Difference between revisions of "The Agency of the Letter"

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{{TODO}}
  
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<tasks>
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[ ] [[Work]] on [[The Agency of the Letter]]
 +
</tasks>
  
 
<!--
 
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The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason Since Freud
+
The [[Agency]] of the [[Letter]] in the [[Unconscious]] or [[Reason]] Since [[Freud]]
 
-->
 
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<tasks>
 
[3] Clean up or Rename
 
</tasks>
 
  
  
 
<b>The agency of the letter in the unconscious</b></font></h3>
 
<b>The agency of the letter in the unconscious</b></font></h3>
<h4 align="center"><font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><b>or reason since Freud</b></font></h4><p><font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><br>
+
<h4 align="center"><font color="#000000" face="[[Times]] Roman" size="+1"><b>or reason since Freud</b></font></h4><p><font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><br>
 
<br>
 
<br>
  
  
 
</font></p><blockquote>
 
</font></p><blockquote>
<font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1">'Of Children in Swaddling Clothes<br>
+
<font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1">'Of [[Children]] in Swaddling Clothes<br>
 
<br>
 
<br>
<i>O cities of the sea, I behold in you your citizens, women<br>
+
<i>O cities of the sea, I behold in you your citizens, [[women]]<br>
  
 
as well as men tightly bound with stout bonds around<br>
 
as well as men tightly bound with stout bonds around<br>
their arms and Iegs by folk who will not understand<br>
+
their arms and Iegs by folk who will not [[understand]]<br>
your language; and you will only be able to give<br>
+
your [[language]]; and you will only be able to give<br>
vent to your griefs and sense of loss of liberty<br>
+
vent to your griefs and [[sense]] of [[loss]] of liberty<br>
 
by making tearful complaints, and sighs, and<br>
 
by making tearful complaints, and sighs, and<br>
lamentations one to another; for those who<br>
+
lamentations one to [[another]]; for those who<br>
bind you will not understand your<br>
+
[[bind]] you will not understand your<br>
 
language nor will you<br>
 
language nor will you<br>
understand them.'</i></font><p>
+
understand [[them]].'</i></font><p>
  
 
<font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1">LEONARDO DA VINCI</font></p><p><font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><br>
 
<font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1">LEONARDO DA VINCI</font></p><p><font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><br>
  
  
Although the nature of this contribution was determined by the theme<br>
+
Although the [[nature]] of this contribution was determined by the theme<br>
of the third volume of <i>La Psychanalyse,</i> I owe to what will be found<br>
+
of the [[third]] volume of <i>La [[Psychanalyse]],</i> I owe to what will be found<br>
there to insert it at a point somewhere between writing (l'écrit) and<br>
+
there to insert it at a point somewhere between [[writing]] (l'écrit) and<br>
speech - it will be half-way between the two.<br><br>
+
[[speech]] - it will be half-way between the two.<br><br>
Writing is distingiushed by a prevalence of the text in the sense that<br>
+
Writing is distingiushed by a prevalence of the [[text]] in the sense that<br>
  
this factor of discourse will assume in this essay a factor that makes<br>
+
this factor of [[discourse]] will assume in this essay a factor that makes<br>
possible the kind of tightening up that I like in order to leave the reader<br>
+
possible the kind of tightening up that I like in [[order]] to leave the reader<br>
no other way out than the way in, which I prefer to be difficult. In that<br>
+
no [[other]] way out than the way in, which I prefer to be difficult. In that<br>
 
sense, then, this will not be writing.<br><br>
 
sense, then, this will not be writing.<br><br>
Because I always try to provide my seminars each time with some.<br>
+
Because I always try to provide my [[seminars]] each [[time]] with some.<br>
thing new, I have refirained so far from giving such a text, with one exception, which is not particularly outstanding in the context of the series,<br>
+
[[thing]] new, I have refirained so far from giving such a text, with one exception, which is not particularly outstanding in the context of the series,<br>
 
and which I refer to at all only for the general level of its argument.<br>
 
and which I refer to at all only for the general level of its argument.<br>
 
<br>
 
<br>
Line 50: Line 51:
  
 
aim only masks the difficulty that, in trying to maintain it at the level at<br>
 
aim only masks the difficulty that, in trying to maintain it at the level at<br>
which I ought to present my teaching here, I might push it too far from<br>
+
which I ought to [[present]] my teaching here, I might push it too far from<br>
 
speech, whose very different techniques are essential to the formative<br>
 
speech, whose very different techniques are essential to the formative<br>
 
effect I seek<br>
 
effect I seek<br>
 
.<br>
 
.<br>
 
That is why I have taken the expedient offered me by the invitation<br>
 
That is why I have taken the expedient offered me by the invitation<br>
to lecture to the philosophy group of the <i>Fédération des étudiants dès<br>
+
to lecture to the [[philosophy]] group of the <i>Fédération des étudiants dès<br>
lettres</i> to produce an adaptation suitable to what I have to say: its necessary generality matches the exceptional character of the audience, but its<br>
+
lettres</i> to produce an [[adaptation]] suitable to what I have to say: its necessary generality matches the exceptional [[character]] of the audience, but its<br>
  
sole object encounters the collusion of their common training, a literary<br>
+
sole [[object]] encounters the collusion of their common [[training]], a [[literary]]<br>
 
one, to which my title pays homage.<br>
 
one, to which my title pays homage.<br>
 
<br>
 
<br>
 
Indeed, how could we forget that to the end of his days Freud con-<br>
 
Indeed, how could we forget that to the end of his days Freud con-<br>
 
stantly maintained that such a training was the prime requisite in the<br>
 
stantly maintained that such a training was the prime requisite in the<br>
formation of analysts, and that he designated the eternal <i>universitas<br>
+
[[formation]] of [[analysts]], and that he designated the eternal <i>universitas<br>
litterarum</i> as the ideal place for its institution.<br><br>
+
litterarum</i> as the [[ideal]] [[place]] for its institution.<br><br>
 
Thus my recourse (in rewriting) to the movement of the (spoken)<br>
 
Thus my recourse (in rewriting) to the movement of the (spoken)<br>
  
Line 70: Line 71:
 
marks even more clearly those for whom it is not intended.<br><br>
 
marks even more clearly those for whom it is not intended.<br><br>
 
I mean that it is not intended for those who, for any reason whatever,<br>
 
I mean that it is not intended for those who, for any reason whatever,<br>
in psychoanalysis, allow their discipline to avail itself of some false<br>
+
in [[psychoanalysis]], allow their [[discipline]] to avail itself of some [[false]]<br>
identity - a fault of habit, but its effect on the mind is such that the true<br>
+
[[identity]] - a fault of habit, but its effect on the [[mind]] is such that the [[true]]<br>
identity may appear as simply one alibi among others, a sort of refined<br>
+
identity may appear as simply one alibi among [[others]], a sort of refined<br>
 
reduplication whose implications will not be lost on the most subtle minds.<br><br>
 
reduplication whose implications will not be lost on the most subtle minds.<br><br>
 
So one observes with a certain curiosity the beginnings of a new direc-<br>
 
So one observes with a certain curiosity the beginnings of a new direc-<br>
tion concerning symbolization and language in the <i>Internationl Journal<br>
+
tion concerning [[symbolization]] and language in the <i>Internationl Journal<br>
  
 
of Psychoanalysis</i>, with a great many sticky fingers leafing through the<br>
 
of Psychoanalysis</i>, with a great many sticky fingers leafing through the<br>
 
pages of Sapir and Jespersen. These exercises are still somewhat un-<br>
 
pages of Sapir and Jespersen. These exercises are still somewhat un-<br>
practised, but it is above all the tone that is lacking. A certain'seriousness'<br>
+
practised, but it is above all the tone that is [[lacking]]. A certain'seriousness'<br>
as one enters the domain of veracity cannot fail to raise a smile.<br><br>
+
as one enters the [[domain]] of veracity cannot fail to raise a smile.<br><br>
And how could a psychoanalyst of today not realize that speech is the<br>
+
And how could a [[psychoanalyst]] of today not realize that speech is the<br>
key to that truth, when his whole experience must find in speech alone<br>
+
key to that [[truth]], when his [[whole]] [[experience]] must find in speech alone<br>
its instrument, its context, its material, and even the background noise<br>
+
its [[instrument]], its context, its [[material]], and even the background noise<br>
 
of its uncertainties.<br>
 
of its uncertainties.<br>
  
 
</font></p><center><p>
 
</font></p><center><p>
<font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1">I  The Meaning of the Letter</font></p><p></p></center><font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><br>
+
<font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1">I  The [[Meaning]] of [[the Letter]]</font></p><p></p></center><font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><br>
 
<br>
 
<br>
As my title suggests, beyond this 'speech', what the psychoanalytic ex-<br>
+
As my title suggests, beyond this 'speech', what the [[psychoanalytic]] ex-<br>
petience discovers in the unconscious is the whole structure of language.<br>
+
petience discovers in the unconscious is the whole [[structure]] of language.<br>
 
Thus from the outset I have alerted informed minds to the extent to<br>
 
Thus from the outset I have alerted informed minds to the extent to<br>
which the notion that the unconscious is merely the seat of the instincts<br>
+
which the [[notion]] that the unconscious is merely the seat of the [[instincts]]<br>
 
will have to be rethought.<br><br>
 
will have to be rethought.<br><br>
 
But how are we to take this 'letter' here? Quite simply, literally.<br><br>
 
But how are we to take this 'letter' here? Quite simply, literally.<br><br>
By 'letter' I designate that materia1 support that concrete discourse<br>
+
By 'letter' I designate that materia1 support that [[concrete]] discourse<br>
  
 
borrows from language.<br><br>
 
borrows from language.<br><br>
 
This simple definition assumes that language is not to be confused<br>
 
This simple definition assumes that language is not to be confused<br>
with the various psychical and somatic functions that serve it in the<br>
+
with the various [[psychical]] and somatic functions that serve it in the<br>
speaking subject - primarily because language and its structure exist<br>
+
[[speaking]] [[subject]] - primarily because language and its structure [[exist]]<br>
prior to the moment at which each subject at a certain point in his mental<br>
+
prior to the [[moment]] at which each subject at a certain point in his [[mental]]<br>
development makes his entry into it.<br><br>
+
[[development]] makes his entry into it.<br><br>
Let us note, then, that aphasias, although caused by purely anatomical<br>
+
Let us note, then, that aphasias, although caused by purely [[anatomical]]<br>
lesions in the cerebral apparatus that supplies the mental centre for these<br>
+
lesions in the cerebral [[apparatus]] that supplies the mental centre for these<br>
 
functions, prove, on the whole, to distribute their deficits between the<br>
 
functions, prove, on the whole, to distribute their deficits between the<br>
  
 
two sides of the signifying effect of what we call here 'the letter' in the<br>
 
two sides of the signifying effect of what we call here 'the letter' in the<br>
creation of signification. A point that will be clarified later.<br><br>
+
creation of [[signification]]. A point that will be clarified later.<br><br>
Thus the subject, too, if he can appear to be the slave of language<br>
+
Thus the subject, too, if he can appear to be the [[slave]] of language<br>
is all the more so of a discourse in the universal movement in which<br>
+
is all the more so of a discourse in the [[universal]] movement in which<br>
his place is already inscribed at birth, if only byvirtue of his proper<br>
+
his place is already inscribed at [[birth]], if only byvirtue of his proper<br>
name.<br><br>
+
[[name]].<br><br>
Reference to the experience of the community, or to the substance of<br>
+
Reference to the experience of the [[community]], or to the substance of<br>
this discourse, settles nothing. For this experience assumes its essential<br>
+
this discourse, settles [[nothing]]. For this experience assumes its essential<br>
dimension in the tradition that this discourse itself establishes. This<br>
+
[[dimension]] in the [[tradition]] that this discourse itself establishes. This<br>
  
tradition, long before the drama of history is inscribed in it, lays down<br>
+
tradition, long before the drama of [[history]] is inscribed in it, lays down<br>
the elementary structures of culture. And these very structures reveal an<br>
+
the elementary [[structures]] of [[culture]]. And these very structures reveal an<br>
 
ordering of possible exchanges which, even if unconscious, is inconceiv-<br>
 
ordering of possible exchanges which, even if unconscious, is inconceiv-<br>
able outside the permutations authorized by language.<br><br>
+
able [[outside]] the permutations authorized by language.<br><br>
With the result that the ethnographic duality of nature and culture is<br>
+
With the result that the ethnographic [[duality]] of nature and culture is<br>
giving way to a ternary conception of the human condition - nature,<br>
+
giving way to a ternary conception of the [[human]] condition - nature,<br>
society, and culture - the last term of which could well be reduced to<br>
+
[[society]], and culture - the last term of which could well be reduced to<br>
 
language, or that which essentially distinguishes human society from<br>
 
language, or that which essentially distinguishes human society from<br>
natural societies.<br><br>
+
[[natural]] societies.<br><br>
  
But I shall not make of this distinction either a point or a point of de-<br>
+
But I shall not make of this [[distinction]] either a point or a point of de-<br>
 
parture, leaving to its own obscurity the question of the original rela-<br>
 
parture, leaving to its own obscurity the question of the original rela-<br>
tions between the signifier and labour. I shall be content, for my little<br>
+
tions between the [[signifier]] and labour. I shall be [[content]], for my little<br>
 
jab at the general function of <i>praxis</i> in the genesis of history, to point out<br>
 
jab at the general function of <i>praxis</i> in the genesis of history, to point out<br>
 
that the very society that wished to restore, along with the privileges of<br>
 
that the very society that wished to restore, along with the privileges of<br>
 
the producer, the causal hierarchy of the relations between production<br>
 
the producer, the causal hierarchy of the relations between production<br>
and the ideological superstructure to their full political rights, has none<br>
+
and the [[ideological]] superstructure to their [[full]] [[political]] rights, has none<br>
  
 
the less failed to give birth to an ^esperanto in which the relations of lan-<br>
 
the less failed to give birth to an ^esperanto in which the relations of lan-<br>
 
guage to socialist realities would have rendered any literary formalism<br>
 
guage to socialist realities would have rendered any literary formalism<br>
radically impossible?<br><br>
+
radically [[impossible]]?<br><br>
 
For my part, I shall trust only those assumptions that have already<br>
 
For my part, I shall trust only those assumptions that have already<br>
proven their value by virtue of the fact that language through them has<br>
+
proven their [[value]] by virtue of the fact that language through them has<br>
attained the status of an object of scientific investigation.<br><br>
+
attained the status of an object of [[scientific]] investigation.<br><br>
For it is by virtue of this fact that linguistics is seen to occupy the key<br>
+
For it is by virtue of this fact that [[linguistics]] is seen to occupy the key<br>
position in this domain, and the reclassification of the sciences and a re-<br>
+
[[position]] in this domain, and the reclassification of the [[sciences]] and a re-<br>
grouping of them around it signals, as is usually the case, a revolution in<br>
+
grouping of them around it signals, as is usually the [[case]], a [[revolution]] in<br>
  
knowledge; only the necessities of communication made me inscribe it<br>
+
[[knowledge]]; only the necessities of [[communication]] made me inscribe it<br>
 
at the head of this volume under the title 'the sciences of man' - despite<br>
 
at the head of this volume under the title 'the sciences of man' - despite<br>
 
the confusion that is thereby covered over.<br><br>
 
the confusion that is thereby covered over.<br><br>
To pinpoint the emergence of linguistic science we may say that, as<br>
+
To pinpoint the emergence of [[linguistic]] [[science]] we may say that, as<br>
 
in the case of all sciences in the modern sense, it is contained in the<br>
 
in the case of all sciences in the modern sense, it is contained in the<br>
constitutive moment of an algorithm that is its foundation. This algorithm<br>
+
constitutive moment of an [[algorithm]] that is its foundation. This algorithm<br>
 
is the following:<br>
 
is the following:<br>
 
<br>
 
<br>
Line 158: Line 159:
 
</u>s</font></p><p><font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><br></font></p></center>
 
</u>s</font></p><p><font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><br></font></p></center>
 
<font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><br>
 
<font color="#000000" face="Times Roman" size="+1"><br>
which is read as: the signifier over the signified, 'over' corresponding to<br>
+
which is read as: the signifier over the [[signified]], 'over' corresponding to<br>
the bar separating the two stages.<br><br>
+
the bar separating the two [[stages]].<br><br>
This sign should be attributed to Ferdinand de Saussure although it<br>
+
This [[sign]] should be attributed to Ferdinand de [[Saussure]] although it<br>
is not found in exactly this form in any of the numerous schemas, which<br>
+
is not found in exactly this [[form]] in any of the numerous schemas, which<br>
 
none the less express it, to be found in the printed version of his lectures<br>
 
none the less express it, to be found in the printed version of his lectures<br>
 
of the years I906-7, I908‹9, and I9I0-11,  which the piety of a group of<br>
 
of the years I906-7, I908‹9, and I9I0-11,  which the piety of a group of<br>
his disciples caused to be published under the title, <i>Cours de linguistique<br>
+
his disciples caused to be published under the title, <i>Cours de [[linguistique]]<br>
  
 
génerale</i>, a work of prime importance for the transmission of a teaching<br>
 
génerale</i>, a work of prime importance for the transmission of a teaching<br>
worthy of the name, that is, that one can come to terms with only in its<br>
+
worthy of the name, that is, that one can come to [[terms]] with only in its<br>
 
own terms.<br><br>
 
own terms.<br><br>
That is why it is legitimate for us to give him credit for the formula-<br>
+
That is why it is legitimate for us to give him credit for the [[formula]]-<br>
tion S/s by which, in spite of the differences among schools, the begin-<br>
+
tion S/s by which, in spite of the differences among [[schools]], the begin-<br>
 
ning of modern linguistics can be recognized.<br><br>
 
ning of modern linguistics can be recognized.<br><br>
 
The thematics of this science is henceforth suspended, in effect, at the<br>
 
The thematics of this science is henceforth suspended, in effect, at the<br>
primordial position of the signifier and the signified as being distinct<br>
+
primordial position of the signifier and the signified as [[being]] distinct<br>
  
orders separated initially by a barrier resisting signification. And that is<br>
+
[[orders]] separated initially by a [[barrier]] resisting signification. And that is<br>
 
what was to make possible an exact study of the connections proper to<br>
 
what was to make possible an exact study of the connections proper to<br>
 
the signifier, and of the extent of their function in the genesis of the<br>
 
the signifier, and of the extent of their function in the genesis of the<br>
 
signified.<br><br>
 
signified.<br><br>
For this primordial distinction goes well beyond the discussion con-<br>
+
For this primordial distinction goes well beyond the [[discussion]] con-<br>
 
cerning the arbitrariness of the sign, as it has been elaborated since the<br>
 
cerning the arbitrariness of the sign, as it has been elaborated since the<br>
earliest reflections of the ancients, and even beyond the impasse which,<br>
+
earliest reflections of the ancients, and even beyond the [[impasse]] which,<br>
 
through the same period, has been encountered in every discussion of the<br>
 
through the same period, has been encountered in every discussion of the<br>
bi-univocal correspondence between the word and the thing, if only in<br>
+
bi-univocal correspondence between the [[word]] and [[the thing]], if only in<br>
  
 
the mere act of naming. All this, of course, is quite contrary to the<br>
 
the mere act of naming. All this, of course, is quite contrary to the<br>
appearances suggested by the importance often imputed to the role of the<br>
+
appearances suggested by the importance often imputed to the [[role]] of the<br>
index finger pointing to an object in the learning pro¦ss of the<i> infans</i><br>
+
[[index]] finger pointing to an object in the learning pro¦ss of the<i> [[infans]]</i><br>
subject learning his mother tongue, or the use in foreign language<br>
+
subject learning his [[mother]] tongue, or the use in foreign language<br>
 
teaching of so-called 'concrete' methods.<br><br>
 
teaching of so-called 'concrete' methods.<br><br>
One cannot go further along this line of thought than to demonstrate<br>
+
One cannot go further along this line of [[thought]] than to demonstrate<br>
 
that no signification can be sustained other than by reference to another<br>
 
that no signification can be sustained other than by reference to another<br>
 
signification: in its extreme form this amounts to the proposition that<br>
 
signification: in its extreme form this amounts to the proposition that<br>
  
there is no language (langue) in existence for which there is any question<br>
+
there is no language ([[langue]]) in [[existence]] for which there is any question<br>
 
of its inability to cover the whole field of the signified, it being an effect<br>
 
of its inability to cover the whole field of the signified, it being an effect<br>
of its existence as a language (langue) that it necessarily answers all needs.<br>
+
of its existence as a language (langue) that it necessarily answers all [[needs]].<br>
If we try to grasp in language the constitution of the object, we cannot<br>
+
If we try to grasp in language the [[constitution]] of the object, we cannot<br>
 
fail to notice that this constitution is to be found only at the level of<br>
 
fail to notice that this constitution is to be found only at the level of<br>
concept, a very different thing from a simple nominative, and that the<br>
+
[[concept]], a very different thing from a simple nominative, and that the<br>
thing, when reduced to the noun, breaks up into the double, divergent<br>
+
thing, when reduced to the noun, breaks up into the [[double]], divergent<br>
beam of the 'cause' (causa) in which it has taken shelter in the French<br>
+
beam of the '[[cause]]' (causa) in which it has taken shelter in the [[French]]<br>
word <i>chose,</i> and the nothing (rien) to which it has abandoned its Latin<br>
+
word <i>[[chose]],</i> and the nothing (rien) to which it has abandoned its [[Latin]]<br>
  
 
dress (rem).<br><br>
 
dress (rem).<br><br>
Line 210: Line 211:
 
pher, turn us away from the locus in which language questions us as to<br>
 
pher, turn us away from the locus in which language questions us as to<br>
 
its very nature. And we will fail to pursue the question further as long<br>
 
its very nature. And we will fail to pursue the question further as long<br>
as we cling to the illusion that the signifier answers to the function of<br>
+
as we cling to the [[illusion]] that the signifier answers to the function of<br>
 
representing the signified, or better, that the signifier has to answer for<br>
 
representing the signified, or better, that the signifier has to answer for<br>
 
its existence in the name of any signification whatever.<br><br>
 
its existence in the name of any signification whatever.<br><br>
 
For even reduced to this latter formulation, the heresy is the same -<br>
 
For even reduced to this latter formulation, the heresy is the same -<br>
  
the heresy that leads logical positivism in search of the 'meaning of<br>
+
the heresy that leads [[logical]] [[positivism]] in [[search]] of the 'meaning of<br>
meaning', as its objective is called in the language of its devotees. As a<br>
+
meaning', as its [[objective]] is called in the language of its devotees. As a<br>
 
result, we can observe that even a text highly charged with meaning can<br>
 
result, we can observe that even a text highly charged with meaning can<br>
be reduced, through this sort of analysis, to insignificant bagatelles, all<br>
+
be reduced, through this sort of [[analysis]], to insignificant bagatelles, all<br>
that survives being mathematical algorithms that are, of course, without<br>
+
that survives being [[mathematical]] algorithms that are, of course, without<br>
 
any meaning.<br><br>
 
any meaning.<br><br>
To return to our formula S/s: if we could infer nothing from it but the<br>
+
To [[return]] to our formula S/s: if we could infer nothing from it but the<br>
 
notion of the parallelism of its upper and lower terms, each one taken in<br>
 
notion of the parallelism of its upper and lower terms, each one taken in<br>
its globality, it would remain the enigmatic sign of a total mystery. Which<br>
+
its globality, it would remain the enigmatic sign of a [[total]] mystery. Which<br>
  
 
of course is not the case.<br><br>
 
of course is not the case.<br><br>
Line 237: Line 238:
  
 
In my lecture, I replaced this illustration with another, which has no<br>
 
In my lecture, I replaced this illustration with another, which has no<br>
greater claim to correctness than that it has been transplanted into that<br>
+
greater [[claim]] to correctness than that it has been transplanted into that<br>
  
 
incongruous dimension that the psychoanalyst has not yet altogether<br>
 
incongruous dimension that the psychoanalyst has not yet altogether<br>
renounced because of his quite justified feeling that his conformism<br>
+
renounced because of his quite justified [[feeling]] that his conformism<br>
 
takes its value entirely from it. Here is the other diagram:
 
takes its value entirely from it. Here is the other diagram:
 
<br>
 
<br>
Line 253: Line 254:
 
concerned in the experiment, that is, by doubling a noun through the<br>
 
concerned in the experiment, that is, by doubling a noun through the<br>
  
mere juxtaposition of two terms whose complementary meanings ought<br>
+
mere juxtaposition of two terms whose complementary [[meanings]] ought<br>
 
apparently to reinforce each other, a surprise is produced by an unexpec-<br>
 
apparently to reinforce each other, a surprise is produced by an unexpec-<br>
ted precipitation of an unexpected meaning: the image of twin doors<br>
+
ted precipitation of an unexpected meaning: the [[image]] of twin doors<br>
 
symbolizing, through the solitary confinement offered Western Man for<br>
 
symbolizing, through the solitary confinement offered Western Man for<br>
the satisfaction of his natural needs away from home, the imperative<br>
+
the [[satisfaction]] of his natural needs away from home, the imperative<br>
that he seems to share with the great majority of primitive communities<br>
+
that he seems to share with the great majority of [[primitive]] communities<br>
by which his public life is subjected to the laws of urinary segregation.<br><br>
+
by which his [[public]] [[life]] is subjected to the laws of urinary segregation.<br><br>
It is not only with the idea of silencing the nominalist debate with a<br>
+
It is not only with the [[idea]] of silencing the nominalist debate with a<br>
 
low blow that I use this example, but rather to show how in fact the<br>
 
low blow that I use this example, but rather to show how in fact the<br>
  
 
signifier enters the signified, namely, in a form which, not being im-<br>
 
signifier enters the signified, namely, in a form which, not being im-<br>
material, raises the question of its place in reality. For the blinking gaze<br>
+
material, raises the question of its place in [[reality]]. For the blinking [[gaze]]<br>
 
of a short sighted person might be justified in wondering whether this<br>
 
of a short sighted person might be justified in wondering whether this<br>
was indeed the signifier as he peered closely at the little enamel signs that<br>
+
was indeed the signifier as he peered closely at the little enamel [[signs]] that<br>
 
bore it, a signifier whose signified would in this call receive its final<br>
 
bore it, a signifier whose signified would in this call receive its final<br>
 
honours from the double and solemn procession from the upper nave.<br><br>
 
honours from the double and solemn procession from the upper nave.<br><br>
 
But no contrived example can be as telling as the actual experience of<br>
 
But no contrived example can be as telling as the actual experience of<br>
 
truth. So I am happy to have invented the above, since it awoke in the<br>
 
truth. So I am happy to have invented the above, since it awoke in the<br>
person whose word I most trust a memory of childhood, which having<br>
+
person whose word I most trust a [[memory]] of [[childhood]], which having<br>
  
 
thus happily come to my attention is best placed here.<br><br>
 
thus happily come to my attention is best placed here.<br><br>
A train arrives at a station. A little boy and a little girl, brother and<br>
+
A train arrives at a station. A little boy and a little [[girl]], brother and<br>
 
sister, are seated in a compartment face to face next to the window<br>
 
sister, are seated in a compartment face to face next to the window<br>
 
through which the buildings along the station platform can be seen<br>
 
through which the buildings along the station platform can be seen<br>
Line 280: Line 281:
 
Ladies!'; 'Idiot!' replies his sister, 'Can't you see we're at Gentlemen'.<br><br>
 
Ladies!'; 'Idiot!' replies his sister, 'Can't you see we're at Gentlemen'.<br><br>
 
Besides the fact that the rails in this story materialize the bar in the<br>
 
Besides the fact that the rails in this story materialize the bar in the<br>
Saussurian algorithm (and in a form designed to suggest that its resis-<br>
+
[[Saussurian]] algorithm (and in a form designed to [[suggest]] that its resis-<br>
tance may be other than dialectical), we should add that only someone<br>
+
tance may be other than [[dialectical]]), we should add that only someone<br>
  
 
who didn't have his eyes in front of the holes (it's the appropriate image<br>
 
who didn't have his eyes in front of the holes (it's the appropriate image<br>
Line 287: Line 288:
 
in this story, or not see from what radiating centre the signifier sends<br>
 
in this story, or not see from what radiating centre the signifier sends<br>
 
forth its light into the shadow of incomplete significations.<br><br>
 
forth its light into the shadow of incomplete significations.<br><br>
For this signifier will now carry a purely animal Dissension, destined<br>
+
For this signifier will now carry a purely [[animal]] Dissension, destined<br>
for the usual oblivion of natural mists, to the unbridled power of ideolo-<br>
+
for the usual oblivion of natural mists, to the unbridled [[power]] of ideolo-<br>
 
gical warfare, relentless for families, a torment to the Gods. For these<br>
 
gical warfare, relentless for families, a torment to the Gods. For these<br>
 
children, Ladies and Gentlemen will be hen¦forth two countries to-<br>
 
children, Ladies and Gentlemen will be hen¦forth two countries to-<br>
Line 296: Line 297:
 
the same country and neither can compromise on its own superiority<br>
 
the same country and neither can compromise on its own superiority<br>
 
without detracting from the glory of the other.<br><br>
 
without detracting from the glory of the other.<br><br>
But enough. It is beginning to sound like the history of France. Which<br>
+
But enough. It is beginning to sound like the history of [[France]]. Which<br>
 
it is more human, as it ought to be, to evoke here than that of England,<br>
 
it is more human, as it ought to be, to evoke here than that of England,<br>
destined to tumble from the Large to the Small End of Dean Swift's egg.<br><br>
+
destined to tumble from the Large to the Small End of [[Dean]] [[Swift]]'s egg.<br><br>
 
It remains to be conceived what steps, what corridor, the S of the<br>
 
It remains to be conceived what steps, what corridor, the S of the<br>
signifier, visible here in the plurals in which it focuses its welcome<br>
+
signifier, [[visible]] here in the plurals in which it focuses its welcome<br>
 
beyond the window, must take in order to rest its elbows on the ventila-<br>
 
beyond the window, must take in order to rest its elbows on the ventila-<br>
  
Line 319: Line 320:
 
<i>phonemes;</i> but we must not expect to find any phonetic constancy in the<br>
 
<i>phonemes;</i> but we must not expect to find any phonetic constancy in the<br>
 
modulatory variability to which this term applies, but rather the syn-<br>
 
modulatory variability to which this term applies, but rather the syn-<br>
chronic system of differential couplings necessary for the discernment of<br>
+
chronic [[system]] of differential couplings necessary for the discernment of<br>
 
sounds in a given language. Through this, one sees that an essential<br>
 
sounds in a given language. Through this, one sees that an essential<br>
  
Line 327: Line 328:
 
essentially localized structure of the signifier.<br><br>
 
essentially localized structure of the signifier.<br><br>
 
With the second property of the signifier, that of combining according<br>
 
With the second property of the signifier, that of combining according<br>
to the laws of a closed order, is affirmed the necessity of the topological<br>
+
to the laws of a closed order, is affirmed the [[necessity]] of the [[topological]]<br>
 
substratum of which the term I ordinarily use, namely, the signifying<br>
 
substratum of which the term I ordinarily use, namely, the signifying<br>
chain, gives an approximate idea: rings of a neckla¦ that is a ring in<br>
+
[[chain]], gives an approximate idea: rings of a neckla¦ that is a ring in<br>
 
another neckla¦ made of rings.<br><br>
 
another neckla¦ made of rings.<br><br>
  
Such are the structural conditions that define grammar as the order of<br>
+
Such are the [[structural]] [[conditions]] that define grammar as the order of<br>
 
constitutive encroachments of the signifier up to the level of the unit<br>
 
constitutive encroachments of the signifier up to the level of the unit<br>
immediately superior to the sentence, and lexicology as the order of con-<br>
+
immediately superior to the [[sentence]], and lexicology as the order of con-<br>
stitutive inclusions of the signifier to the level of the verbal locution.<br><br>
+
stitutive inclusions of the signifier to the level of the [[verbal]] locution.<br><br>
 
In examining the limits by which these two exerciseS in the under-<br>
 
In examining the limits by which these two exerciseS in the under-<br>
 
standing of linguistic usage are determined, it is easy to see that only the<br>
 
standing of linguistic usage are determined, it is easy to see that only the<br>
Line 344: Line 345:
 
of the units con¦rned.<br><br>
 
of the units con¦rned.<br><br>
 
But it is not because the undertakings of grammar and lexicology are<br>
 
But it is not because the undertakings of grammar and lexicology are<br>
exhausted within ¦rtain limits that we must think that beyond those<br>
+
exhausted within ¦rtain limits that we must [[think]] that beyond those<br>
 
limits signification reigns supreme. That would be an error.<br><br>
 
limits signification reigns supreme. That would be an error.<br><br>
 
For the signifier, by its very nature, always anticipates meaning by<br>
 
For the signifier, by its very nature, always anticipates meaning by<br>
Line 353: Line 354:
  
 
content to make us wait for it.<br><br>
 
content to make us wait for it.<br><br>
We are forced, then, to accept the notion of an incessant sliding of the<br>
+
We are [[forced]], then, to accept the notion of an incessant sliding of the<br>
signified under the signifier - which Ferdinand de Saussure illustrates<br>
+
signified under the signifier - which [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] illustrates<br>
 
with an image resembling the wavy lines of the upper and lower Waters<br>
 
with an image resembling the wavy lines of the upper and lower Waters<br>
 
in miniatures from manuscripts of Genesis; a double flux marked by fine<br>
 
in miniatures from manuscripts of Genesis; a double flux marked by fine<br>
 
streaks of rain, vertical dotted lines supposedly confining segments of<br>
 
streaks of rain, vertical dotted lines supposedly confining segments of<br>
 
correspondence.<br><br>
 
correspondence.<br><br>
All our experience runs counter to this linearity, which made me speak<br>
+
All our experience runs counter to this linearity, which made me [[speak]]<br>
once, in one of my seminars on psychosis, of something more like<br>
+
once, in one of my seminars on [[psychosis]], of something more like<br>
  
'anchoring points' ('points de capiton') as a schema for taking into account<br>
+
'anchoring points' ('[[points de capiton]]') as a [[schema]] for taking into account<br>
 
the dominance of the letter in the dramatic transformation that dialogue<br>
 
the dominance of the letter in the dramatic transformation that dialogue<br>
 
can effect in the subject.<br><br>
 
can effect in the subject.<br><br>
 
The linearity that Saussure holds to be constitutive of the chain of dis-<br>
 
The linearity that Saussure holds to be constitutive of the chain of dis-<br>
course, in conformity with its emission by a single voice and with its<br>
+
course, in conformity with its emission by a single [[voice]] and with its<br>
 
horizontal posidon in our writing - if this linearity is necessary, in fact,<br>
 
horizontal posidon in our writing - if this linearity is necessary, in fact,<br>
 
it is not suflicient. It applies to the chain of discourse only in the direc-<br>
 
it is not suflicient. It applies to the chain of discourse only in the direc-<br>
 
tion in which it is orientated in time, being taken as a signifying factor<br>
 
tion in which it is orientated in time, being taken as a signifying factor<br>
in all languages in which 'Peter hits Paul' reverses its dme when the terms<br>
+
in all [[languages]] in which 'Peter hits [[Paul]]' reverses its dme when the terms<br>
  
 
are inverted.<br><br>
 
are inverted.<br><br>
But one has only to listen to poetry, which Saussure was no doubt in<br>
+
But one has only to listen to [[poetry]], which Saussure was no [[doubt]] in<br>
 
the habit of doing, for a polyphony to be heard, for it to become clear<br>
 
the habit of doing, for a polyphony to be heard, for it to become clear<br>
 
that all discourse is aligned along the several staves of a score.<br><br>
 
that all discourse is aligned along the several staves of a score.<br><br>
There is in effect no signifying chain that does not have, as if attached<br>
+
There is in effect no [[signifying chain]] that does not have, as if attached<br>
to the punctuation of each of its units, a whole articulation of relevant<br>
+
to the [[punctuation]] of each of its units, a whole articulation of relevant<br>
 
contexts suspended 'vertically', as it were, from that point.<br><br>
 
contexts suspended 'vertically', as it were, from that point.<br><br>
 
Let us take our word 'tree' again, this time not as an isolated noun,<br>
 
Let us take our word 'tree' again, this time not as an isolated noun,<br>
 
but at the point of one of these punctuations, and see how it crosses the<br>
 
but at the point of one of these punctuations, and see how it crosses the<br>
  
bar of the Saussurian algorithm. (The anagram of 'arbre' and 'barre'<br>
+
bar of the Saussurian algorithm. (The anagram of 'arbre' and '[[barre]]'<br>
 
should be noted.)<br><br>
 
should be noted.)<br><br>
For even broken down into the double spectre of its vowels and con-<br>
+
For even broken down into the double [[spectre]] of its vowels and con-<br>
 
sonants, it can still call up with the robur and the plane tree the significa-<br>
 
sonants, it can still call up with the robur and the plane tree the significa-<br>
 
tions it takes on, in the context of our flora, of strength and majesty.<br>
 
tions it takes on, in the context of our flora, of strength and majesty.<br>
Drawing on all the symbolic contexts suggested in the Hebrew of the<br>
+
Drawing on all the [[symbolic]] contexts suggested in the Hebrew of the<br>
 
Bible, it erects on a barren hill the shadow of the cross. Then reduces to<br>
 
Bible, it erects on a barren hill the shadow of the cross. Then reduces to<br>
the capital Y, the sign of dichotomy which, except for the illustration<br>
+
the [[capital]] Y, the sign of dichotomy which, except for the illustration<br>
 
used by heraldry, would owe nothing to the tree however genealogical<br>
 
used by heraldry, would owe nothing to the tree however genealogical<br>
  
 
we may think it. Circulatory tree, tree of life of the cerebellum, tree of<br>
 
we may think it. Circulatory tree, tree of life of the cerebellum, tree of<br>
 
Saturn, tree of Diana, crystals formed in a tree struck by lightning, is it<br>
 
Saturn, tree of Diana, crystals formed in a tree struck by lightning, is it<br>
your figure that traces our desdny for us in the tortoise-shell cracked<br>
+
your [[figure]] that traces our desdny for us in the tortoise-shell cracked<br>
 
by the fire, or your lightning that causes that slow shift in the axis of<br>
 
by the fire, or your lightning that causes that slow shift in the axis of<br>
 
being to surge up from an unnamable night into the '`
 
being to surge up from an unnamable night into the '`

Latest revision as of 00:31, 21 May 2019


<tasks> [ ] Work on The Agency of the Letter </tasks>



The agency of the letter in the unconscious

or reason since Freud




'Of Children in Swaddling Clothes

O cities of the sea, I behold in you your citizens, women

as well as men tightly bound with stout bonds around
their arms and Iegs by folk who will not understand
your language; and you will only be able to give
vent to your griefs and sense of loss of liberty
by making tearful complaints, and sighs, and
lamentations one to another; for those who
bind you will not understand your
language nor will you

understand them.'

LEONARDO DA VINCI



Although the nature of this contribution was determined by the theme
of the third volume of La Psychanalyse, I owe to what will be found
there to insert it at a point somewhere between writing (l'écrit) and
speech - it will be half-way between the two.

Writing is distingiushed by a prevalence of the text in the sense that

this factor of discourse will assume in this essay a factor that makes
possible the kind of tightening up that I like in order to leave the reader
no other way out than the way in, which I prefer to be difficult. In that
sense, then, this will not be writing.

Because I always try to provide my seminars each time with some.
thing new, I have refirained so far from giving such a text, with one exception, which is not particularly outstanding in the context of the series,
and which I refer to at all only for the general level of its argument.

For the urgency that I now take as a pretext for leaving aside such an

aim only masks the difficulty that, in trying to maintain it at the level at
which I ought to present my teaching here, I might push it too far from
speech, whose very different techniques are essential to the formative
effect I seek
.
That is why I have taken the expedient offered me by the invitation
to lecture to the philosophy group of the Fédération des étudiants dès
lettres
to produce an adaptation suitable to what I have to say: its necessary generality matches the exceptional character of the audience, but its

sole object encounters the collusion of their common training, a literary
one, to which my title pays homage.

Indeed, how could we forget that to the end of his days Freud con-
stantly maintained that such a training was the prime requisite in the
formation of analysts, and that he designated the eternal universitas
litterarum
as the ideal place for its institution.

Thus my recourse (in rewriting) to the movement of the (spoken)

discourse, restored to its vitality, by showing whom I meant it for,
marks even more clearly those for whom it is not intended.

I mean that it is not intended for those who, for any reason whatever,
in psychoanalysis, allow their discipline to avail itself of some false
identity - a fault of habit, but its effect on the mind is such that the true
identity may appear as simply one alibi among others, a sort of refined
reduplication whose implications will not be lost on the most subtle minds.

So one observes with a certain curiosity the beginnings of a new direc-
tion concerning symbolization and language in the Internationl Journal

of Psychoanalysis, with a great many sticky fingers leafing through the
pages of Sapir and Jespersen. These exercises are still somewhat un-
practised, but it is above all the tone that is lacking. A certain'seriousness'
as one enters the domain of veracity cannot fail to raise a smile.

And how could a psychoanalyst of today not realize that speech is the
key to that truth, when his whole experience must find in speech alone
its instrument, its context, its material, and even the background noise
of its uncertainties.

I The Meaning of the Letter



As my title suggests, beyond this 'speech', what the psychoanalytic ex-
petience discovers in the unconscious is the whole structure of language.
Thus from the outset I have alerted informed minds to the extent to
which the notion that the unconscious is merely the seat of the instincts
will have to be rethought.

But how are we to take this 'letter' here? Quite simply, literally.

By 'letter' I designate that materia1 support that concrete discourse

borrows from language.

This simple definition assumes that language is not to be confused
with the various psychical and somatic functions that serve it in the
speaking subject - primarily because language and its structure exist
prior to the moment at which each subject at a certain point in his mental
development makes his entry into it.

Let us note, then, that aphasias, although caused by purely anatomical
lesions in the cerebral apparatus that supplies the mental centre for these
functions, prove, on the whole, to distribute their deficits between the

two sides of the signifying effect of what we call here 'the letter' in the
creation of signification. A point that will be clarified later.

Thus the subject, too, if he can appear to be the slave of language
is all the more so of a discourse in the universal movement in which
his place is already inscribed at birth, if only byvirtue of his proper
name.

Reference to the experience of the community, or to the substance of
this discourse, settles nothing. For this experience assumes its essential
dimension in the tradition that this discourse itself establishes. This

tradition, long before the drama of history is inscribed in it, lays down
the elementary structures of culture. And these very structures reveal an
ordering of possible exchanges which, even if unconscious, is inconceiv-
able outside the permutations authorized by language.

With the result that the ethnographic duality of nature and culture is
giving way to a ternary conception of the human condition - nature,
society, and culture - the last term of which could well be reduced to
language, or that which essentially distinguishes human society from
natural societies.

But I shall not make of this distinction either a point or a point of de-
parture, leaving to its own obscurity the question of the original rela-
tions between the signifier and labour. I shall be content, for my little
jab at the general function of praxis in the genesis of history, to point out
that the very society that wished to restore, along with the privileges of
the producer, the causal hierarchy of the relations between production
and the ideological superstructure to their full political rights, has none

the less failed to give birth to an ^esperanto in which the relations of lan-
guage to socialist realities would have rendered any literary formalism
radically impossible?

For my part, I shall trust only those assumptions that have already
proven their value by virtue of the fact that language through them has
attained the status of an object of scientific investigation.

For it is by virtue of this fact that linguistics is seen to occupy the key
position in this domain, and the reclassification of the sciences and a re-
grouping of them around it signals, as is usually the case, a revolution in

knowledge; only the necessities of communication made me inscribe it
at the head of this volume under the title 'the sciences of man' - despite
the confusion that is thereby covered over.

To pinpoint the emergence of linguistic science we may say that, as
in the case of all sciences in the modern sense, it is contained in the
constitutive moment of an algorithm that is its foundation. This algorithm
is the following:

S

s



which is read as: the signifier over the signified, 'over' corresponding to
the bar separating the two stages.

This sign should be attributed to Ferdinand de Saussure although it
is not found in exactly this form in any of the numerous schemas, which
none the less express it, to be found in the printed version of his lectures
of the years I906-7, I908‹9, and I9I0-11, which the piety of a group of
his disciples caused to be published under the title, Cours de linguistique

génerale, a work of prime importance for the transmission of a teaching
worthy of the name, that is, that one can come to terms with only in its
own terms.

That is why it is legitimate for us to give him credit for the formula-
tion S/s by which, in spite of the differences among schools, the begin-
ning of modern linguistics can be recognized.

The thematics of this science is henceforth suspended, in effect, at the
primordial position of the signifier and the signified as being distinct

orders separated initially by a barrier resisting signification. And that is
what was to make possible an exact study of the connections proper to
the signifier, and of the extent of their function in the genesis of the
signified.

For this primordial distinction goes well beyond the discussion con-
cerning the arbitrariness of the sign, as it has been elaborated since the
earliest reflections of the ancients, and even beyond the impasse which,
through the same period, has been encountered in every discussion of the
bi-univocal correspondence between the word and the thing, if only in

the mere act of naming. All this, of course, is quite contrary to the
appearances suggested by the importance often imputed to the role of the
index finger pointing to an object in the learning pro¦ss of the infans
subject learning his mother tongue, or the use in foreign language
teaching of so-called 'concrete' methods.

One cannot go further along this line of thought than to demonstrate
that no signification can be sustained other than by reference to another
signification: in its extreme form this amounts to the proposition that

there is no language (langue) in existence for which there is any question
of its inability to cover the whole field of the signified, it being an effect
of its existence as a language (langue) that it necessarily answers all needs.
If we try to grasp in language the constitution of the object, we cannot
fail to notice that this constitution is to be found only at the level of
concept, a very different thing from a simple nominative, and that the
thing, when reduced to the noun, breaks up into the double, divergent
beam of the 'cause' (causa) in which it has taken shelter in the French
word chose, and the nothing (rien) to which it has abandoned its Latin

dress (rem).


These considerations, important as their existence is for the philoso-
pher, turn us away from the locus in which language questions us as to
its very nature. And we will fail to pursue the question further as long
as we cling to the illusion that the signifier answers to the function of
representing the signified, or better, that the signifier has to answer for
its existence in the name of any signification whatever.

For even reduced to this latter formulation, the heresy is the same -

the heresy that leads logical positivism in search of the 'meaning of
meaning', as its objective is called in the language of its devotees. As a
result, we can observe that even a text highly charged with meaning can
be reduced, through this sort of analysis, to insignificant bagatelles, all
that survives being mathematical algorithms that are, of course, without
any meaning.

To return to our formula S/s: if we could infer nothing from it but the
notion of the parallelism of its upper and lower terms, each one taken in
its globality, it would remain the enigmatic sign of a total mystery. Which

of course is not the case.

In order to grasp its function I shall begin by reproducing the classic,
yet faulty illustration by which its usage is normally introduced, and one can see how it opens the way to the kind of error referred to above.

<img src="agency1.jpeg" align="middle">





In my lecture, I replaced this illustration with another, which has no
greater claim to correctness than that it has been transplanted into that

incongruous dimension that the psychoanalyst has not yet altogether
renounced because of his quite justified feeling that his conformism
takes its value entirely from it. Here is the other diagram:

<img src="agency2.jpeg" align="middle">




where we see that, without greatly extending the scope of the signifier
concerned in the experiment, that is, by doubling a noun through the

mere juxtaposition of two terms whose complementary meanings ought
apparently to reinforce each other, a surprise is produced by an unexpec-
ted precipitation of an unexpected meaning: the image of twin doors
symbolizing, through the solitary confinement offered Western Man for
the satisfaction of his natural needs away from home, the imperative
that he seems to share with the great majority of primitive communities
by which his public life is subjected to the laws of urinary segregation.

It is not only with the idea of silencing the nominalist debate with a
low blow that I use this example, but rather to show how in fact the

signifier enters the signified, namely, in a form which, not being im-
material, raises the question of its place in reality. For the blinking gaze
of a short sighted person might be justified in wondering whether this
was indeed the signifier as he peered closely at the little enamel signs that
bore it, a signifier whose signified would in this call receive its final
honours from the double and solemn procession from the upper nave.

But no contrived example can be as telling as the actual experience of
truth. So I am happy to have invented the above, since it awoke in the
person whose word I most trust a memory of childhood, which having

thus happily come to my attention is best placed here.

A train arrives at a station. A little boy and a little girl, brother and
sister, are seated in a compartment face to face next to the window
through which the buildings along the station platform can be seen
passing as the train pulls to a stop. 'Look', says the brother, 'we're at
Ladies!'; 'Idiot!' replies his sister, 'Can't you see we're at Gentlemen'.

Besides the fact that the rails in this story materialize the bar in the
Saussurian algorithm (and in a form designed to suggest that its resis-
tance may be other than dialectical), we should add that only someone

who didn't have his eyes in front of the holes (it's the appropriate image
here) could possibly confuse the place of the signifier and the signified
in this story, or not see from what radiating centre the signifier sends
forth its light into the shadow of incomplete significations.

For this signifier will now carry a purely animal Dissension, destined
for the usual oblivion of natural mists, to the unbridled power of ideolo-
gical warfare, relentless for families, a torment to the Gods. For these
children, Ladies and Gentlemen will be hen¦forth two countries to-
wards which each of their souls will strive on divergent wings, and

between which a truce will be the more impossible since they are actually
the same country and neither can compromise on its own superiority
without detracting from the glory of the other.

But enough. It is beginning to sound like the history of France. Which
it is more human, as it ought to be, to evoke here than that of England,
destined to tumble from the Large to the Small End of Dean Swift's egg.

It remains to be conceived what steps, what corridor, the S of the
signifier, visible here in the plurals in which it focuses its welcome
beyond the window, must take in order to rest its elbows on the ventila-

tors through which, like warm and cold air, indignation and scorn come
hissing out below.

One thing is certain: if the algorithm S/s with its bar is appropriate,
access from one to the other cannot in any case have a signification. For
in so far as it is itself only pure function of the signifier, the algorithm
can reveal only the structure of a signifier in this transfer.

Now the structure of the signifier is, as it is commonly said of language
itself, that it should be articulated.

This means that no matter where one starts to designate their recipro-

cal encroachments and increasing inclusions, these units are subjected to
the double condition of being reducible to ukimate differential elements
and of combining them according to the laws of a closed order.

These elements, one of the decisive discoveries of linguistics, are
phonemes; but we must not expect to find any phonetic constancy in the
modulatory variability to which this term applies, but rather the syn-
chronic system of differential couplings necessary for the discernment of
sounds in a given language. Through this, one sees that an essential

element of the spoken word itself was predestined to flow into the
mobile characters which, in a jumble of lower-case Didots or Gara-
monds, render validly present what we call the 'letter', namely, the
essentially localized structure of the signifier.

With the second property of the signifier, that of combining according
to the laws of a closed order, is affirmed the necessity of the topological
substratum of which the term I ordinarily use, namely, the signifying
chain, gives an approximate idea: rings of a neckla¦ that is a ring in
another neckla¦ made of rings.

Such are the structural conditions that define grammar as the order of
constitutive encroachments of the signifier up to the level of the unit
immediately superior to the sentence, and lexicology as the order of con-
stitutive inclusions of the signifier to the level of the verbal locution.

In examining the limits by which these two exerciseS in the under-
standing of linguistic usage are determined, it is easy to see that only the
correlations between signifier and signifier provide the standard for all
research into signification, as is indicated by the notion of 'usage' of a
taxeme or semanteme which in fact refers to the context just above that

of the units con¦rned.

But it is not because the undertakings of grammar and lexicology are
exhausted within ¦rtain limits that we must think that beyond those
limits signification reigns supreme. That would be an error.

For the signifier, by its very nature, always anticipates meaning by
unfolding its dimension before it. As is seen at the level of the sentence
when it is interrupted before the significant term: 'I shall never...',
'All the same it is...', 'And yet there may be. ..'. Such sentences are
not without meaning, a meaning all the more oppressive in that it is

content to make us wait for it.

We are forced, then, to accept the notion of an incessant sliding of the
signified under the signifier - which Ferdinand de Saussure illustrates
with an image resembling the wavy lines of the upper and lower Waters
in miniatures from manuscripts of Genesis; a double flux marked by fine
streaks of rain, vertical dotted lines supposedly confining segments of
correspondence.

All our experience runs counter to this linearity, which made me speak
once, in one of my seminars on psychosis, of something more like

'anchoring points' ('points de capiton') as a schema for taking into account
the dominance of the letter in the dramatic transformation that dialogue
can effect in the subject.

The linearity that Saussure holds to be constitutive of the chain of dis-
course, in conformity with its emission by a single voice and with its
horizontal posidon in our writing - if this linearity is necessary, in fact,
it is not suflicient. It applies to the chain of discourse only in the direc-
tion in which it is orientated in time, being taken as a signifying factor
in all languages in which 'Peter hits Paul' reverses its dme when the terms

are inverted.

But one has only to listen to poetry, which Saussure was no doubt in
the habit of doing, for a polyphony to be heard, for it to become clear
that all discourse is aligned along the several staves of a score.

There is in effect no signifying chain that does not have, as if attached
to the punctuation of each of its units, a whole articulation of relevant
contexts suspended 'vertically', as it were, from that point.

Let us take our word 'tree' again, this time not as an isolated noun,
but at the point of one of these punctuations, and see how it crosses the

bar of the Saussurian algorithm. (The anagram of 'arbre' and 'barre'
should be noted.)

For even broken down into the double spectre of its vowels and con-
sonants, it can still call up with the robur and the plane tree the significa-
tions it takes on, in the context of our flora, of strength and majesty.
Drawing on all the symbolic contexts suggested in the Hebrew of the
Bible, it erects on a barren hill the shadow of the cross. Then reduces to
the capital Y, the sign of dichotomy which, except for the illustration
used by heraldry, would owe nothing to the tree however genealogical

we may think it. Circulatory tree, tree of life of the cerebellum, tree of
Saturn, tree of Diana, crystals formed in a tree struck by lightning, is it
your figure that traces our desdny for us in the tortoise-shell cracked
by the fire, or your lightning that causes that slow shift in the axis of
being to surge up from an unnamable night into the '`