CONCEPTS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS Edited by JACQUES-ALAIN MILLER ‘Translated from the French by ALAN SHERIDAN x W- W- NORTON & COMPANY [New York + LondonAW. Norton & Company In, 500 Fith Avenue, New Yk, NY fOHO WOW Norn & Company Lid, 37 Great Russel Steet, London WC%8 SNU bie simtancosly in Canada emu Boks Cala” 201 lb Steet, Maran, Ontario L318 Panted inthe) ted Stes omer Alig reserved No pat ofthis publeton may be eroded Sov atenolol nyo oy ay Ime, decir mechani ptocapyng ech Photocopying teoring. oats, “without the prior permission of the Publisher. * Freche: eSeminar de ages Laan, Lie X Ls Seuil, 1973) ann (Eston ony © Enon do Seat _r9 Tatton © sen hee ot Fist ance Bo Fist publ a Notion ppt 1981 brary of Congas Clog Puen Dae cau = Ti Ponrinunetl concept pana Tantona Ls gato coeeps ance el oan nga ube lathe wna ds aces ea Tne 1 ears, ctr 1 Title . ISBN O-393-00079-b CONTENTS Preface to the English-Language Bdition page vii Editor's Note x 1 Excommunication 1 ‘THE UNCONSCIOUS AND REPETITION 1 The Freudian Unconscious and Ours "7 3 Of the Subject of Certainty 29 44 Of the Network of Signifiers 2 5 Tuché and Automaton 33 OF THE GAZE AS Objet Patt a 6 The Split between the Eye and the Gaze 6 17 Anamorphosis Fa 8 The Line and Light ot 9 What is a Picture? 105, THE TRANSFERENCE AND THE DRIVE 10 Presence of the Analyst nag 1 Analysis and Truth or the Closure of the Unconscious 136 12 Sexuality in the Defiles of the Signifier 49 1g The Deconstruction of the Drive 161 14 The Partial Drive and its Circuit 1% 15 From Love to the Libido 187 THE FIELD OF THE OTHER AND BACK TO THE TRANSFERENCE 16 The Subject and the Other: Alienation 203 17 The Subject and the Other: Aphaniss a6OF THE GAZE Roaring Sia eg. evel And hii spoil rea the materi ‘heanal ‘ence of the unconscious." Meteo he exper isto say, atthe level ofthe lack (— 4). ae 4 March 1964 104 9 WHAT IS A PICTURE? ‘Bring ond its semblance ~The lre of th seven « Dompte-regard and twompeoeil! The backword glance» Gestare and touck- Le don- ner-iwvoir and invidia® ‘Teday, then, I must keep to the wager to which I committed nyself in choosing the terrain in which the objet a is most ‘evanescent in its function of symbolizing the central lack of ‘aes, which I have always indicated in & univocal way by the algorithm (—). T don't know whether you can see the blackboard, but as sual Thave marked out a few reference-points. The objet @ ix lhe fl of the estble the gaze. After which, enclosed in & chain bracket, I have written: in ate a= (-#) We can grasp in effect something which, already in nature, appropiate the gaze tothe function to which it may be putin the symbolic relation in man. Selow this, Thave drawn the (wo triangular systems that 1 have already introdueed-—the fst i that which, in the geo- vera Bel, puts in our place the subject ofthe representation, Rel the second is tha which turns me into a picture. On the Jghchand line is situated, then, ehe apex of the fst triangle, Te point ofthe geomettal subject, and it son that Line that I, 1 the vente ofthe ver damp eto tame to subdue. The reference thea ection a whi te gaat tamed by some object uch a8 Bete Tacan sient the pace depend a ouaterart othe Par tampa, which ha of cove posed into the Boglsh Iangvare Te Donner means ley “to give to be sen? and, therefor, ‘to coer toc "The Lain ti, saat as ‘envy desves, 8 Lacan otto omy, ose. 105,OF THE Gaze too, turn myselfinto a picture under the « inder the gaze, which is inscribed tthe apex of the second triangle. The two triangles are here superimposed, asin fact they are inthe functioning ofthe scopie register, Thee of repntion 1 must begin with inst onthe ll fel the gusin ute Fam ote ae oe an as fete uve am ted a ua Ta “ht thefanton thai ud atthe is fund athe earch ton of the subject inthe vise: What determines at ee Foto ee ithe viable tthe gre das sees ek Sh he pe Oa energies ee at Teves cites Hee it cones saat ta de gi inset threat whch ight enbaled dag hich" youl awe sen word eo chen fragmented form—T am photo-graphed, vine “What nat tue beret ot te philsphi problem of sprain. From the pt of vw en a pe EES epcentton ate my lt fhe gee ek sits Ft eminent i thingie Btn he phenomenon hoes a a ee feresampl may not bale odesnyogabeate ene iy tewmdepr sHat weal oo a plate and ce me kee hog te wn Bae that al ial” crnthing ore tebe ny oon nn ete hese eee and that which is beyond that things are suspended. nee part set out from the fact that there i omehing at Chat Hac « ipa, ping of he bey mn 3 sccommadste Tele even the nae 108 WHAT IS A PICTURE? ‘This fact is observable in the variously modulated seale of what may be included, ultimately, under the general heading tf mimicry. It is this that comes into play, quite obviously, both in sexual union and in the struggle to the death. In both Situations, the being breaks up, in an extraordinary way, between its being and its semblance, between itself and that paper tiger it shows to the other. In the case of display, usually tn the part of the male animal, or in the case of grimacing Swelling by which the animal enters the play of combat in the farm of intimidation, the being gives of himself, or receives from the other, something that is like a mask, 2 double, an fewelope, @ thrownoff skin, thrown off in order to cover the fame ofa shield, Te i through this separated form of himself that the being comes into play in his effects of lfe and death, land it might be said that i is with the help ofthis doubling of the other, or of oneself, chat is realized the conjunction from tnhich proceeds the renewal of beings in reproduction "The lure plays an esvential function therefore. Tt is not something elie that seizes us at the very level of clinical ex- perience, when, in relation to what one might imagine of the Seraction tothe other poleasconjoiningmasculineandfeminine, wwe apprehend the prevalence of that which is presented as Trsety Tt is no doubt through the mediation of masks that the masculine and the feminine meet in the most acute, most intense way. ‘Only the subject—the human subject, the subject of the este that is the esence of man—is not, unlike the animal, tenrely caught up in this imaginary capture. He maps himself in it How? In s0 far a8 he isolates the function of the sereen tnd plays with it. Man, in effect, knows how to play with the smash as that beyond which there is the gaze. The screen is here the locus of mediation. ‘Last time, I alluded to the reference given by Maurice Merleau-Ponty in La Phiwmérlogie de lo perception in which, fom well-chosen examples based on the experiments of Gelb and Goldstein, one can already see, simply at the perceptual Ievel, how the sereen re-establishes things, in their satus as real If, by being isolated, an effect of lighting dominates us, if, for example, a beam of light directing our gaze so captivates us that it appears a a milky cone and prevents ws from seeing 107OF THE GAZE wha it illuminates, the mere fact of intr , the mere fact of introducing ito this ld smal screen, which cuts ino that whieh illuminated without ting sen, makes the milly light reeat, att were, into the shadow, and allows the object concealed to emerge- Ake percept lve his ithe phenomenon oa reaton thats be taken ina mare eset fiction, nn tha in its relation to desire, reality appears only as ‘marginal = (Com) ) seat mei (©) Bete Sate bP ee ue Pe ly game te eo meee ale et ASE GPRS hare ae ‘exemplary than any other, a picture by Rouault on which is traced cular lin to enable us to grasp the man pla “fl Wace a gid a, te pea rene iy ne ea een ace nt len a STE tn eet pe ss aerate at naan eat eco ara i sad he PSE Oe abet coment ee 1 am cided at subject of the geometral plane. fhe pictur, ce a eget meant See 108 WHAT IS A PICTURE? Ta the sop ld, everything is artesated between two tems Taree an aninomic way-—on the sie of tings, there i fh gue, that i to say things Took at me, and yet I see them Te how one thud undertand those words 20 atonal ‘resin the Gonpel, Thay hve es tht they might tse That apa ocseetwhat? Precely, chat things are looking at them “isis why T have introduced painting into our feld of alana by the narvow dor offered by us by Roger Calo teyone noticed last time that T made a sp ofthe fongue ie laltay htm René, heaven knows why—in observing that ‘sderyls no doubt the equivalent ofthe function which, in ian exercised in painting, “This not the ovcasion to Degin a paycho-analyst of the pale, neh always uch ateky matter and which aways raises socked reaction on the par of the lstener. Not Aafuction of art crtickm, and yetsomeone whois clos tome, “ytuhoee views count fora great deal with me, tld me that trey troubled when T embarked on something very like talcum. Of course, thatthe danger, and T shal ry £0 eid any such confusion. Tone consider all te modulation imposed on patetog by the Shlaons of the subjecting strctare that have occurred iM jury, feb clea that no formula can_posbly embrace thous sie, thse rases, thot infinitely varied trie. Tndeed, ea aay enough last ime that afer declaring that there re tg corn dmptevegard, a taming ofthe gaze, that Fg obs asap ed By the pati lay AREY fate immediately intoduced the corrective that it etic in aguiteciect appeal tothe gaze that expreason- Be TRusted, Far those who remain unconvinced, I will we beat T mean. Lam thinking of the work of wach pater Sch James Enso, Kubin, or even of that painting which, uy enoughy one ight ute 2 geal a (Brgy wege wo that which in our tei concentrated in pint ETE Pate When wail we see the limits of thi sloge ited? TEsC tt am wo believe the painter Andcé Masson, with whom Tet ning recently, i the most immediate question. Well 109OF THE Gaze ‘To point out references Hike thee isnot to enter into the Shing, historical game of citam, which Wie tap ‘what the finetion of painting ata pavular moment fort Porcclar author aa parlor Gane, For ment 8 athe Fadical principle ofthe fnedon of thi fine rt that Tam tying {0 place mse. ‘Fo begin with T would stress tat ein sting out from printing that Maurice Meseau-Ponty was parieay Tet ‘overthrow the relation, which has always been made by thought, Between the eye and the minds What he has shown a guts admirable way, begining with what he call with Cesta msl te ite Sette buns the ie ait, thse touches that ll ike ruin fom the painters brush, atthe Faneton of the painter something quite ferent om the organization ofthe fd of sepeesentaton in which Ue pil Sopher held sin our stats subjects ‘And what is chat? Where does that gt us? Ie already gives form and embodiment tothe feld in wich the pryehonealyt has advanced since Fret th whan Freud, ceary daring, anu what, a hate who fellow him, son beooesimpradenee, "Freud alway sresed with ifite respect tat he did sot intend to sete the question of what ic was in arts creation that gave fe its tue value. When he is dealig with pistes ann pos there pine a wich hie apprecaion ops, He Cannot sa, he does ot know, what, for everbody, for those ‘tol hear eth alu ofan aon, Nevers wren he studies Leonardo, let us say, roughly speaking, tha he ties fnd the fanevon tha the sess oigtal phates played in his ereation-—hit relation to thoe two mothers reat Secsrepresentd inthe painting inthe Louve on the carton in London, by that double body, branching atthe level of he vais, which seam to bloom om the entwined legs atthe beet inthis rection tat we man ook? 1: should we tee the principe of arte creation in the fact that it seems to extractremember how 1 wanlated. Vor Sellngrepestone—Uhat something. tat stands for repre Sentaon? Was tt ds that T war leading you when T ade 2 itnction Beene the picture and reprsetaen? Geran not~eexpe in very are wor, excep in a pint ing tint smetnes emerges deat Pung evar et WHAT IS A PICTURE? can scarcely be situated in the function of painting, Indeed, (ibape hi delimit at which we would have to designate Thar called pochopathologcal art "hat whichis he creation of he pine i structured in 8 pte diferent way, Precisely to the extent that we restore the Gite of view of ractae in the libidinal relation, pethaps the acim dome when we may question to advantage —because Sr new algorithms allow us to articulate the answer beiter om ats evolved in arise creation. For met a question Gfreation a Freud designated i that st ay, a8 sublimation, Sd ofthe value it animes in a Socal field Tha way that ib at once vague and precise, and which con- eros only the sueees of the work, Freud declares that if Station of dase, mhich is pure a the level of the painter, tlic on commercial value™—a gratification that may all the Shine, be termed secondacy —it i because it eflet has somes {Hing pte for society for that par of society that comes TEI ?ha influence Broadly speaking, one can say that the sronk cals people, comforts them, by showing them that at [eutsome ofthem can ive from the exploitation of thee desire That br thst wo satty them so much, there rast also be that tier eect, namely tha thr desire co contemplate ind some iatSfaon ine Te elevates theming sone sys, that i 08, sr enSSurage renunciation. Don't you see that there is some thing hore that indiates the fnetion Teall dempiergord? ‘A aa Tat ime, domptesegord i alto presente inte form af wonpetrl In this sense, 1 appear to be moving in the Sept eetion fom tration, which states faction as See very cstinct stom that of painting. Yet di not esate {ag lat ak by observing in the eppsitin of the works St-Zeants and Parchaso, the ambiguity of two levels chat of {he natural finction of the lore and that of romp. the binds rushed to the surface on which Zeunis had deposited his dabs of colour, taking the picture for edible fps let us observe thatthe succes of such an undertaking See Toc imply in the least thatthe grapes were admirably ‘Srodnced, ke those we ean set in the basket held by Carse ‘tgs Baas in the Ufa. Hehe grapes had been painted in Beatvay, ie not very likely thae the bitds would have bees decivel or why should the birds see grapes portrayed withOF THE GAZE sich exutoy eset ‘hing more ede, something dle esi nse ‘thing representing grapes for the birds. But the opposite ex- is tousy someting that ices him tak whee being SiGe Ry ets ran rf eras ees dati it competes with what Plato designates for us beyond appear ‘combat of which trompe-l'ail is the soul. roles fonged withthe advent athe Pitre deales He ea Patron, and a patron of the same stamp. Before the aristor WHAT IS A PICTURE? Bat i is much more instsuetive to see how the ¢ functions in its social repercussions. ‘Tcons-—the Christin triumph in the vault at Daphnis or the ‘admirable Byzantine mosaics—undoubtedly have the effect of holding us under their gaze. We might stop there, but were we to do so we would not really grasp the motive that made the painter set about making this ieon, or the motive it satisfies in Béing presented to us. Tt i something to do with the gaze, of or coats, but there is more to it than that. What makes the {alu of the icon is that the god it represents is also looking at ec It is intended to please God. At this level, the artist is operating on the sacrificial plane—he is playing with those things i tis case images, that may arouse the desire of God. Tideed, God is the ereator of certain images—we see this in Genesis, with the Zelem Elakim, And iconoclastic thought itself stl preserves this when it declares there is a god that does not tare for this, He is certainly alone inthis. But T do not want to {go too far today in a direction that would take ws right to the Reart of one of the most estental elements of the province of the Namesof-the-Father: a certain pact may be signed beyond trary image. Where we ae, the image remains a go-between th the eivinity if Javeh forbids the Jews to make idols it Fy because they give pleasure to the other gods. In a certain Tegister it is not God who is not anthropomorphic, i is man ‘hho is begged not to be so. But that’s enough of that. ‘Let us pass now to the next stage, which I shall call commana Letus gotothegreathallof the Doges Palaceinwhich arepainted tll kinds ofbatties, such as the battle of Lepanto, ete. The social function, which was already emerging at the religious level, is how becoming clear. Who comes here? Those who form what Reez calles peuple’, the audiences. And what do the audiences fee in these vast compositions. They see the gaze of those Demons who, when the audience are not there, deliberate in Ths hall Behind the picture it is their gaze that is there. ‘You see, one ean say that there are always lots of gazes behind. Nothing new is introduced in this respect by the epoch that André Malraux distinguishes as the moder, that which Comes to be dominated by what he calls th incomparable monster, amely, the gaze of the painter, which claims to impose itself ts being the only gaze, There always was a gaze behind, But 13,OF THE GAZE this is the most subalepoint—where does ths gaze come from? « 3 We now come back to the lit tite hits, ite bn of leanne or again to the delight example that Maurice Merens-Ponty gives in pasing in his Sige, namely thet Serangeslwvoton Simin whch one set Me pling “he important pet that Matt Himself was overwheel by the fim. Maurice MeseatsPonty draws attention to the peso of ho got whch ened he denn of time, enable so imagine the most perc deliberation i teh of thee bruh on This an Hon, he soya, What cars as these stokes whith go to makeup the mace of the Petre, il ike an fom the painter brush ot cece, but fometing ele. Can we not ty to formate what this somes thing ec? Shoal not the question be brought closer to what Tell the rinof the brush? Ifa bird were to pant would itt be By Teng il eather sake by cating otto seals, ate by Teting alt eves? What i amounts othe fst ct nthe Inyng down ofthe gaze. A sovereign act, no dub, since ats int something tate materiated ged whichy om hit tovereignty,wllrende obsolete exched operant watever, Coming trom skewers, wil be presented belo ths produce, ets not frger tat the painters rashes tometing in which a movement i terminated, We are faced here wilh Something iat gives» new an diferent meaning tothe erm regreson —we ate faced withthe element of motive the Sev frp, in soar st pros band os that by which the orginal temporality in which the to the ethers sted a distinct Rete inthe sop Gimension that ofthe texmioal moment. Tha whieh nthe idenicatory dace ofthe gator andthe spoen il be projected forward as haste is hee onthe conta, the ene thst whic, a he oust of any ew itligence, wil be clled the moment of eng “This erminl omni that which enables sto distinguish beeen gestare and an act Teisby means ofthe geste that ng WHAT IS A PICTURE? 1 brushtroke is applied to the canvas. And so true ist that raat Mwa present tose at there can be no donb thane picture i Bit felt by us, asthe terms inpresion oF pb imply, as having more ay with the gesture Ban wih any ater pe of movement. All action represented IAT ature tppears to us ara bate Scene, that ist 0), a8 E2.Bing thesescat, necewanly eeated forthe gesture. Andy “fain iets this ineton inthe gesture Ghat means that one (Src tur tui down-— wheter or net tira TF urn a taupereny around, you realize at once i ic Who thown fo you with the lei the place ofthe night. The Getion ofthe gesture ofthe hand indicate sficienty this interalsye! Wha we se ere, then, isthat the gae operates in a certain descent, descent of desire, no doubee But how ean we expres a Thee ent cnet svar ofits by Rote contol Mifjing the formula. have of desire a8 Soncouroma’s deve te dee of he Oth—1 would 8 rei queston of sort of die on he fot ofthe Other, &¢ theend of which ie the sing (le doer dvi. dow could this shin sai something, i ere is not some appelte of the eye on the part ofthe person looking? THe weet of the eye that mist be fel produces the hypnotie ‘eR ot painting For me this value so be sought on 2 much Ter coved plane than might be supposed, namely, in that ‘Gch the Wue function ofthe organ ofthe ye, the ee filled veh voraisy, the ell eye : Hissuling, when one thinksof the univeraty ofthe fonction of te ell ee hat there is no tace anywhere of a good eye, Stan eye tnt blenes, What can tis mean, except thatthe eye era tsith tthe fatal function of beng in fuel endowed — Jou allow me to lyon several rege at once 3 a seperate. But ths power t0 separate goes ic FEer tha inc visto. The powers that are attributed to eet deyng up the male of an animal om which it fall—a Under ae wlleapread in our me asin any other, and in the Mast chileed countries--of Bringing with it dicate oF mis Frege where can we better picture tis power dan 8 te comes from vide. The most exemplary i, for ws 5OF THE GAZE vie cal gar ma child who looks at his younger brother still needs whe at the ek erage amgrace ta isos pee ur fa aoe eae QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS M. Ton: Could you oy mie abut the ration you pasted Bett gst ond te nme of eng? a Lacay: What o's ges’ A threatening genure, for example? Ie isnot blow that i interred Ie ertaily Something hats done in oder wo be sree and suspended. Tinay carry to tlogcal conchson later, bu, asa iter dng gesture fis inseribad behing, Tis tis very special temporality, which T have defined by the tem arrest and which create‘ signicadon behind it ‘hac mates the dtnction between the gesture and the act ‘What is very remarkable in the Peng Opera T don't ‘now whether you sa them on thec rent vies the way fighting is depicted One fights as one has almays fought since time immemorial, much more with gestures than with blows 6 WHAT IS A PICTURE? Of course, the spectacle itself is content with an absolute dominance of gestures. In these ballets, no two prople ever touch one another, they move in different spaces in which are spread out whole serie of gestures, which, in traditional combat, nevertheless have the value of weapons in the sense that they may well be effective as instruments of intimidation. Everyone knows that primitive peoples go into battle with grimacing, horrible masks and terrifying gestures. You mustn't imagine that this is over and done with! When fighting the Japanese, the American marines were taught to make as many grimaces fs they. Our more recent weapons might also be regarded as ‘gestures. Let us hope that they will remain such! ‘The authenticity of what emerges in painting is diminished in us human beings by the fact that we have to get our colours ‘where they're to be found, that i to say, in che shit. ITT referred to birds who might let fall their feathers, iis because w do not hhave these feathers, The creator will never participate in any- thing other than the creation ofa small dirty deposit, a succes sion ofsmall dirty deposits juxtaposed. It is through this dimen- sion that we are in scopic creation—the gesture as displayed. ‘Docs this explanation satisfy you? Was that the question you asked me? ‘Tour: No, I wanted you to cay more about that temporality to twbich you already refered once, and whick presupposes, i seems te, referees tht you have made shee logical tne. Lacan: Look, what I noticed there was the suture, the poeudo-identifiation, that exists between what T called the time of terminal arrest of the gesture and what, in another dialectic that Tealled the dialectic of identificatory haste, I put ts the first time, namely, the moment of seeing. The two over~ lap, but they are certainly not identical, since one is initial and the other is terminal. T would lke to tay more about something for which T was notable, fo lack of time, to give you the necessary indications "This terminal time ofthe gaze, which completes the gesture, place strictly in relation to what I later say about the evil ey. ‘The gaze in itself not only terminates the movement, it freezes it, Take those dances I mentioned —they are always punctuated by a series of times of arrest in which the actors pause in a nyov THE GAZE frozen attitude. What is that thrust, that time of arrest of the movement? It is simply the fascinatory effect, in that it is a question of dispossesing the evil eye of the gaze, in order to ‘ward it off. The evil eye isthe fascnum, itis that which has the effect of arresting movement and, literally, of killing life. At the moment the subject stops, suspending his gesture, he is ‘mortified. The ant-life, ant-movement function of this terminal point ie the fainum, and it is preceely one of the dimensions Jn which the power of the gaze is exercised directly. The moment of seeing can intervene here only as a suture, a con Jjunetion of the imaginary and the symbolic, and itis taken up ‘again in a dialectic, that sort of temporal progress that is called hhaste, thrust, forward movement, which is concluded in the ascis ‘What I wish to emphasize isthe total distinction between the scopic register and the invocatory, vocatory, vocational field. In the scopic field, the subject is not essentially indeterminate. ‘The subject is stritly speaking determined by the very separa~ tion that determines the break of the 4, that is to say, the fascinatory element introduced by the gaze. Does that satisfy you more? Completely? ‘Tons: Almost, F. Wau: Fou have lf to one side a phenomenon that i situated, like the exl ee, in the Mediterranean civilization, and which isthe prophylactic oe. It has a protective funtion that lasts forthe duration ofa journey, and sohick i linked, not to an arrest, but to @ movement Lacan: What it prophylactic about such things is, one might say, allopathic, whether it is a question of a horn, whether or not made of coral, or innumerable other things ‘whose appearance is clearer, like the furpcula res, described by Varro, I think, which is quite simply a phallus. For it isin so far as all human desire is based on castration that the eye assumes its virulent, aggressive fimetion, and not simply its luring function asin nature, One can find among these amulets forms in which a counter-eye emerges—this is homeopathic. ‘Thus, obliquely, the so-called prophylactic function is intro- duced. 1 was thinking that in the Bible, for example, there must be passages in which the eye confers the baroka or blessing. There are afew small places where I hestated—but no. The eye may 8 WHAT IS A PICTURE? 1G Beebe and evn in the New Testament, there is no good eee seneeem To conan, Not if MeePony is seg Tinvnible has ld you to change anything inthe aril that you pub- ws Atsolel * 11 March 1964 19