One hand clapping: the phoneme and the nothing Boucher, Geoff 2005, One hand clapping: the phoneme and the nothing, Filozofski vestnik, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 83-93. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title One hand clapping: the phoneme and the nothing Author(s) Boucher, Geoff orcid.org/0000-0002-2768-9958 Journal name Filozofski vestnik Volume number 26 Issue number 2 Start page 83 End page 93 Publisher Zalozba Z R C Place of publication Ljubljana, Slovenia Publication date 2005 ISSN 0353-4510 Keyword(s) Lacan object (a) semiotics desire Judith Butler Summary In Écrits, Lacan proposes an “unthinkable list” of objects (a) that includes “the phoneme, the gaze, the voice – the nothing”. While the gaze and the voice have received extensive critical commentary, the phoneme and the nothing have gone practically unnoticed. I propose to theoretically construct the object (a) by means of an explication of Lacan’s enigmatic allusion to the phoneme and the nothing. I contend that the phoneme is the “ur-form” of the object (a), whose ontological status is nothing. As the ur-form of the object (a) (both structurally and genetically), the phoneme exemplifies the primary function of the structural causality of the Lacanian Real within the Symbolic Order, namely, the function of the bar resisting signification between signifier and signified. By developing the concept of the object (a) in relation to linguistics, psychoanalysis can reply to the persistent misunderstanding of Lacan’s position by deconstructive critics, such as Judith Butler. Language eng Field of Research 220318 Psychoanalytic Philosophy Socio Economic Objective 970120 Expanding Knowledge in Language, Communication and Culture HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Copyright notice ©2005, The Author Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30003464 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Arts and Education School of International and Political Studies Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation Related Links Link Description Connect to published version Go to link with your DU access privileges   Connect to Elements publication management system Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Thu, 30 Oct 2008, 13:53:14 EST Tue, 09 Jun 2009, 14:08:04 EST Thu, 26 Nov 2009, 11:10:18 EST Mon, 07 May 2012, 12:27:57 EST Mon, 07 May 2012, 12:32:21 EST Thu, 21 Jun 2012, 09:53:12 EST Fri, 12 Apr 2013, 16:30:54 EST Fri, 12 Apr 2013, 21:49:55 EST Fri, 26 Aug 2016, 14:15:22 EST Mon, 05 Sep 2016, 15:10:38 EST Tue, 06 Sep 2016, 09:13:54 EST Tue, 10 Jan 2017, 10:08:00 EST Sat, 06 Nov 2021, 01:32:03 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 0 times in TR Web of Science Cited 0 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 1179 Abstract Views, 18 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Mon, 07 Jul 2008, 08:53:56 EST