Difference between revisions of "Signified"

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According to Saussure, the signified is the conceptual element of the [[sign]].
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It is not the real object denoted by a sign (the ppreferent[[), but a psychological entity corresponding to such an object.<ref>(Saussure, 1916: 66-7)</ref>
  
signified (sigmyiÈ) According to Saussure, the signified is the concep-
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For Saussure, the signified has the same status as the [[signifier]]; both form equal sides of the sign.  
 
 
tual element of the      SIGN. It iS DOt the real object denoted by      a sign (the
 
 
 
referent),    but  a psychological entity corresponding          to such    an object
 
 
 
(Saussure, 1916: 66-7).
 
 
 
    For Saussure, the signified has the same status as the SIGNIFIER; both form
 
 
 
equal sides of the sign. Lacan, on the other hand, asserts the supremacy of the
 
 
 
signifier, and argues that the signified is a mere effect of the play of signifiers,
 
 
 
an effect of the process of signification produced by metaphor. In other words,
 
 
 
the signified is not given, but produced.
 
 
 
    Lacan's view is thus opposed to an expressionist view of language, accord-
 
 
 
ing to which concepts exist in some pre-verbal state before being expressed in
 
 
 
the material medium of language. In contrast to such a view, Lacan asserts the
 
 
 
priority (logical rather than chronological) of the material element of language.
 
 
 
  
 +
Lacan, on the other hand, asserts the supremacy of the signifier, and argues that the signified is a mere effect of the play of signifiers, an effect of the process of signification produced by metaphor.
  
 +
In other words, the signified is not given, but produced.
 +
Lacan's view is thus opposed to an expressionist view of language, according to which concepts exist in some pre-verbal state before being expressed in the material medium of language.
 +
In contrast to such a view, Lacan asserts the priority (logical rather than chronological) of the material element of language.
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
[[Category:Lacan]]
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[[Category:Symbolic]]
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[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]

Revision as of 19:48, 7 June 2006

According to Saussure, the signified is the conceptual element of the sign. It is not the real object denoted by a sign (the ppreferent[[), but a psychological entity corresponding to such an object.[1]

For Saussure, the signified has the same status as the signifier; both form equal sides of the sign.

Lacan, on the other hand, asserts the supremacy of the signifier, and argues that the signified is a mere effect of the play of signifiers, an effect of the process of signification produced by metaphor.

In other words, the signified is not given, but produced. Lacan's view is thus opposed to an expressionist view of language, according to which concepts exist in some pre-verbal state before being expressed in the material medium of language. In contrast to such a view, Lacan asserts the priority (logical rather than chronological) of the material element of language.

References

  1. (Saussure, 1916: 66-7)