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Jacques Lacan
-J. M.
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thatthe Prefectis empoweredto lend her his voice in this case only
by thatlack of imaginationon whichhe has, dare we say, the patent.
The factthatthe messageis thusretransmittedassuresus of what
may by no means be takenforgranted: thatit belongsto the dimen-
sion of language.
Those who are here knowour remarkson the subject,specifically
thoseillustratedby thecountercase of the so-calledlanguageof bees:
in whicha linguist15can see only a simple signalingof the location
of objects, in other words: only an imaginaryfunctionmore dif-
ferentiatedthan others.
We emphasizethatsuch a formof communication is not absentin
man, howeverevanescenta naturallygiven object may be for him,
split as it is in its submissionto symbols.
Somethingequivalentmay no doubtbe graspedin the communion
establishedbetweentwo personsin theirhatredof a commonobject:
except that the meetingis possible only over a singleobject,defined
by those traitsin the individualeach of the two resist.
But such communicationis not transmissiblein symbolicform.
It may be maintainedonly in the relationwiththe object. In such a
manner it may bring togetheran indefinitenumberof subjects in
a common"ideal": the communicationof one subject with another
withinthe crowd thus constitutedwill nonethelessremainirreducibly
mediatedby an ineffablerelation.16
This digressionis not only a recollectionof principlesdistantly
addressed to those who imputeto us a neglectof non-verbalcom-
munication: in determiningthe scope of what speech repeats, it
preparesthe questionof what symptomsrepeat.
Thus the indirecttellingsiftsout the linguisticdimension,and the
generalnarrator,by duplicatingit, "hypothetically" adds nothingto
it. But its role in the second dialogue is entirelydifferent.
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18 Cf. Ecrits,p. 58. "But what will happen at the followingstep (of the
game) when the opponent,realizingthat I am sufficiently clever to follow
him in his move,will showhis own clevernessby realizingthatit is by playing
the fool that he has the best chance to deceive me? From then on my
reasoning is invalidated,since it can only be repeated in an indefinite
oscillation..."
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pointof reallyexplaining
it to us withoutus seeinga thing.That
wouldbe thesummit oftheillusionist's
art: throughoneofhisfictive
creationsto trulydelude us.
And is it not such effectswhichjustifyour referring,
without
malice,to a numberof imaginary heroesas real characters?
As well,whenwe are opento hearingthewayin whichMartin
Heideggerdisclosesto us in thewordaletheiatheplayof truth, we
a secretto whichtruth
rediscover herlovers,and
has alwaysinitiated
through whichtheylearnthatit is in hidingthatshe offers
herself
to themmost truly.
Thus evenif Dupin'scomments did not defyus so blatantly to
believein them,we shouldstillhave to makethatattempt against
theoppositetemptation.
Let us trackdown[depistons] hisfootprintstherewheretheyelude
[depiste]us.19And firstof all in thecriticism by whichhe explains
thePrefect's lackofsuccess.We alreadysawit surface in thosefurtive
gibesthePrefect, in thefirstconversation,failedto heed,seeingin
themonlya pretext forhilarity.
Thatitis,as Dupininsinuates,because
a problemis too simple,indeedtoo evident,thatit may appear
obscure,willneverhave any morebearingforhimthana vigorous
rub of therib cage.
Everything is arranged to inducein us a senseof thecharacter's
imbecility.Whichis powerfully articulatedby the factthathe and
his confederates neverconceiveof anything beyondwhatan ordinary
roguemightimagineforhidingan object-thatis, precisely the all
too well knownseriesof extraordinary hidingplaces: whichare
promptly cataloguedforus, fromhiddendesk drawsto removable
tabletops,fromthedetachablecushionsof chairsto theirhollowed
out legs,fromthereversesideof mirrors to the"thickness"of book
bindings.
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signification"],
just as we recognize a measureof intention ["de Pin-
tention"]in an act, or deplorethatthereis no morelove ["plus
d'amour"];or storeup hatred["de la haine"]and expenddevotion
["du devouement"], and so muchinfatuation ["tantd'infatuation"] is
easilyreconciledto the factthattherewill alwaysbe ass ["de la
cuisse"]forsale and brawling ["du rififi"]amongmen.
Butas fortheletter-beittakenas typographical character,epistle,
or whatmakesa manof letters-wewillsay thatwhatis said is to
be understoodto theletter[a la lettre],thata letter[une lettre]awaits
you at thepost office,or eventhatyou are acquaintedwithletters
[que vous avez des lettres]-neverthat thereis letter[de la lettre]
anywhere, whatever the context, evento designateoverduemail.
For thesignifier is a unitin its veryuniqueness,
beingby nature
symbolonly of an absence.Whichis whywe cannotsay of the
purloinedletterthat,like otherobjects,it mustbe or not be in a
particular place but thatunlikethemit willbe and notbe whereit
is, wherever it goes.24
Let us, in fact,look morecloselyat whathappensto thepolice.
We are sparednothing concerning theproceduresused in searching
the area submitted to theirinvestigation:fromthedivisionof that
space into compartments fromwhichthe slightest bulk could not
escape detection, to needlesprobingupholstery, and,in theimpos-
sibilityof soundingwood witha tap,to a microscope exposingthe
wasteof any drilling at thesurfaceof its hollow,indeedtheinfini-
tesimalgapingof theslightest abyss.As thenetwork tightensto the
pointthat,not satisfied withshakingthepagesof books,thepolice
taketo counting them,do we notsee spaceitselfshedits leaveslike
a letter?
But the detectives have so immutable a notionof the real that
theyfail to noticethattheirsearchtendsto transform it into its
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sentence
26 The original presents an exemplary in translation:
difficulty
"Les dcrits au ventles traitesen blancd'unecavaleriefolle."The
emportent
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of thesignifier,butratherits priority 2- It
in relationto thesignified.
remains, nevertheless,thatBaudelaire,despitehis devotion, betrayed
Poe by translating as "la lettre
volee" (the stolen letter)
his title:
thepurloined a titlecontaining
letter, a wordrareenoughforus to
findit easierto defineits etymology thanits usage.
To purloin,saystheOxforddictionary, is an Anglo-French word,
thatis: composedof the prefixpur-,foundin purpose,purchase,
purport,and of the Old Frenchword: loing, loigner,longi. We re-
cognizein thefirstelementtheLatinpro-,as opposedto ante,in so
faras it presupposes a rearin front of whichit is borne,possiblyas
its warrant,indeedeven as its pledge(whereasante goes forthto
confront whatit encounters).As forthesecond,an old Frenchword:
loigner,a verbattributing place au loing(or, stillin use, longe),it
does not meanau loin (faroff),but au longde (alongside);it is a
questionthenof puttingaside, or, to invokea familiarexpression
whichplayson thetwomeanings:mettre a gauche(toputto theleft;
to put amiss).
Thus we are confirmed in our detourby the veryobjectwhich
drawsus on intoit: forwe are quitesimplydealingwitha letter
whichhas ben diverted fromits path; one whosecoursehas been
prolonged (etymologically,thewordof thetitle),or,to revertto the
languageof thepostoffice, a letterin sufferance.29
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Mehlman
Translatedby Jeffrey
48 Thusnothingshall(have)happen(ed)-thefinalturnin Lacan'stheatre
of thatemptypresent
of lack.Yet withinthesimplicity themostviolentof
(pre-)Oedipal
dramas-Atreus,Thyestes-shall haveplayeditselfout.-
silently
Ed.
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