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Signifier

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{{Les termes}}[[Image:SAUSSUREANALGORITHM.gif|right|thumb|Saussurean algorithm|The Saussurean algorithm]]
signifier (sigmfiant) {{Top}}[[signifiant]]{{Bottom}}
==Jacques Lacan takes the term 'signifier' from the work of the Swiss linguist, Ferdinand de Saussure. The term was not used by Freud, who was unaware of Saussure's work. According to Saussure, the signifier is the phonological element of the SIGN; not the actual sound itself, but the mental image of such a sound. In Saussure's terms, the signifier is the 'acoustic image' which signifies a SIGNIFIED (Saussure, 1916: 66--7).==
Whereas =====Ferdinand de Saussure argues that the signifier and the signified are mutually interdependent, =====[[Lacan states that ]] takes the term "[[signifier is primary and produces ]]" from the signified. The signifier is first [[work]] of all a meaningless material element in a closed differential system; this 'signifier without the signified' is called by Lacan the 'pure signifier', though this is a question of logical rather than chronological precedence. 'Every real signifier is, as such, a signifier that signifies nothing. The more the signifier signifies nothing, the more indestructible it is' (S3, 185)[[Ferdinand de Saussure]].
It According to [[Saussure]], the [[signifier]] is these meaningless indestructible signifiers which determine the subject; the effects ''phonological'' element of the signifier on '''[[sign]]'''; not the subject constitute the unconsciousactual sound itself, and hence also constitute the whole of but the field '''[[mental]] [[image]]''' of psychoanalysissuch a sound.
Thus for Lacan language In [[Saussure]]'s [[terms]], the [[signifier]] is not the "'''acoustic image'''" which signifies a system of signs [[signified]].<ref>[[Saussure|Saussure, Ferdinand de]]. (as it was for 1916) ''[[Saussure) but a system of signifiers|Course in General Linguistics]]'', ed. Signifiers are the basic units of languageCharles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, and they are 'subjected to the double condition of being reducible to ultimate differential elements and of combining according to the laws of a closed order' (Etrans. Wade Baskin, 152)Glasgow: Collins Fontana. p.66-7</ref>
=====Primacy of the Signifier=====
Whereas [[Saussure]] argues that the [[signifier]] and the '''[[signified]]''' are ''mutually interdependent'', [[Lacan]] states that the [[signifier]] is ''primary'' and produces the '''[[signified]]'''.
By The [[signifier]] is first of all a [[meaning]]less [[material]] element in a ''closed differential [[system]]''; this "'''signifier without the phrase signified''reducible to ultimate differential elements', " is called by [[Lacan follows Saussure in asserting ]] the fundamentally differential character "'''pure signifier'''", though this is a question of the signifier[[logical]] rather than [[chronological]] precedence.
Saussure states <blockquote>"Every [[real]] signifier is, as such, a signifier that in language there are no positive termssignifies [[nothing]]. The more the signifier signifies nothing, only differences (Saussure, 1916: 120)the more indestructible it is."<ref>{{S3}} p.185</ref></blockquote>
=====[[The Subject]] and the Unconscious=====
It is these [[meaning]]less indestructible [[signifier]]s which determine the [[subject]]; the effects of the [[signifier]] on the [[subject]] constitute the [[unconscious]], and hence also constitute the [[whole]] of the field of [[psychoanalysis]].
By the phrase 'combining according to the laws =====Basic Units of Language=====Thus for [[Lacan]] [[language]] is not a [[system]] of [[sign]]s -- as it was for [[Saussure]] -- but a closed order', Lacan asserts that signifiers are combined in signifying chains according to the laws [[system]] of metonymy[[signifier]]s.
The signifier is [[Signifier]]s are the constitutive unit basic units of [[language]], and they are "subjected to the symbolic order because it is integrally related with the concept of STRUCTURE; 'the notion [[double]] condition of structure [[being]] reducible to ultimate differential elements and that of signifier appear inseparable' (S3, 184). The field of combining according to the signifier is the field laws of the Other, which Lacan calls 'the battery of signifiers'a closed order."<ref>{{E}} p.152</ref>
=====Differential Elements=====By the phrase "reducible to ultimate differential elements," [[Lacan defines a signifier as 'that which represents a subject for another signifier', ]] follows [[Saussure]] in opposition to the sign, which 'represents something for someone'. (Sll, 207). To be more precise, one signifier (called asserting the master signifier, and written Si) represents fundamentally differential [[character]] of the subject for all other signifiers (written S2)∑ However, no [[signifier can signifv the subject]].
Although the term 'signifier' is absent from Freud'[[Saussure]] states that in [[language]] there are no positive terms, only [[difference]]s work.<ref>[[Saussure|Saussure, LacanFerdinand de]]. (1916) 's use of the term focuses attention on a recurrent theme '[[Saussure|Course in FreudGeneral Linguistics]]'s writings. Freud's examples of psychoanalytic interpretations constantly focus on purely formal linguistic features, ed. For exampleCharles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, he analyses his own failure to remember the name 'Signorelli' by dividing the word into formal segments and following the associative links with each segment (Freudtrans. Wade Baskin, 1901Glasgow: chCollins Fontana. 1). Thus Lacan's insistence that the analyst attend to the signifiers in the analysand's speech is not really an innovation in technique but an attempt to theorise Freud's own method in more rigorous termsp.120</ref>
While it is true that when Lacan talks about signifiers he is often referring =====Signifying Chains=====By the phrase "combining according to what others would call simply 'words', the two terms are not equivalent. Not only can units laws of language smaller than words (morphemes and phonemes) or larger than words (phrases and sentences) also function as signifiers, but so also can non-linguistic things such as objects, relationships and symptomatic acts (S4, 288). The single condition which characterises something as a signifierclosed order, for " [[Lacan, is ]] asserts that it is inscribed [[signifier]]s are combined in a system in which it takes on value purely by virtue [[signifying chain]]s according to the [[law]]s of its difference from the other elements in the system[[metonymy]].
It =====Symbolic Order=====The [[signifier]] is this differential nature the constitutive unit of the signifier which means that [[symbolic]] [[order]] because it can never have a univocal or fixed meaning (S4, 289); on the contrary, its meaning varies according to the position which it occupies in is integrally related with the [[concept]] of [[structure]].
<blockquote>"The [[notion]] of structure and that of signifier appear inseparable."<ref>{{S3}} p. 184</ref></blockquote>
 
The field of the [[signifier]] is the field of the [[Other]], which [[Lacan]] calls "the battery of signifiers."
 
=====That Which Represents a Subject for Another Signifier=====
[[Lacan]] defines a [[signifier]] as "that which represents a subject for [[another]] signifier," in opposition to the [[sign]], which "represents something for someone."<ref>{{S11}} p. 207</ref>
 
To be more precise, one [[signifier]] (called the [[master]] [[signifier]], and written '''[[Image:SS1.gif]]''') represents the [[subject]] for ''all other [[signifier]]s'' (written '''[[Image:SS2.gif]]''').
 
However, no [[signifier]] can ''[[signify]]'' the [[subject]].
 
=====Sigmund Freud=====
Although the term "[[signifier]]" is [[absent]] from [[Freud]]'s [[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|work]], [[Lacan]]'s use of the term focuses attention on a recurrent theme in [[Freud]]'s [[Sigmund Freud:Bibliography|writings]].
 
[[Freud]]'s examples of [[psychoanalytic]] [[interpretation]]s constantly focus on purely [[formal]] [[linguistic]] features.
 
Thus [[Lacan]]'s [[insistence]] that the [[analyst]] attend to the [[signifier]]s in the [[analysand]]'s [[speech]] is not really an innovation in [[technique]] but an attempt to theorize [[Freud]]'s own method in more rigorous terms.
 
=====Words and Non-Linguistic Things=====
While it is [[true]] that when [[Lacan]] talks [[about]] [[signifiers]] he is often referring to what [[others]] would call simply "[[word]]s," the two terms are not equivalent.
 
Not only can units of [[language]] smaller than [[word]]s ([[phoneme|morpheme]]s and [[phoneme]]s) or larger than [[word]]s (phrases and sentences) also function as [[signifier]]s, but so also can [[linguistic|non-linguistic]] things such as [[object]]s, relationships and [[symptom]]atic [[act]]s.<ref>{{S4}} p. 288</ref>
 
=====Differential Nature of the Signifier=====
The single condition which characterizes something as a [[signifier]], for [[Lacan]], is that it is inscribed in a [[system]] in which it takes on [[value]] purely by virtue of its [[difference]] from the other elements in the [[system]].
 
=====Unstable Meaning=====
It is this differential [[nature]] of the [[signifier]] which means that it can never have a univocal or fixed [[meaning]];<ref>{{S4}} p. 289</ref> on the contrary, its [[meaning]] varies according to the [[position]] which it occupies in the [[structure]].
 
==See Also==
{{See}}
* [[Language]]
* [[Metaphor]]
||
* [[Materialism]]
* [[Sign]]
||
* [[Signification]]
* [[Signified]]
||
* [[Signifying Chain]]
* [[Subject]]
{{Also}}
 
 
==External Links==
* "[https://www.lacanonline.com/2010/06/what-does-lacan-say-about-the-signifier/ What Does Lacan Say About... The Signifier?]", Owen Hewitson - LacanOnline.com
signifier 13, 20, 223, 26, 40, 46-8, 61-2, 67, 114, 125-6, 130, 133, 138-9, 141-2, 149-* 60, 176-77, 181, 184, 198-9, 203, 205-14, 217, 219-20, 227-9, 236-7, 241, 247-52, 256-7, * 266, 268-70, 273, 276-7, 278-9, 282, network of signifiers, 42-52, 177, signifier and * signification, 253, signifier and signified, 248, 250 [[Seminar XI]]
== References ==
<references/>
{{OK}}
[[Category:Linguistics]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Symbolic]]
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]][[Category:Terms]][[Category:Concepts]][[Category:Psychoanalysis]]__NOTOC__
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