Changes

===The Punctuation of a Signifying Chain===To [[punctuate]] a [[signifying chain]] is to produce [[meaning]]. Before [[punctuation]], there is simply a [[chain]] of [[discourse]]. It is the [[punctuation|listener]]/[[punctuation|receiver]] who [[punctuates]] this [[discourse]] and thereby sanctions [[retroactively]] one [[particular]] [[meaning]] of an [[utterance]].

Before [[punctuation]], there is simply a [[chain]] of [[discourse]]. It is the listener/receiver who [[punctuate]]s this [[discourse]] and thereby sanctions [[retroactive]]ly one particular [[meaning]] of an [[utterance]].  ===The Illusion of a Fixed Meaning===

<blockquote>"The [[punctuation]], once inserted, fixes the [[meaning]]."<ref>{{E}} p.99</ref> ==Communication==This is essential in the [[structure]] of [[communication]], where "the sender receives his own message from the receiver."</blockquote>

===The Structure of Communication===This is essential in the [[structure]] of [[communication]], where "the sender receives his own [[message]] from the receiver." It is illustrated in the "[[graph of desire|elementary cell]]" of the [[graph of desire]].

==Examples=Psychoanalysis===

===Mother-Child Dual Relation===In the first of these situations, the [[baby]] who has not yet acquired [[speech]] can only articulate his [[need]]s in a very [[primitive ]] kind of [[demand]], namely by screaming.   There is no way of [[knowing ]] for sure whether a scream articulates hunger, [[pain]], tiredness, [[fear]], or something else, and yet the [[mother ]] [[interpretation|interprets ]] it in one particular way, thus determining its [[meaning ]] [[retroactive]]ly.

[[Punctuation]] is one of the forms which the [[intervention ]] of the [[analyst]] may take; by [[punctuation|punctuating ]] the [[analysand]]'s [[discourse ]] in an unexpected way, the [[analyst]] can [[retroactively ]] alter the [[consciousness|intended ]] [[meaning]] of the [[analysand]]'s [[speech]]: "changing the punctuation renews or upsets" the fixed [[meaning]] that the [[analysand]] had attributed to his own [[speech]].<ref>{{E}} p. 99</ref> Such [[punctuation]] is a way of "showing the [[subject]] that he is saying more than he thinks he is."<ref>{{S1}} p. 54</ref> The [[analyst]] can [[punctuate]] the [[analysand]]'s [[discourse]] simply by [[repetition|repeating]] part of the [[analysand]]'s [[speech]] back to him (perhaps with a different intonation or in a different context). For example, if the [[analysand]] says ''tu es ma mère'' ("you are my mother"), the [[analyst]] may [[repeat]] it in such a way as to bring out the homophony of this phrase with ''tuer ma mère'' ("to kill my mother").<ref>{{E}} p. 269</ref>

"changing ===Psychoanalytic Treatment===Alternatively, the punctuation renews or upsets" [[analyst]] can also [[punctuate]] the fixed [[meaninganalysand]]'s [[speech]] by a [[moment]] of [[silence]] that , or by interrupting the [[analysand]] had attributed to his own , or by terminating the [[speechsession]]at an opportune moment.<ref>{{E}} p.9944</ref>This last [[form]] of [[punctuation]] has been a source of controversy throughout the [[history]] of [[Lacan]]ian [[psychoanalysis]], since it contravenes the traditional [[IPA]] [[practice]] of [[punctuation|sessions of fixed duration]].

Such [[punctuation]] is a way of "showing the subject that he is saying more than he thinks he is."<ref>{{S1}} p.54</ref>  The [[analyst]] can [[punctuate]] the [[analysand]]'s [[discourse]] simply by repeating part of the [[analysand]]'s [[speech]] back to him (perhaps with a different intonation or in a different context).  For example, if the [[analysand]] says ''tu es ma mère'' ("you are my mother"), the [[analyst]] may repeat it in such a way as to bring out the homophony of this phrase with ''tuer ma mère'' ("to kill my mother").<ref>{{E}} p.269</ref> ==="Sessions of Variable Duration"===Alternatively, the [[analyst]] can also [[punctuate]] the [[analysandLacan]]'s [[speech]] by a moment of [[silence]], or by interrupting the [[analysand]], or by terminating the [[session]] at an opportune moment.<ref>{{E]] p.44</ref> This last form practice of [[punctuation]] has been a source of controversy throughout the history of [[Lacan]]ian [[psychoanalysis]], since it contravenes the traditional [[IPA]] [[practice]] of [[session]]s of [[sessions of variable duration|fixed duration]].  [[Lacan]]'s [[practice]] of [[sessions of variable duration]] ([[French]]: ''[[punctuation|séances scandées]]'') came to be one of the main reasons that the [[IPA]] gave for excluding him when the [[SFP]] was negotiating for [[IPA]] [[recognition ]] in the early 1960s.  Today, the [[technique]] of [[punctuation]], especially as expressed in the [[practice]] of [[punctuation|sessions of variable duration]], continues to be a distinctive feature of [[Lacanian]] [[psychoanalysis]].

* [[Sessions of variable durationStructure]]||* [[Time]]* [[Treatment]]

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