Difference between revisions of "Signification"

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{{Les termes}}
 
  
A [[signifier]], an element of [[language]], is a material [[representation]] of a [[linguistics|linguistic]] [[sign]].
 
 
In [[psychoanalysis]], it is a [[phoneme|phonemic]] sequence of the [[discourse]] that intervenes in [[conscious]] and [[unconscious]] processes to determine the [[subject]] engaged in the discourse.
 
 
A [[signified]] is the idea or concept associated with a [[signifier]], which together constitute the [[linguistics|linguistic]] [[sign]].
 
 
These elements, which come from [[Ferdinand de Saussure]]'s [[linguistic theory]], were introduced and problematized in the field of [[psychoanalysis]] by [[Jacques Lacan]] during his "[[return to Freud]]" phase in the early 1950s.
 
 
 
Lacan relied on the following main points of Saussure's structural model.
 
 
 
The [[linguistics|linguistic]] [[sign]], which belongs to [[language]], establishes a relationship between a [[signifier]] (acoustic wave form) and a [[signified]] (concept).
 
 
The directed and temporal sequence of an articulation presupposes the division of [[language]] into two axes: the [[syntagmatic axis]], which refers to a system of [[speech]] as a system of [[sign]]s capable of being combined and concatenated, and the [[paradigmatic axis]], which refers to a system of [[language]] as a system of [[sign]]s selected and substituted for particular meanings.
 
 
A [[sign]] taken in isolation does not define a [[meaning]]: a [[signifier]] can refer to several [[signified]]s.
 
Each sign thus gains its value by being placed in the context of other signs.
 
The "break" between a flow of sounds and a flow of thought associates the signifier with a signified.
 
 
[[Freud]]'s definition of [[psychoanalysis]] as a [[treatment]] through [[speech]] led [[Lacan]] to propose that the "[[unconscious is structured like a language]]."
 
This theory, advanced and developed on the basis of Freud's work, led Lacan to assign to the [[signifier]] and to the [[structure]] of [[language]] a fundamental role in the [[unconscious]] processes of the speaking [[subject]].
 
 
At the level of the [[primary process]]es, [[Lacan]] posited an analogy between [[condensation]] and [[metaphor]], as a substitution of [[meaning]], and between [[displacement]] and [[metonymy]], as a connection in [[meaning]].
 
 
At the level of the expressions of the [[unconscious]], the elaboration of [[symptom]]s appears to be analogous to the mechanisms of [[metaphor]], while witticisms and [[slips of the tongue]] appear to be analogous to metaphorical [[condensation]] and/or [[metonymy|metonymic]] [[displacement]].
 
 
The dynamic of [[desire]] in the speaking [[subject]] is expressed in an indefinite sequence of signifiers operating metonymically.
 
However, this notion only holds because [[Lacan]] transformed [[Saussure]]'s definition of the [[linguistics|linguistic]] [[sign]] and, more specifically, that of the [[signifier]] in the [[structure]] of [[language]].
 
He referred to this as his "[[linguisteria]]" (''linguistérie'').
 
 
[[Analysis]] of the [[neurosis|neuroses]], the [[structure]] of [[unconscious]] formations, and the [[discourse]] of [[psychosis|psychotics]] led [[Lacan]] to believe that the [[signifier]] is autonomous and dominant over the [[signified]].
 
 
The [[bar]] that separates S from s shows the relationship between the [[subject]] and the [[language]].
 
The [[subject]] is thus subordinated to [[signifier]]s, without always having access to the [[meaning]] that they delimit.
 
This is seen clearly in [[psychosis|psychotic]] [[discourse]], which unleashes the [[signifier]].
 
 
The [[primacy of the signifier]] implies that [[signified]]s draw their coherence only from a [[network of signifiers]].
 
The relationship between [[signifier]] and [[signified]] can come undone at any time.
 
 
[[Lacan]] replaced [[Saussure]]'s "break" (''coupure''), Saussure's correspondence between the flow of [[signifier]]s and the flow of [[signified]]s, with the ''[[point de capiton]]'' (literally, "quilting stitch"), the operation that stops the indefinite [[slip|slippage]] of [[meaning]] by making a deferred limitation.
 
 
The logic of the [[signifier]] thus defined by [[Lacan]] calls for a change in how the [[unconscious]] processes are analyzed.
 
[[Lacan]] focused on how the [[unconscious]] expresses itself in the [[patient]]'s [[language]], as revealed through meter, punctuation, and interpretative breaks. Within this logic, certain [[signifier]]s, such as "[[phallus]]", "[[Name-of-the-Father]]", and "[[lack in the Other]]", are invested with a fundamental [[metapsychology|metapsychological]] value.
 
 
 
==See Also==
 
* [[Signifier]]
 
* [[Signified]]
 
* [[Signification]]
 
* [[bar]]
 
* [[points de capiton]]
 
* [[meaning]]
 
 
== References ==
 
<references/>
 
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Symbolic]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
 
 
 
signification (signification)
 
 
 
               
 
In Lacan's pre-1950 writings, the term 'signification' is used in a general way to connote both meaningfulness and importance (e.g. Ec, 81).
 
 
In 1946, for example, Lacan criticises organicist psychiatry for ignoring 'the significations of madness' (Ec, 167; see Ec, 153- 4).
 
 
In the period 1953-7 the term retains these vague associations with the [[Real]]m of meaning and language, and is thus located in the [[Symbolic]] order (S4, 121).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
== References ==
 
<references/>
 
 
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Dictionary]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 

Revision as of 08:34, 18 August 2006