Page 105 - Decoding Culture

98 D E C O D I N G C U L TURE

ideas. Consider, for example, the following superficially simple pas­
sage from his well-known essay The Signification of the Phallus':
For the phallus is a signifier, a signifier whose function, in the intra­
subjective economy of the analysis, lifts the veil perhaps from the
function it performed in the mysteries. For it is the signifier
intended to designate as a whole the effects of the signified, in that
the signifier conditions them by its presence as a signifier. (Lacan,
1977: 285)
These two sentences defy clear understanding, and while the first,
though highly condensed, may reasonably be argued to depend on
already grasping the whole framework of Lacan's thinking, the
second is problematic simply because of the twists and impreci­
sions of its construction. As it happens, I believe I know to what it
alludes. But it is precisely that allusive character of Lacanian writ­
ing which makes it so difficult to grasp with any certainty. And
lest any reader think that I am.perpetrating a deception by remov­
ing the passage from the context in which it appears, I insist that
nowhere in that essay is there a contextualization which will ease
this problem of interpretation.
Although I am not positively disposed to such wilfully obscure
writing, my observation here is not intended as a specific criticism
of Lacan nor of those theories which utilize his work. I am con­
cerned, rather, to underline the difficulty of dealing with Lacanian
psychoanalytic concepts, and to suggest how strong is the potential
for ambiguity, misunderstanding and disagreement in the applica­
tion of such ideas in cultural studies. Thus, although there are
clear and useful accounts of the role of Lacanian concepts in Screen
theory - Lapsley and Westlake (1988) comes to mind - I doubt that
any summary would command widespread agreement among
those who were party to these developments. Here, therefore, I
shall only be concerned with some of the foundational ideas as
they were mediated into cultural studies via Screen theory, and

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