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/ 12
6 tno
CCene during ther visits to Melbourne, made welcome end stimulating
contbuions to ou debs oo psychoanalytic ues
‘The remaining papers have all sued directly from the actives of the
‘Centre, The esay on psychosis and fantany was a jon contbuton to Le
Clinique diferente des pychoses (Pars: Neva, 1988), plished fo the
Intemational Confrence ofthe Foundation of the Freudian Feld eld in
‘Buenos Aires, June 1988. The remaining arcles—Rasell Gig, Leonardo
and Silvia Rodrigue, and Diane Wieneke on different aspects of the
‘eansference; Carmela Levy on fanas and Sue Long on gender ingroup
‘eladons—are all published bare forthe fist tine
RG.
Jacques Lacan
Geneva lecture on the symptom
(A texmerpt of hie lec was sent wo me by Maso Cia. Ate
taving vee the text, T happy agreed wo is request o authorise i
pbcaso n i joa, Le Blac Voter de ls pnchaaien,
‘According 19 the Ivormation be gave ma ibe lett, advertised
gee the tle ‘The Symp’, Wat ivered ih Oxabe 1975 at he
Cenze Reymond de Saurus sidy weskend opened by the
Shit Soy of Prchoanalye to an satiene conning of membet
tl gusts of he Society was rode by Over Fey
Tego Alain Mier
1shant srt without thanking Olver Rouroy for having invited me hee,
Which gives me he pele fades yu.
eseemed toe at, fom when Tbegan my practice, Thave owed you at
east a word of explanaton—a word of explanation sbout the fac tha |
preted fist and then one day sare o tach,
realy had no need o teach. tad athe dame that what has ince bees
called the Peychoanalyic Istite of Paris was founded—founded in he
‘amo of a ke-over by someone who ad nde, no great cam to hi oe
1 i it solely because atte time, which was aime of esis—it was,
sor, the eeting up of a kin of dictatorship, a group of these people,
pageant, who were emerging fom the war-it had ake them eight
yeas to emerge from i neveneles, snc hs foundation was in 1953—a
‘Boup add me to sat speaking
‘At the ime thee was a professor of pychiatry at [he hospital] Saine-
‘Anne since then a member of he Académle Franca, who invited me tee
‘had been psychosnalyzed, supposedly, but realy, hs Jeunesse André
Gide does’ bear his ut, and be wasnt very enthusiastic abou playing a
role in poychoanalyss, Thus he was only too happy, alr tn ears, nt 50
‘much io give me nlc, snc twas rather T who gave him node, a: 10 se
melee8 The symptom
“Then & now css broke out, due, my God oa sort of espiing, witha
kindof empty fas, 10 th level of the International [Psychoanalytic
‘Avociation). There's something here that Joyce, who ison thelist of my
‘Ganont pesceupations, symbolises with te English word suck—iti the
ose tht he lavatory makes wien you pll the chan, when t sinks dowa
the foe
Tie isnot a bad mesaphor forthe feeton ofthis Fnernational such as
‘Freud wanted i I mst be remembered that he was le by his belie that
‘ere was no guarinte that nimadinly afl is deat his ought would Be
‘sfeguared, cone his tought inn other person than his own daughir.
ean be Said, can it hat this daughter is direct aligned with Freud
‘imsel? The so-called Mechanisms of Dense she produce’ doesn seem
‘me be any proot tha she coninss inthe same ine as Freud. Fr fom it
thus found myself in 1953 beginning a seminar, which a erin number
of you, Olver Fouroy calls me, have followed. Tis seminar is nosing
‘tthe colleeton Tlf athe hands of Jacques-Alain Miler, who is faity
‘lose to me. left in his hands becase this seminar was a i sa rom
tne, andi had reread i, would have rewriten orm the very Tes, |
‘vould have simply wate it
‘Writing i mt tall the se as speaking, they no similar at al. 1
will lustrate this abit Iter. eso happens that during the tie Twas at
Stine Anne {waned something of wha Twas saylag to remaln. At that
time a review appeared in which I wed to write, the Set tense of he
tert Lpublsted a collection ofthe arcs hatha appeared in hs revi
‘AST had also writen ql afew things before ten half of his colecon
‘ade p of tse previous wriings—wbich are writings (ris) popely so
Calle hence my le, simply Feri. Someone 1 know, a charming Young
‘roman, who i Japanese, was abit shocked by this le. The resonatoe of
{he word Zr probably int the ramen apanese and French By drt
Simply wanted to poist out hat was in tome ssnee the residue of my
tenting,
Roughly once year, 1 used to publish a wring inthis review, La
‘Paychanalse, one that was intended o preserve something ofthe euro
(remous) at my word had created, in ere wo rein an apparatus that one
could rele, 1 id this wih the ea in mind tht after al could have
served aa reference point forme with espe theiernatonal To be se
they laugh a al these wrkngs—and afr all, they are ight since peycho-
Taser of the rvew La pechonalye appeared betwen 1956 and
Joc Lacan 9
analysis is something quite diferent from writing. However it would er:
haps not be bad hing thatthe analyat give some sort of root that he
‘ows what be is doing. Ihe does someting. ihe peas, would perhaps
‘not be unreasonable o expect him, na cern seas, 1 tesiy to what he
oes
"Nor sic unreasonable vo hope that he hinks about what he i doing. He
thinks from time to ime. He thinks sometimes. This is inno way
‘obligatory. I dot give any connotation of vale wo the term thinking. 1
‘would go even farther than thither ie anything T have elaine, iis
‘ery much of a kind to reassure the analyst of what could be called hi
sufomatism. I thnk hat ulmately one ges bogged down in thought. And
‘pychoarlysts know this beter han anyone. One gets bogged down in what
have described asthe imaginary, and an ene philosophical taon has
observed this perfectly well. f anit seems banal say this not
have what is called a body, 'm not going to sy that he would not hin,
since that's obvous, but he would not be profounly capvae bythe image
ofthis bog.
‘Man is capsvated by the image of his body. This point explains many
thing, te fist of which i the privileged positon that this body hols for
him. His woe, aturing tat hie word hae a meaning, his rove, what
there is around him, he corpo-efes it, he makes ita hing in the nage of
his body. He does not have he slightest Mea, of cours, of what bappens
Inside this body. How doe «body survive? I dont know whether you a
struck by thi any way-—when you gt serach, heal. Ths js 8
Surprising as, no moe or less than he fact hatte nar that ose ai
‘rows a new one Its of exaey te eae ode,
Te is by means of the lok, 10 which Olivier Fournay was refering
before, tha his body caries weight. The majonty—but not all—of what
‘man inks stems from there. 1s realy very dificul fo an analy, given
‘what he s dealing with, att be sucked iin the way I was fering ©
before the oglu ofthe escaping water, ofthis thing tha apuians
him, cisely, nacssiscaly inthe discourse of what Olver Floumoy.
ss aling—anforunatly—e analysed (anal. Why this i unfocanae
|S that i i eow some time hat the tert 'analyaand’ [analysand which |
proposed in my seminar one day, caught on, Not only in my Sehool—1
‘woul only atach lave imporanc otha, lative wo me—btit came ae
4 sor of thunderlap the very week I formulated i, hs analysand. The
Poychoanalye Ista of Parks, which very up oda with eventing
recount—I would go even fare, what say isthe mai hing that sagt10 The symptom
‘ere—this Isnt relished this 'analysan’ that fed them Uke a glove
feven if twas only sed relive the analyst of bis esponsibility for he
analysis when he ccasion aie,
‘Tus say tat when put his thing forward {was only parodying 1
an ptt ike that, ince ah entire wadiion is ofthe order of parody—the
term arlysan, cute! in English. OF couse itis tie equivalent to
the French ern, [The English) analysand’ evekes more the to-be-analysed,
fod that snot what I meant at ll What I meant was that ip analysis the
person who woly comes to formulate a request for an analysis [demande
{Tanalye] isthe one who does he work—on condton that You haven put
‘im onthe couch szaghtway. in whic case youve rind it Is essential
that his equst has realy taken shape before you ge him oe down. When
yOu tl him w stand this most be neler the fst nor the second ine,
At Teast i you want wo conduct yourself with digit person, ten, who
‘makes this rogues for an stasis, when he sas to wok, iste one Who
does the work. You ae not consider him at all as someone tht you hve
to mula Tes the exact opposite ofthis. Whats itt yon ae Going? This
‘oetion isthe reason for everything Tae enquired abou ever snc began.
Tegan, my God would say, sal inaoceoce. I maan tat dda ow
what ae doing, a8 what followed proved—proved tomy tad. Would |
ave had second thoughts if Thad known wha twas Twas undeaking? I
fest cerain {would have, This is why atte final pot, tat I athe lest
sag I ad gotto at the beginning ofthe academic year in 1967, i» Ocber,
1 inued that ting thet consee in aserng that when someone sets
mse up at analyst 0 oe else ean do i fo Bum, This seems wo me wo be
‘eleven wu,
‘When someone sts himself up assays, he is fee in hat Kind of|
‘nauguraton, which [introduced and whch {ale he Proposal. Heise,
bec alo retin fom doing i, nd kep things tinsel, bathe i al
fee to wouter fortis tal of coming and confiding things confiding
them o people that Those on purpose because hey area the same point as
bois
‘tis obvious tat ihe addeses himself to an older person, to one who is
registered stularit, or evento someone calle a waling analyst, you can
bbe sre that hie testimony will mise the point entirely. Becase, Ft, be
knows perecly well that the poor ie Re i adaressing has matured such
‘hat he, ost ke me, has absolutely no idea why he entered this profession of
‘boing a analy myself can remember why ie, and Yee it. Ba on
"he whole they have completly forouen, All hey se is tet poston of
Jacques Lacan 11
shorty, and in these conditions one wee to pltse onetelf onthe same
oon a the auorty—that iso sy, one lies, quite simply. So Ted to
casre ha they aay adres themselves to Dgimer ke hemselves.
‘Dest everthing, reined—one always has to beware of innovating,
‘ts no ike me, Ive never imovated in anything sr of panel established
‘ut ofthe coment of all. Tae is nothing more suiking dan his—if you
lect any panel whatever, i you get people wo vote, by set ballot, te
resis the names of people who ae already perfectly well enti, The
(oup wants leaders I is already apiece of good fore if the group wants
‘more an ooe. So, the group tat wars leaders elects hose Who ae alread
therethrough the way tings Fancon The people who have recelved the
tertmony of hase who want to be analyst sy to thi pane
{athe spit of my Proposal this execs is cared out so as wo cas ight
‘pon what happens ats point ff deciding t Become an analyst) 1s
racy a Feud said—vhon we have a case (ea), wha is aed a case, in
lnalysis, he recommends that one not plac iti a pigeon-hoe [case] in
‘vance. He would Uke ust listen, may say so, ently independently of
‘ny knowledge [connaissance] we have que, tobe aware of wht we rt
‘ealng with, namely the partulrity of the ease, This is very iicalt
because obviously the nurs of experince sto prepare a pigeonhole is
‘vey difficult for us analysts, men, or women of experience nt to make
judgements abou a case in the process of functioning and to develop the
‘nalyss, of not calling he cases to mind concering it. Whatever our
apposed freedom-—sice iis imposible to belive in this redom—i Is
‘lca that we are unable o obliterate oar expeince. Fred insists upon his 8
frat deal, and i i were ber understood we would have the pu to a
Completely diferent ype of intervention Bat this canoe be.
Tea, then, in Us spit hat I wanted a person who was atte same
level atthe one crossing this threshold to e a witness, Tn shoe, i was
thar by means of which I ied enlarge the group of those able elect a
‘ron what thoy redoing. They feel devalued, whatever Ido to preven his12 The symptom
‘occuring ry to explain to them that dele etmony bas conrbated
Something about a cerain way of becoming an analyst by having been
taied in whatever itis hats required of tern. What can be demanded of
them is obviously ro have pase through that experience. How can it be
trasmitd if you haven bean subjected wit yeusell Well anyway
T would like to menon Frou reir, Soll ck Werden, which {kave
ces more than ane? Werden, what oes hat mean? es very aii ©
‘rsa I goes wards somebng. Is this someting the de? Is Werden a
becoming pron, a verdieaton? Whats tere in the German becoming?
get language hat it own gis and wansaing Werden by devenr rally
aries weight only in5o far as den isalreadyin deve. tis something of
the order of desion, Fit can be put like tha Destintion (énuement is
not the sme thing a8 outcome [dénouement| Bul leave that up in he
‘What is at ie iso evalunte what reeds very surprising thing on the
part of aman so thoroughly a pracidoner—oalyenphased in the fest pat
Of is wok, inthis fit stage tat ens around 1914 before the Fst Word
‘War—in his Traundewung,in is Psychopathology of Everyday Life, ad in
is ote in particule He emphasised ts, and iis surpelsing that he dt
puts ager oni it is hat is hypotess of the Unbewasssein, ofthe
‘unconsous, fone can say 8, is pooly named.
“The unconscious isnot ony being un-known, Fre himself ha already
fommulstod iin saying Bevusst. Lam exploiting the Geoman language bere,
in which a relationship ean be etablshed benween Bev! and Wiser In
‘the Geman language the conscious of consciousness formulated as what it
really, namely he enjoyment [oulsance] of kaowledge (savoir) reads
onion thi, hat ther 80 ned io know what one knows to enjoy
wedge,
‘efstam to our everyday experience. If what we sy is iis indeed
taney sage that what we must call by their name, ta is, symptoms,
ryullis ifthe perio of infancy is indeed decisive fr that, bow can this
{ict fall be inked fo te manner in which we analyse dreams and bungled
sing? I won't enon jokes, completly ouside the range of analyst who
‘atrlly do nt have the slightest humour Thats Pree, but proves all the
‘same tat ere Fred, novelas, must have obsved thatthe satsment in
‘bungled ation gets vale only fom the explanations given by the subject.
low does ove ltepet a bungled action? We would be completely inthe
2 The exerp of part of he lec i
ising hie pine
Jacques Lacan 13
ack ifthe eubjoct dia’ say one or two things about, which make it
‘possible to say, But then, when you took your own key oot of your pocket
‘Bente my the analysts lace, rhas meaning all he same and according
to his state of progress, the meaning will be explained to him in one of
Several ways—tihe by the fact that he thiks he Is eotering bis own home,
Gr athe ans enter his own home, or even ait fartee on that he fet
ff insoring the Kay nthe lock proves something symbolic tat has todo
‘vith Keys abd locks. The symbolism of the Traumdewtng is cut fom
‘racy the same cloth, What are these dreams if theyre not recounted
reams? I isin the unfolding ofthe report that what Freud calls their
‘meaning (stead. How can one sustain # hypothesis such as that ofthe
‘conscious, unless one sees ta i he manner in which the subject,
inded here is such thing asa sujet hats nt cvided, is impregnated as
ieee by lguage?
‘We well know in analysis the imporanc the way a subject was desired
has for him or ber, Tmean who at that moment was sll nothing at al.
‘Thee ae people who ive under the thea and this wil last ther whe ie,
under the teat tet one of the two parenis—I won't say which—did not
Asie them. Thats what our everyday texts.
arens mould he subject inthis fancon that al symbolism. Swictly
speaking this means, at tht the child is in any way the basis of a symbol,
{ut ht the way in whic a mode of speaking hasbeen isle in him can
oly bear he mark ofthe mode in wich is parents have accepted him
‘ell know tht this ean havea sors ofvaratons, and fortunes Even an
Undesved child may, inthe name of whatever iis that may arise from his
fist weggls, be more welcome later on. This wont prevent from Being
resid Some mk of ha fat tt the dei dn exit before a cenain da.
How could peopl sl 10 aprecss before Fread that these people called
sen, of Women on occasion, inhabit aking? Is very ed fo people who
belive they think new realise hat they think with words. There ae ings
there that have to come to an end, dont you agree? The thesis of the
‘Warzburg Schoo, on the so-called sppercepton of know not what syne
thought that ist aculted, is really the most delusional that school of
supposed psychologists has ever produced. It is always with the help of
‘words tha man thnks. And itis inthe encounter between thes Words and
Tis body tat something takes shape, Moreover, I would even use the term
"ama inthis respect there wer no Words, What cold man bear Wines
to? Tis is where places mesng.a
14 The symptom
red, much a5 1 could, to bring alive agin something tha diet
ome fom me, but hat had aleay Deo perceived bythe ld Sis, Thee i
‘no reason to thik that philosophy has ways bee te same thing asi
for us. In those times philosophy wae a way of lea may of lie
Language. The Gres, from theme af Aesop on, wete well wae tat
‘twas of absolutely capital imporance. There ea we-known fable on his
topic, bat nobody anes it eis no coincidence at all that, whatever
angeage iis hat one receives the st inpeint of, wor ar euivocdl. es
‘cently no coineidence that in French the werd nos pronounced the
sme asthe word noeu, ot Itt no cincdence wl atthe word Pat
‘not, which in French, conary to many oter languages, doubles the
negation, also designates un pas, 2 stp. IC am so interested in pas
“noise iis nt by cance. Tis doesnt mean that lngusge in any a)
conse heritage. Is absolutely cera that it in the way in which
Tangnage has bees spoken and seo heard ss such, in is parol, that
Somehing wll subsequely emerge in deur, i all sorte of mises, in
all manners of speaking. 1s in is moteraon, if you wl llow me
‘se tis word forthe ist time, thatthe unconscious takes hold.” What |
‘ean isha ere there resides what itis that prevents anyone from finding
snober way of nourishing what ust before Fale he sympa.
Read a bit ofthe Inroduciory Lectures on Prychoonases, Freud's
Vorlesungen—1m sre this doesot happen to you very often. Theres wo
chapters on the symp. Ono's called Wege sur Syiptom Bidang (Pars fo
Sympiom Formation) its he chaps 23, hen yoo wil se that thet is 8
chapter 17 called Der Sinn, th meaning, of symptoms, If thee isa
ontrbuon Freud has made, heise that symptoms have « meaning,
anda meaning tet an only be inerpeiedcorety—eomecy meaning tha
‘he subject ets some of i go—asa function oF his early experiences, namely
in so far ashe encounters what today Tam going to call rough lack of
‘being able to say anything more o anything beter, sexual eal.
rend paced lot of emphasis on tis. And he thought, notably, thatthe
‘erm ‘uteroicisn” needed to be accentuate, inthe sense that te child
3 Lala ja ete wd vou,
4 ‘Motaime. Mot mats werd.
Tacques Lacan 1S
Iinay discovers this sexual reaty on his own Body. pemit mysel—is
Soest happen every day—todsspreo—and in the nae of Freuds work
ttt,
you study the as flit Hans lossy, yu wil se that what appears
tere is that what he calls hs Wivtmacker, because he doesnt know ow fo
call it anything else, is inreduced ino his eet. In ther words 0 call
things quedy by tei ame, be hs is first eeedons. This rt enjoyment
Uouir manifests tse, it could be si, in everyone 1s this, pot eve of
‘verre, then vere in everyone? But thi i pcily the point of reads
‘onnbuton—is being verified in cenain people i enaugh for ws to bein &
‘oston to construct something upon i tat has the closest of connections
‘withthe unconsions. For i fat, al tat the unconscious i Freud's
Invenson. The unconscious isan invention in he sense ofa discovery,
‘which is linked 10 the encounter that certain beings have with ther own
‘Being, this is what we cll, Because we dont know bow to say tay
tere 1 would be beter todo without the word being Some people
have in he past Bea sensive otis. A cena Sain Thomas Aquinas—-e
fst holy man [aint homme] and even a symptom [symptmel—wrote
Something called De ene et esenia [On Being and Escence can sy 1
‘commend that you read it, because you won, But its very att, I there
‘is something called the unconscious, i means that one doesnt ave fo Know
‘what eis oing inorder to do i and in ode 1 do it while knowing full
‘well. Pesaps there i someone here who wil rad Dente e extent snd
‘who will ee what this oly man, this symptom, works oot very well—
being is ot grasped so easly, nor ieee,
“There's no need v0 Know al that. One only needs to know that with
certain beings, whatever fey arecalled te encour with hei ow erection
Js not at all autooroc. I i the most hetero thing there Ie They atk
themsalves, "But what shi?” And Tey woader about it 0 much tht hi
oor ile Hans thinks of noi else ad ican tin the most extemal
‘fall objects, namely inthis horse that paws the ground tha Kicks, rolls
‘over and falls to the ground. This horse that comes and goes that bas @
‘erin way of drawing cart along the quay, is for him the most exemplary
‘hing of everthing he is eauph up in, but tat he understands absolutly
nothing of, ong t the fc, o be Sure tat he asa ceri type of mother.
and a cern typeof father. His symptom i the expression, te meaning of
this ejection,16 The symptom
“This rejection des not deserve tobe labelled ‘evceotcis under he
sole pretest hat afer all his Wivimacher is somewhere stuck ono Bim,
bow his belly The enjoyment dat has resulted tom hs Wiwstmacher i
‘lento imo moch s that ti tthe roo of his phobia, Phobia means
he as got he windup. The imerventon of Profesor Freud mediaed by te
father is ently faked, and has one single Denfit—dhat it worked. He will,
‘end up having his lite prick tore by someone else, namely his ie sister
" abbeviat the case of te Hans. I only inode it beans, since you
are intl ignorance, I dont see why I should have improvised wally
today. Twont get round to reading out al the things Tve cooked up for you
today. simply want ty to convey something of what happened, towards
the end ofthe last cena with someone who Was not genius, a8 people
‘ay, bran honest imbecile, ike me.
Froud observed tht sere were things of which noone could xy that the
speaking subject knew them without knowing thm. Tore you have things
highlighted. Thats why I spoke ofthe signifier and of is signified effet
[eget de signif], Natarliy, with the signifier I have not completly
‘uhausted he question. Te signifier is somshing embod in language. I
jst so happens that there exis a species that seat how o bak in soc
2 way that one sound, qua sigife, is diferent from another. Oliver
Fioumoy fold me be hs poblishedan arte by Spit. Read bis On the Birth
of Speech wo uy to se bow the relanship with barking arses. There i an
Sys between this elation to baking andthe fact tat i We end, the
humiliated being, the hums being, the human being, or whatever you want
‘0 callie talking about you and me—dat the human being manages to
be able t say someting. Not only is be able to sy it, but moreover tis
‘ler as T define language because I don't know wha else eal it, this
‘seers language implies a Kind of sensi rg fom the art
TThave observed number of smal children closely even If they were
nly my own. The fact hata child sys, perhaps, not ye before bes able
to construct a sentence properly, proves tat thre is something in him
‘Brough which everybing is sleved, whereby tbe water of language happens
to lave something behing as it pases, some det which he wil pay
‘with indeed whic he wil be forced to cope with. This i wha al is noe
teflecedacsiviy leaves him with—debi, to which, lar 0, because he Is
‘remanre, there will bude problems that will fight im. Owing this
he wl eit were, coalesce thi sexu reality and language,
Jacques Lacan 17
Allow me to advance some humble equations, concerning what I put
forward in my Eerts asthe meaning ofthe Pallas, which i very tad
transition of Die Bedewting des Phallus.
"is surprising that psychoanalysis hasn't in any way provided any
stimulation to peycholgy. Freud did eventing in his power, but ofcourse
Psychologists are deaf. This thing exists only in the vocabulary of
Psjchologiss—a psyche as such glued on wo a body, Why inthe devil.
[labile you wil excuse se pun, why i he devil would man be double
[doxbie? Te fact hat he ha a body disguises enough mysteries, and Freud,
suided by the path opened up by biology, diferentied between soma and
em fait wel, Why inthe devil dont we get his eblepychology out of
fu mind and yw spall ot what tere i in the Bedeutung ofthe pale?
had to tania cas meaning signification), trough lack of any eguialet.
Bedeutung iseifferent from Sina, fom the Sense elect, designates the
reaton tothe real. Why, ever since psychoanalysis hs existed, have the
‘gestions not ban addressed ahs level? Why this so-called Being, why
id tis ‘enjoys sel (se joui), appear on what sealed the cara? We
imagine that hiss a priveged beavenly body on th pretext that ran exis
thee and in acerain way is wu2-—on he one condo ere ae no the
Inhuied wavs,
‘Does it not cecur to you that what is specific to man in ‘sexual reali’
a5 [puri us befor, i tat between male and female rman there is no
Insiacal eappoe? That nothing makes tthe case that all men—10
designate man by what suits him reasonably well, given that he imagines the
des ofthe al nstrally—tat ot all men are suited 0 satis every woman?
‘This does indeed See wo be the rule for how tings are with other animals
(Obviously, no every male snsies every female, but it ju a question of
wheter they ae suited odo so or nt. Man has o make o with deaming
shout He has emake do with dcaming about it bacase tis quite ceain
‘hat pt only does he not salty every woman, bat hat Woman-—T ask any
rmembees of the Women's Literaon Movement who may be preset 0
excuse me— Woman des not exist. There ae women, bur Woman eam
otmen,
"Ts not for nothing that mani hapy wit one, or even several only. I
is because he doesn desire the others. Why dos he have no desi fo he
hers? Because they are not consonant, iT can put ike thi, with Bi
1s aot ony dat dere is no Woman, Woman defined at being wht
some ime ago I pinned down, and now repeat or you, as nal [pau18 The pion
‘ais goes fhe, an it doesnt come from man, contrary to what members
ofthe Women's Literason Movement bllve it comes from themselves. I
‘is within dhemesves that they ae no All—arly, thet they 60 ot lend
themselves to generalization. Not even, Tsu) this parnthetically. 10
lose generalization,
1 did say that woman isan objec for man. On the contrary, sid tat
here i something he never Knows how’ to cope with. Inoter words, be
‘never fae to bum hs fingers whenever he approaches ny whstever—cler
because he has made a mistake, or becuse she is precsely the one for him.
‘Butbe only ever realises tis afer te eve
“Thisis one of the meanings of apres coup, ‘fer the event’ which Thave
spoken about om ozeasion, and which was poorly conveyed inthe famous
and etemal Language of Pychoanayss by which Lagace has ruined (cla
gach) psychoanalysis in its enety. Well all ight i ist a bed a all
that, le nt exaggerate, Probably the ony thing that was of ines to him
svat lagache what ud, Afer al why wouldnt one lagacke i
am not aboluey se Tam right abou everthing. No only am not
sure, bt rely do hive the Frei titade Te net thing tt ese me
to revise my system, onthe appropriate oecason, T would ask for nshing
‘more than to gather it up. All can say is at, tanks no doubt tomy
stupiiy, this ast yet happened.
"Ther youare. Now its over to you.
{would be happy, after ll his cater, o know what you've go out of
Questions and replies
41s To encourage whoever may have a question orise 1 would tke ©
say that someone who had a aint cach, 1 dont know where fo
For Lawanne,
You know who itis?
= prbovet
— That name snot unknown 0 me, Dr Bovet asked mea question
that Fein is a good one, manner of speaking. Upto what point he sid to
‘me, do you tale yourself seriously? Thatenot bad, and 1 hope i will
encourage you. Is he expe of question that I coud care ess about. TO
nina for 80 Tong as to be at the Sweny-seond year of my teaching
5 Kaoagh The Language of Pochoonayis i by Jan Laplace and 3B.
Ponta he wr wun conve tn ban oy Deal Laue
Jacques Lacan 19
implies hat tke myself seronly. IF ido answe, it was because he had
tain 10 cach. But Tve already answered the queston,implcily. by
‘denifyng the serious with te sees. A mathematical sele, wheter
Convergent or divergent, means something. What I antounes i of the same
fer, ey am tying to gt closer and lo, consouct a convergent
Secs. Am I succeating? Nataly, when one is apivated. Bu even
‘verge series i iteresng, ints own way. it converges foo—th for
‘he people who have some idea of mathematics. Since this concems Dr
‘Bove, would someone please convey ny rept im’?
‘Dr Cramer: You sad, fT underiod you corey that It is he mother
that speaketh child though he ed ll has fo her er. ts about tis
"hough thee sl has to her her tha would ike tack you a queton
Yet
What mate a child able to hear? What mates acid receptive 1a
_ambolie order that his mother teaches hin? Te there something immanent
therein the han cd?
“in wat I si it sems 10 me that I implied it, The beng that
called man is essen speaking being
na being ha mabe able fo hear a wel
— But hearing is apart of speech. What I mentioned conceming the
perhaps tv not er, der examples could be ce, proves tha the resonance
(Of speech is something consiationa. Its obvious that thi Inked to the
specificity of my experience. From the momeat at which someone is in
‘alysis always shows that he ha bear, To be sae, he question hat you
‘aie wheter dee might be peopl who her nothing is sggesive, bt itis
‘lial wo imagine. Peehaps You wil ll me hat tee are people who heat
‘oly a htshub hati all around them there is hater.
2s Tas thinking of aul, for instance. Ths would be a casein
whch the receivers not place andi which hearing does work
As the name inlaws, aus hea themselves. Tey hee 1s of
things. Normally his even leads to hallucinati, and hallucinations have
slvaysa more or less vocal characte. Not ll ates hear voices, but they
anal los of things, nd what he acute, isa mater of discovering
where they ear i Do you Se autistes?
Yes,
Wel, wha do you make of ates, then?
That precsl} they don't manage to hear us, ha they remain
sucha
20 The sympcom
But tats quite tere They dort manage 1 hear what you have
to say tothe, in ofr as you are caring for them
wr But also that we have trouble hearing them. Their language
remains something closed of.
Thats precisely what prevent us from bearing them. 1s that hey
oot Rear you. But athe end sal tare is something 910 hen.
My question goes abit farther. Is the symbol am going to
tate a shorveredr—tearnale? Is there something Inu fom birth whch
‘makes ur ready forthe symbolic, 1 recive precisely the symbole mesage,
(olnegrte i?
Everything said implies his. Iisa mater of knowing why there
Is something inthe aust or inthe schizophreaie which frezes, if can pat
it ike that But you ant say that be does" speak. That you have wouble
hearing. grasping the point of what hey say, oes prevent these people
from being rae verbse
"Do you conceive of language as being not only verbal but also
onerbl? The language of gesnres, fo instance?
That question was raised a very long time go by someone called
Jousse, namely that gestres precede speech. 1 think that speech has
Something speci. Verbal structure is ltogstner specific, and we hive
evidence fortis inthe fact tha thse known as deaf mutes are capable of &
{ype of gesture hat isin no way the expressive gesture as such, The case of
‘deaf mates i luge of tha fact that hres prelspesion wo language,
even in those affected by that ifirmity—to me the word infirmity seems
shogetber specific here.” There is «perception hat there can be something
Significant as such. Sign language ts not conceivable without
predisposition to acquire the signifier, whatever the bodily infimity. 1
havent mendoned the ference between signifi and sen
1. Flournoy: 1 think S, Auber would be happy for You perhaps 10
elaborate abit on the ference that ou have just mentioned.
Thats abig question, on what is specifi wo the signifier. Te sign
‘is upleally found ina cyele of manifestation that one may, more or Iss
stably all extemal. eis the no moe vthou fire, Th he sign i
‘mmedintly grasped ike this—If tae i fi, ts because hres srneone
‘who itt, Even if ts remarked after the even tha the forest e urning
‘witout anyone being responsible fr. The sign always drift, immediatly,
towards te subject and towards the signifier. The sign is immediatly
‘rsp a inteatonal It is no the signifier The signifier is from the start
Dereved asa signifier
Jacques Lacan 21
— In the course of what war sald, you made some remark about
woman that I found very ine. Such as, Woman doesnot eit, thre are
‘women. Woman isa dream ofan.”
“Tiss a eam because he can do any bee
Or again, Woman what man never knows how 1 cope wth’ I
Seems 1 me ha inthe te of our lecture one was allig ofthe mp0,
And fnlly got the impression tha woman is man’s symp,
cepelt this ot in ny seminar.
Could one 2ay reciprocally that man ithe exmptom of woman?
oes this signif that in the le girl and litle boy the mestage that the
‘mother wansmis, th symbole message, signifi, wil be received from the
ome thing becauze isthe mother who tana, whether to the girl or
‘othe boy? Is there a relprociy ra diference rom whieh one can eeape?
— There's surely a diference, which stems from te fact hat women
‘understand very well tht man sa stange bird. You've goto evaluat this at
the level of women analysts, Women analyst are beter, Toye beter tan
en analyse.
na What ulimately ie thie relaionship withthe signifier that ha he
appearance of being smathing ans sea, sera?
‘MX: Women are beter analysts. Beer in what way? Beter how?
is clear that they are much more active. Thee area many
soalyts who give evidence of undersanding something. Women make
‘progress. You ony have 1 look at Melanie Klein, Worn get on wit
and they get on with it with an altogether direc eling of what the bby in
‘an [Men requ rude shaterng.
MX Mem also want o have children
——! Someties, they want to give bin, i's wae. From time to time
there are men who, fr teasoas that ae always quite sec, denuty wid
the mother They want, not only to have a Baby, bat arya chi, that’s
fail common, In my analytic experience Te got five or six quit cle
‘asd, who were able formulas
‘M, Vauther: As an analy, have you had the opportunity for close
contact wih psychosomatic patents? Whats the posion f the signif in
Yelaion a them? Whats thar postion in velaion tht accession fo the
‘bolle? One ges the Impression that they haven ouched the symbole
register, o it's not known how 1o hook ont it. would like ro know fn
Sour ay of rating the problem, you have a formula tha can Be apled to
thi pe of patent?22 The symptom
— Cena hs one of the most wneploed areas, Sil is within
the oder of the writen neveriles. In many cases We doa know ow 1
read it Something would have to be ssi here wo inuodce the nodon ofthe
‘riten, Everything happens at if someting were writen inthe body,
Something tat’ given as an enigma I's noc at all astonishing that as
‘lye we have tis elo,
whut how does one get them to speak what is writen? There, it
seems to me there isarapae.
mee "Thats quite eve. Thr’ what the ysis cal the signature of|
things, what tote in things that can be read. Signtura doesnt mean
gn, oes) There something be ved faced wih which often, we are
"M. Nicolls: Could one say tha the peychosomatic expresses himself
Ina Hierasiyphic language, whereas the newotic does iin an alphabetic
?
at tats Vico,
one's never the fi.
Str, one's never the fitter ie always someone who has said
— Sut, te dt spe0k abou pychosomates,
— Vico? Definitely nt But the, come st he hing roe this angle.
Yes, he boy considered as a caries delivering the proper noun Tere
would have to bean idea ofthe hieroglyph tat was abit moe developed
than Vic's When be says Meroglyphics he doesnt seem to have—tve read
the Scienza ruovo-very developed ideas fr is tine.
‘0. Bowrnoy: would like our worn frends 10 say a word. Mme
Rosser Lt there be Iersexua dalogue
"Mime. Rosser 1 wanted to sy tha while you were speoking, cussing
psvehocomaris, of someting writen (Stet, 7 under sod ens (es ei)
the cry, And I wondered whether the insription in the Bod) of
Dprjchotomatics doe nt resemble ary more than someting spoken, and
Whether thar wy we have trouble understanding lI a Pepelve but
lerder-developed 7.1 would no at all nk of a eroghph, which already
‘tems mach more compleated 0 me,
Tis rater complicated & psychosomatic illness and it resembles a
iesoglyph more than ary.
(0: Fowrney: And yet tory is devilishly feu o translate.
athe ene.
Jaogues Lacan 23
1M, Vauthier: One always abuses a signer io a ery. Whereas the
‘pochocomatis, one mould dearly love tobe ale 1 otribute a signifier to
fim
"Freud speaks ofthe cry ata certain moment. would have to indi
gan for you. He speaks of he ry, but nothing comes of i.
‘ine. Y: The diference Benson the writen word and te spoken word?
You gave the impression of having had some thoughts on this mater.
“= ies cenain that hee there i in lfc, a allogtber striking 99.
How is it hat orthography exis? It is the most supefyng hing inthe
‘world, and that moreover itis manifest though wring hat speech makes
its opening, cough writing and uniquely drugh writing, the wring of
what ae called figures (les ches), because n0 one wants to speak of
umber, Tees something here hat ofthe same ode as what was sed
fea queton a while ago—of the order of something immanent. The body
in he sinter eaves a trait, and a ait that sa One 1 wanted the enciger
2a tat Freud wrote in bis paper on ienication as unary trai. I is
‘nary trait that the whole question of the writen revolves sroond. Whether
the Blog is Bgyptan or Chines i inthis expect the same. Ie alway
‘ quson of configuration ofthe walt Is no fr nothing that he binary
‘omeration is writen only with ones and 2ero8. ‘The queition shold be
assessed a this level—what isthe sor of ejoymeat[ouisance] tha’ found
In psjchosomaccs? IFT usd a metaphor Ike fczen, i's indeed because hee
ctraily i at specles of xalon eis not for nog, ete, that Freud
‘ser the term Fixferang ite because the body lets iself go 10 write
Something ofthe order a he number.
IM, Vauthier: There is something paradosical. When one gets the
Impression that the word enjoyment takes up meaning again with @
psjchosomatc, he sno longer psychosomat.
“Tait grec. I's fom this angle its tough he revelation ofthe
specific enjoyment tht he has in his Maton that one must fist of al
Spproach the psychosomatic. This is where one holds out hope thatthe
‘conscous, tbe invention ofthe unconscious, canbe of some us. I in
0 Taras we hope tat we can provide him withthe meaning of wha is
bout. The payehotomatic is something which is nevertheless,
fuandanensly, profoundly rose inte imaging,
& Lacan is feina Group Poyholoy andthe Anais of the a, SE
1. inthe SE ener Zap waained @ Sagi tate 7 ™ EPO24 The symptom
1M, Z: Sol ich werden, you have more or less wanseribd wth the work
of Tis thought, I think ofthe discourse ofthe obeetlonal who this,
Yiho rethinks, who copies, who in any cate aso gest the Tris though
The Tis though, cont be underataod alo as ‘thought dpens = spent,
Inthe tente in which the dls” meant from high to low, dismount
sara, and finaly ope the statue? Can dithought be joined tothe
‘nis Bough?
—! That is closely related to obsession. The obsessional is most
essenilly someone whois though. He is thought greedily. Hes thought
Ina closed crcl. Hs sough fr himself aloe. Its he cbsessonals who
npized that formala in me. You have very well ecognized the affinity with
the obsessional, since I dda sy tmysale
Mme Vergopoulo: There is something that stack me in our seminar, in
‘elation to time. The concept the te of he hig. Within the Jraenork
of transference, you sy, speech has value only as speech, there is neither
‘notion, nor projection, or splacement. must 32) tt I didnot ally
‘Wierstand what the sense of speech sinha ranerence?
——! What are you seeking an answer 10? On the relationship beeen
‘te concept and ime?
"On the relationship berween former speech and current speech In
‘the angerence, the interpretation is propery directed, ifs because theres
‘aeoindence hence former spech and cure sezch.
— Ocessonally Thave to try my hand a somshing tentative, That
‘he concept ste time is a Hegelian idea But itso happens that, in a hing
that isin my Berit on te Temps logue et Tasserion de cerude
landcipé, I underied the uncon of haste in log, namely at be cannot
fay in sate of wncerainy since at some pont oe bas to oncade. There 1
ty to knot time f logic ise T distinguished thee times, but i'abit od,
To that long tie ago, seaigh afer the war Up pot one always
ances to 4008. But Bi oe soon simply the avoidance of ao late
This is definitely linked othe nether regions of logic. The ea ofthe whole,
of tho universal aendyprefigred in sme way in language. The refusal
Of the universal is skeiched out by Aristo, and he rejects i, because
‘niversaliy is essential to his though. T can progress with a cerain
‘elnood thar fact that Aro reject a cio he uma non-
rscesity character Of lgic. The faci that only in aliving human is there
ogi.
'M, Melo: In our firs reply you stared from the word teow, and you
were eat the notion of a erie. am track by our reaction to thie word
Jacques Lacan 25
series, which was Une pa serie of pene one afr the oer There wat
‘he aus, the obseslonal the peychasomat and hee mae Woman. That
‘made me think ofthe fact that You came hereto Speak tw, and that we
ame here 10 listen to you. Here 1s my question. Dont you think that
between vransfrence and counterancference there i realy a diference
‘Slated a the level of power?
“is easy to Show that power nver res ently upon force, pure
and simple, Power is alvays a power ted ospech. Iso happens that fer
having dumm things ino people over aloog prod, people are sare 12
ime by my chaueing which, obviously, would not have this power were
not ia series ft weren't converging on something. Is a power of avery
‘usual kind, nevereless. I's not an imperative power. give orders to m0
fone. But al pois rests onthe fat that the ene ord i nly to happy
to hive someone who says, Quiot march-towards 10 mater whi
rorover. The ery principle ofthe idea of progres is that one believe inthe
imperative, I's the most original thing in speech, which T have tied 10
‘hematite you wil find this in a ext called Radon, and which can
no longer recall where ave It a question ofthe soc ofthe master's
Alscouse. The maser’ discourse is carats by the fac that ata cena
point there is someone who will make a pretence of commanding. This
‘haracte of pretence OF a dlcourte that would not be a pretence’ served at
the tle of one of my seminars—isallopetber essenual. That thre is
Someone who is happy to take on the Tanction of pretece, ultimately
‘elghseverytody. I no one pretended wo command, where would we go?
‘Andy viawe of real consent founded onthe knowiedge that tee aso be
Someone who pretends, those who know marc Ike the rest What you have
just grasped there, while distancing youre in certain maner, is something
‘fa snow of power you evoke.
(0. Flournoy: Another question inthe series that Dr Melo mentioned,
Concerning psychosis you Iiroduced the term Foreclosure which is
‘eployed withow people knowing very well what i cvers. asked mycelt
While listening to you whether Un the pychotc what i forecloted it
‘enjoyment Bud is ha mater ofa real foreclosure, ori ta prance of @
forelesure? In other words, con peyhoanasis reach apaychote, or mo
“Thats avery nce guasuon, Frelosir ofthe Name-of the Fath.
“Tat leads ws to another stage, the Sage where itis not only the Nane-of-
the-Pathec, wher i als the Faher-of-the-Name, mean tat the father
the one who names. Its very ney evoked in Genesis, where there sal
‘at mimicking of God who tls Adam to name the animals. Everything“Thar ar some ses on thi in Josst—Saoqus Auber knows what am
alluding wo very well, doesnthe? He whois the fs sy gou w the oure
vel say oua to he ou Its obvious tha, in the etal plies that man
|S patina grotesque postion. As forme, would be ncined to believe it,
contrary to what shocks a To of people ifs rather women wh invented
language. Moreover, ts s what Genesis gives o understand. Women sea
with he serpent—that i, withthe pallos. They speak all the mee wih the
Dials, given that iis Retero for them atta ine.
‘While his is one of my dreams, one can sl ak the question: how did a
woman even his? I canbe sald tat she has an interes int Conary ©
whats belived phllocenusm is Woman's bes guarance Ifs never &
_uestion of anything le, The Vega Mary with her oot on the head of he
Serpent ans that she soppors herself upon i. That sal been imagine,
but in an uninspired manner. This can be sod without the slighest bi of
Secousbes, since someone as cary as Joyce is necessary inorder pot ll
that back gan,
"He knew very well ht hs fladons with women were hs own unique
Song, Hs wied to simate the human being in away that has he sole mest of
