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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]].

To avoid =====Upholstery Button=====It literally designates an [[upholstery button]], the analogy [[being]] that just as [[upholstery button]]s are places where "the confusion resulting mattress-maker's needle has worked hard to prevent a shapeless mass of stuffing from this variety of translationmoving too freely [[about]].<ref>Bowie, Malcolm. (1991) ''Lacan'', [[London]]: Fontana. p.74</ref>, " so the term has here been left in the original ''[[Frenchpoints de capiton]]'' are points at which the "signified and signifier are knotted together."<ref>{{S3}} p. 268</ref>

Literally an =====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 [upholstery button[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 has also been translated as is that in the [[psychotic]] [[experience]], "the signifier and the signified [[present]] themselves in a completely [[divided]] [[anchoring pointform]]."<ref>{{S3}} p. 268</ref>.

It literally designates an =====Illusion of a Fixed Meaning=====The ''[[upholstery buttonpoint de capiton]], '' is thus the point in the analogy being that just as [[upholstery buttonsignifying chain]]s are places where at which "the signifier stops the otherwise endless movement of the signification"and produces the mattress-maker's needle has worked hard to prevent necessary [[illusion]] of a shapeless mass of stuffing from moving too freely about,fixed [[meaning]].<ref>Bowie, 1991: 74{{E}} p. 303</ref>

The =====Diachronic and Synchronic Dimension=====Since the [[upholstery buttonsignifying chain]] is an has both a [[anchoring pointdiachronic]] on and a quilt which "prevents a shapeless mass of stuffing from moving too freely about.<ref>Bowie[[synchronic]] [[dimension]], Malcolm. 1991. p.74</ref> so also does the ''[[point de capiton]]'':

In the same way, =====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 point ([[signifierretroactive]] effect of [[punctuation]]. It is only when the [[sentence]]) is completed that fixes the [[meaningsense]] of the first [[words]] inside an is determined [[ideologicalretroactively]]. This function is illustrated in the [[graph of desire|elementary cell]] of the [[graph of desire]] field, stops in which the ''[[meaningpoint de capiton]] from sliding about'' is the leftmost point of intersection between the vector '''S - S'''' and the vector.

In =====Synchronic Dimension=====The [[synchronic]] aspect is [[metaphor]], by which the same way, [[signifier]] crosses the ''[[point de capitonbar]]'' is a point at which "into the [[signified and signifier are knotted together."<ref>{{S3}} p]].268</ref>

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]].<refblockquote>{{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.</blockquote>

{{See}}* [[Signifyin chainGraph of desire]]

* [[Signifier]]/[[SignifiedPunctuation]]||* [[MeaningSignification]]* [[SubjectSignified]]||* [[InterpretationSignifier]]* [[Synchronic]]/[[DiachronicSignifying chain]]* [[IdeologySlip]]* [[Illusion]]{{Also}}