Signifier

signifiant

Worked through in 1 video · 2 passages.

Summary

Dominique Pagani draws on the notion of the signifier in three contexts. Speaking of Michel Clouscard, he says that for Clouscard the great authors are "major signifiers": signposts of the phenomenology of the bourgeoisie, regardless of the details of their work1. He also notes that Clouscard takes up his opponent's syntagms and uses them in a way that turns against that opponent2. In 2022, discussing Ukraine, he urges us to "trust the signifier": when we believe we are relying on chance, we fall prey to necessity3. He calls the approach that follows the logic of the signifier, starting from the place name itself, "rigorous reverie"4. In 2024, he states that interpreting symbols does not mean moving from signifier to signified, but extending the chain of the signifier5. He gives the example of signifiers en abyme: childbirth, in which the son leaves the mother, can be taken literally6.

Summary produced automatically from 6 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.

Cycle 12 · 4 Jun 2024The matrix of all illusion: the past lived as present

1:24:50He does not flit about at random: it is the signifier that carries him from one association to another.
1:54:25It is not a matter of passing from signifier to signified but of extending the chain of the signifier: signifiers mirroring each other.