning]]less quality, [[Lacan]] argues that the [[letter]] is that which one reads, as opposed to [[writing]], which is not to be read.<ref>{{S20}} p. 29</ref> =====Formalization and Mathemes===== [[Writing]] is also connected with the idea of [[formalization]] and the [[matheme]]s; [[Lacan]] thus speaks of his [[algebra]]ic [[symbol]]s as "[[letter]]s."<ref>{{S20}} p. 30</ref> =====Jacques Derrida===== [[Lacan]]'s concept of the [[letter]] is the subject of a critique by [[Jacques Derrida]]<ref>[[Jacques Derrida|Derrida, Jacques]] 1975. "Le facteur de la vérité," in ''The Post Card: From [[Socrates ]] to Freud and Beyond'', trans. Alan Bass, Chicago and [[London]]: [[University ]] of Chicago Press, 1987, pp. 413-96.</ref> and by two of [[Derrida]]'s followers.<ref>Lacoue-Labarthe, Philippe, and Nancy, Jean-Luc. 1973. ''Le Titre de la lettre'', Paris: Galilée.</ref>. [[Lacan]] refers to the latter work in his 1972-3 [[seminar]].<ref>{{S20}} p. 62-6.</ref>