Difference between revisions of "Point de capiton"

From No Subject - Encyclopedia of Psychoanalysis
Jump to: navigation, search
 
(The LinkTitles extension automatically added links to existing pages (<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://github.com/bovender/LinkTitles">https://github.com/bovender/LinkTitles</a>).)
 
(28 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 +
{| align="[[right]]" style="line-height:2.0em;text-align:right;margin-left: 10px;background-color:#fcfcfc;border:1px solid #aaa"
 +
| [[French]]: [[quilting point|point de capiton{{Bottom}}
  
 +
The [[French]] term ''[[point de capiton]]'' is variously translated in [[English]] editions of [[Lacan]]'s [[work]] as "[[quilting point]]" or "[[anchoring point]]."  To avoid the confusion resulting from this variety of [[translation]], the term has here been [[left]] in the original [[French]].
  
The [[French]] term ''[[point de capiton]]'' is variously translated in [[English]] editions of [[Lacan]]'s work as '[[quilting point]]' or '[[anchoring point]]'.  
+
=====Upholstery Button=====
 +
It literally designates an [[upholstery button]], the analogy [[being]] that just as [[upholstery button]]s are places where "the mattress-maker's needle has worked hard to prevent a shapeless mass of stuffing from moving too freely [[about]].<ref>Bowie, Malcolm. (1991) ''Lacan'', [[London]]: Fontana. p.74</ref>," so the ''[[points de capiton]]'' are points at which the "signified and signifier are knotted together."<ref>{{S3}} p. 268</ref>
  
To avoid the confusion resulting from this variety of translation, the term has here been left in the original [[French]].  
+
=====Slippage=====
 +
[[Lacan]] introduces the term in his 1955-6 [[seminar]] on [[the psychoses]] to account for the fact that despite the continual [[slip]]page of the [[signified]] under the [[signifier]], there are nevertheless in the normal ([[neurotic]]) [[subject]] certain fundamental "attachment points" between the [[signified]] and the [[signifier]] where this [[slip]]page is temporarily halted.  A certain minimum [[number]] of these points are "necessary for a person to be called normal," and "when they are not established, or when they give way'" the result is [[psychosis]].<ref>{{S3}} pp. 268-9</ref> This helps to explain how it is that in the [[psychotic]] [[experience]], "the signifier and the signified [[present]] themselves in a completely [[divided]] [[form]]."<ref>{{S3}} p. 268</ref>.
  
Literally an "[[upholstery button]]" it has also been translated as "[[anchoring point]]".  
+
=====Illusion of a Fixed Meaning=====
 +
The ''[[point de capiton]]'' is thus the point in the [[signifying chain]] at which "the signifier stops the otherwise endless movement of the signification" and produces the necessary [[illusion]] of a fixed [[meaning]].<ref>{{E}} p. 303</ref>
  
It literally designates an [[upholstery button]], the analogy being that just as [[upholstery button]]s are places where "the mattress-maker's needle has worked hard to prevent a shapeless mass of stuffing from moving too freely about,<ref>Bowie, 1991: 74</ref>
+
=====Diachronic and Synchronic Dimension=====
 +
Since the [[signifying chain]] has both a [[diachronic]] and a [[synchronic]] [[dimension]], so also does the ''[[point de capiton]]'':
  
The [[upholstery button]] is an [[anchoring point]] on a quilt which "prevents a shapeless mass of stuffing from moving too freely about.<ref>Bowie, Malcolm. 1991. p.74</ref>
+
=====Diachronic Dimension=====
 +
[[Image:GRAPHOFDESIRE-ONE.jpg|thumb|right|[[graph of desire|The elementary cell]]]]
 +
The [[diachronic]] dimension of the ''[[point de capiton]]'' lies in the fact that [[communication]] is always a [[retroactive]] effect of [[punctuation]].  It is only when the [[sentence]] is completed that the [[sense]] of the first [[words]] is determined [[retroactively]]. This function is illustrated in the [[graph of desire|elementary cell]] of the [[graph of desire]], in which the ''[[point de capiton]]'' is the leftmost point of intersection between the vector '''S - S'''' and the vector.
  
In the same way, the [[point de capiton]] is a point ([[signifier]]) that fixes the [[meaning]] inside an [[ideological]] field, stops the [[meaning]] from sliding about.
+
=====Synchronic Dimension=====
 +
The [[synchronic]] aspect is [[metaphor]], by which the [[signifier]] crosses the [[bar]] into the [[signified]].  
  
In the same way, the [[point de capiton]] is a point at which "signified and signifier are knotted together."<ref>{{S3}} p.268</ref>
+
<blockquote>"The [[synchronic]] [[structure]] (of the ''[[point de capiton]]'') is more hidden, and it is this [[structure]] that takes us to the source. It is [[metaphor]]."<ref>{{E}} p.303</ref></blockquote>
 
 
The [[signifiers]] or [[signifying chain]] are unstable and liable to [[slippage]]s of [[meaning]].
 
 
 
[[Lacan]] introduces the term in his 1955-6 [[seminar]] on [[the psychoses]] to account for the fact that despite the continual [[slip]]page of the [[signified]] under the [[signifier]], thereare nevertheless in the normal ([[neurotic]]) [[subject]] certain fundamental "attachment points" between the [[signified]] and the [[signifier]] where this [[slip]]page is temporarily halted.
 
 
 
A certain minimum number of these points are "necessary for a person to be called normal," and "when they are not established, or when they give way'" the result is [[psychosis]].<ref>{{S3}} p.268-9</ref>
 
 
 
This helps to explain how it is that in the [[psychotic]] experience, "the signifier and the signified present themselves in a completely divided form."<ref>{{S3}} p.268</ref>.
 
 
 
The [[point de capiton]] is thus the point in the [[signifying chain]] at which "the signifier stops the otherwise endless movement of the signification" and produces the necessary [[illusion]] of a fixed [[meaning]].<ref>{{E}} p.303</ref>
 
 
 
For [[Lacan]] the link between [[signifier]] and signified is so precarious that whereas [[Saussure]] saw the whole [[system]] as more or less grounded, [[Lacan]] sees only occasional points of [[stability]].
 
 
 
These points of [[stability]] are referred to as [[points de capiton]], or "quilting points," points "by which the signifier stops the otherwise endless movement to produce "the necessary illusion of a fixed meaning."
 
 
 
==Diachrony and Synchrony==
 
Since the [[signifying chain]] has both a [[diachronic]] and a [[synchronic]] dimension, so also does the [[point de capiton]]:
 
 
 
===Diachrony===
 
1. The [[diachronic]] dimension of the [[point de capiton]] lies in the fact that [[communication]] is always a [[retroactive]] effect of [[punctuation]].
 
 
 
It is only when the sentence is completed that the sense of the first words is determined [[retroactively]].
 
 
 
This function is illustrated in the elementary cell of the [[graph of desire]], in which the [[point de capiton]] is the leftmost point of intersection between the vector S-S' and the vector A-S.
 
 
 
===Synchrony===
 
2. The [[synchronic]] aspect is [[metaphor]], by which the [[signifier]] crosses the [[bar]] into the [[signified]].
 
 
 
"The [[synchronic]] [[structure]] (of the point [[de capiton]]) is more hidden, and it is this [[structure]] that takes us to the source. It is [[metaphor]]."<ref>{{E}} p.303</ref>.
 
 
 
==Ideology==
 
The [[signifiers]] or [[signifying chain]] are unstable and liable to [[slippage]]s of [[meaning]].
 
 
 
How does an [[ideology]] maintain its consistency?
 
What keeps of [[ideological]] field of [[meaning]] consistent?
 
Any given [[ideological]] field is "quilted" by the [[point de capiton]]
 
A point de capiton unifies an ideological field and provides it with an identity.
 
 
 
What is at issue in the conflict of [[ideologies]] is precisely the [[point de capiton]].
 
 
 
[[Signifiers]] such as "[[freedom]]", "[[democracy]]", "[[human rights]]," etc. are open-ended.
 
Their [[meanings]] can slide about depending on the context of their use.
 
 
 
For example, a [[right-wing]] [[interpretation]] of the word "[[freedom]]" might use it to designate the [[freedom]] to speculate on the [[market]], whereas a [[left-wing]] [[interpretation]] of it might use it designate [[freedom]] from the inequalities of the [[market]].
 
 
 
The word "[[freedom]]" therefore does not mean the same thing in all possible worlds: what pins its [[meaning]] down is the [[point de capiton]].
 
 
 
==Imaginary==
 
Perhaps the most important feature of the [[point de capiton]] is that the [[stability]] it provides is, however necessary, an [[illusion]].
 
 
 
The [[point de capiton]] is an instance of [[imaginary]] [[identification]] disrupting the integrity and [[rationality]] of the [[symbolic]] [[order]] itself.
 
 
 
Though these disruptions are strictly speaking inimical to the [[symbolic]] [[order]], they are also vital to its [[existence]] as a field for producing [[meaning]], for such disruptions serve to anchor the [[signifying chain]] and keep it from devolving into a [[psychotic]] process of pure [[linguistic]] [[self-referentiality]] without even the [[illusion]] of [[external]] reference.
 
  
 +
<!-- But if each signification refers to [[another]] signification, and that signification refers to another one, in an endless [[chain]], how do we decide what words mean?  The [[Lacanian]] term point de capiton (literally, an upholstery stud) refers to a point of convergence.  Just as an upholstery stud or button is the center for the converging lines or creases on the surface of a taut fabric, so the [[linguistic]] ''point de capiton'' provides a vantage point from which everything that happens in a given [[discourse]] can be situated both retroactively and prospectively. The subject attaches [[significance]] to certain signifier; these [[signifiers]], like upholstery buttons, pin down the [[floating]] mass of [[signification]].  Lacan stresses the fact that we do not [[understand]] a sentence until we [[know]] we have reached the end; its meaning remains in suspense until the closure.  A point de capiton, then, is the "anchoring point" by which the signifier stops the otherwise endless movement of signification.  Its diachronic function is to put a halt to the otherwise endless [[process]] whereby signifier refers to signifier. -->
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==
* [[Signifyin chain]]
+
{{See}}
 +
* [[Graph of desire]]
 
* [[Psychosis]]
 
* [[Psychosis]]
* [[Signifier]]/[[Signified]]
+
* [[Punctuation]]
* [[Meaning]]
+
||
* [[Subject]]
+
* [[Signification]]
* [[Interpretation]]
+
* [[Signified]]
* [[Synchronic]]/[[Diachronic]]
+
||
* [[Ideology]]
+
* [[Signifier]]
* [[Illusion]]
+
* [[Signifying chain]]
 +
* [[Slip]]
 +
{{Also}}
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 +
<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small">
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 +
</div>
  
[[Category:Ideology]]
 
[[Category:Theory]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalytic theory]]
 
[[Category:Symbolic]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
[[Category:Help]]
 
[[Category:New]]
 
 
[[Category:Dictionary]]
 
[[Category:Dictionary]]
 +
[[Category:Symbolic]]
 +
[[Category:Language]]
 +
[[Category:Concepts]]
 +
[[Category:Terms]]
 +
[[Category:OK]]
 +
 +
__NOTOC__
 +
__NOEDITSECTION__

Latest revision as of 21:08, 20 May 2019

French: point de capiton

The French term point de capiton is variously translated in English editions of Lacan's work as "quilting point" or "anchoring point." To avoid the confusion resulting from this variety of translation, the term has here been left in the original French.

Upholstery Button

It literally designates an upholstery button, the analogy being that just as upholstery buttons are places where "the mattress-maker's needle has worked hard to prevent a shapeless mass of stuffing from moving too freely about.[1]," so the points de capiton are points at which the "signified and signifier are knotted together."[2]

Slippage

Lacan introduces the term in his 1955-6 seminar on the psychoses to account for the fact that despite the continual slippage of the signified under the signifier, there are nevertheless in the normal (neurotic) subject certain fundamental "attachment points" between the signified and the signifier where this slippage is temporarily halted. A certain minimum number of these points are "necessary for a person to be called normal," and "when they are not established, or when they give way'" the result is psychosis.[3] This helps to explain how it is that in the psychotic experience, "the signifier and the signified present themselves in a completely divided form."[4].

Illusion of a Fixed Meaning

The point de capiton is thus the point in the signifying chain at which "the signifier stops the otherwise endless movement of the signification" and produces the necessary illusion of a fixed meaning.[5]

Diachronic and Synchronic Dimension

Since the signifying chain has both a diachronic and a synchronic dimension, so also does the point de capiton:

Diachronic Dimension

The diachronic dimension of the point de capiton lies in the fact that communication is always a retroactive effect of punctuation. It is only when the sentence is completed that the sense of the first words is determined retroactively. This function is illustrated in the elementary cell of the graph of desire, in which the point de capiton is the leftmost point of intersection between the vector S - S' and the vector.

Synchronic Dimension

The synchronic aspect is metaphor, by which the signifier crosses the bar into the signified.

"The synchronic structure (of the point de capiton) is more hidden, and it is this structure that takes us to the source. It is metaphor."[6]

See Also

References

  1. Bowie, Malcolm. (1991) Lacan, London: Fontana. p.74
  2. Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p. 268
  3. Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. pp. 268-9
  4. Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p. 268
  5. Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 303
  6. Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.303