Difference between revisions of "Name-of-the-Father"

From No Subject - Encyclopedia of Psychoanalysis
Jump to: navigation, search
m
Line 10: Line 10:
 
From the beginning [[Lacan]] plays on the homophony of '''''le nom du père''''' ('''the [[Name-of-the-Father|name of the father]]''') and '''''le 'non' du père''''' ('''the "[[law|no]]" of the [[father]]'''), to emphasize the '''[[law|legislative and prohibitive function]]''' of the '''[[symbolic]] [[father]]'''.
 
From the beginning [[Lacan]] plays on the homophony of '''''le nom du père''''' ('''the [[Name-of-the-Father|name of the father]]''') and '''''le 'non' du père''''' ('''the "[[law|no]]" of the [[father]]'''), to emphasize the '''[[law|legislative and prohibitive function]]''' of the '''[[symbolic]] [[father]]'''.
  
===Fundamental Signifier===
+
=====Fundamental Signifier=====
A few years later, in the [[seminar]] on the [[psychoses]], the expression becomes capitalized and hyphenated and takes on a more precise meaning;  the [[Name-of-the-Father]] is now the [[fundamental signifier]] which permits [[signification]] to proceed normally.
+
A few years later, in the [[seminar]] on the [[psychoses]], the expression becomes capitalized and hyphenated and takes on a more precise meaning;  the [[Name-of-the-Father]] is now the '''[[fundamental signifier]]''' which permits '''[[signification]]''' to proceed normally.
  
This [[fundamental signifier]] both confers [[identification|identity]] on the [[subject]] (it names him, positions him within the [[symbolic order]]) and [[signification|signifies]] the [[Oedipal]] [[prohibition]], the 'no' of the [[incest]] [[taboo]].
+
This '''[[fundamental signifier]]''' both confers [[identification|identity]] on the [[subject]] (it names him, positions him within the '''[[symbolic order]]''') and [[signification|signifies]] the '''[[Oedipus complex|Oedipal]] [[law|prohibition]]''', the ''''no'''' of the [[incest]] [[taboo]].
  
If this [[signifier]] is [[foreclosed]] (not included in the [[symbolic order]]), the result is [[psychosis]].
+
If this [[signifier]] is '''[[foreclosed]]''' (not included in the '''[[symbolic order]]'''), the result is '''[[psychosis]]'''.
  
 
===Paternal Metaphor===
 
===Paternal Metaphor===
In another work on [[psychosis]], [[Lacan]] represents of the [[Oedipus complex]] as a [[metaphor]] ([[paternal metaphor]]), in which one [[signifier]] (the [[Name-of-the-Father]]) substitutes another (the [[desire]] of the [[mother]]).
+
In another work on [[psychosis]], [[Lacan]] represents of the '''[[Oedipus complex]]''' as a '''[[metaphor]]''' ('''[[paternal metaphor]]'''), in which one [[signifier]] (the [[Name-of-the-Father]]) [[metaphor|substitutes]] another (the [[desire]] of the [[mother]]).
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==
Line 28: Line 28:
 
* [[Law]]
 
* [[Law]]
 
* [[Metaphor]]  
 
* [[Metaphor]]  
 +
* [[Mother]]
 
* [[Oedipus complex]]
 
* [[Oedipus complex]]
 
||
 
||
 +
* [[Paternal metaphor]]
 
* [[Psychosis]]  
 
* [[Psychosis]]  
 +
* [[Seminar]]
 +
||
 
* [[Signification]]
 
* [[Signification]]
 
* [[Signifier]]  
 
* [[Signifier]]  
 +
* [[Symbolic]]
 
{{Also}}
 
{{Also}}
  
Line 39: Line 44:
  
 
[[category:Freudian psychology]]
 
[[category:Freudian psychology]]
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
 
[[Category:Linguistics]]
 
[[Category:Linguistics]]
[[Category:Dictionary]]
 
 
[[Category:Language]]
 
[[Category:Language]]
 
[[Category:Symbolic]]
 
[[Category:Symbolic]]
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
 
{{OK}}
 
{{OK}}
  
 
__NOTOC__
 
__NOTOC__

Revision as of 04:52, 3 September 2006

French: Nom-du-Père

Jacques Lacan

Symbolic Father

When the expression "the name of the father" first appeared in Lacan’s work, in the early 1950s, it is without capital letters and refers generally to the "prohibitive role" of the "symbolic father" as the one who lays down the incest taboo in the Oedipus complex.

"It is in the 'name of the father' that we must recognize the support of the symbolic function which, from the dawn of history, has identified his person with the figure of the law."[1]

Legislative and Prohibitive Function

From the beginning Lacan plays on the homophony of le nom du père (the name of the father) and le 'non' du père (the "no" of the father), to emphasize the legislative and prohibitive function of the symbolic father.

Fundamental Signifier

A few years later, in the seminar on the psychoses, the expression becomes capitalized and hyphenated and takes on a more precise meaning; the Name-of-the-Father is now the fundamental signifier which permits signification to proceed normally.

This fundamental signifier both confers identity on the subject (it names him, positions him within the symbolic order) and signifies the Oedipal prohibition, the 'no' of the incest taboo.

If this signifier is foreclosed (not included in the symbolic order), the result is psychosis.

Paternal Metaphor

In another work on psychosis, Lacan represents of the Oedipus complex as a metaphor (paternal metaphor), in which one signifier (the Name-of-the-Father) substitutes another (the desire of the mother).

See Also

References

  1. Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.67