The Invention of Delirium - [excerpt]

translated by Barbara P. Fulks

One can speak of an initial paranoia of every subject or understand that at the beginning of an analysis, for example, something similar is produced so that the interpretation can begin. This is what Lacan calls signifier of transference which precipitates the emergence of the subjet-supposed-to-know, the support of interpretation, in which the relationship to this elementary phenomenon leads me to assert that this signifier is equivalent to the beginning of a delirium.

When Lacan studies the structure of the formations of the unconscious, he establishes this first moment by signaling a “it speaks of him” (ça parle de lui). The beginning for every subject is that the others speak of him. Consequently, there is no reason to be fascinated with the learning of language, since it is given that what’s important is that others and the Other speak. We observe, moreover, that often one speaks more about the infant before his birth than after. But let’s look closer.

Seminar-Colloquium from the clinical Section of Buenos Aires, 1995. Title suggested by Leonardo Gorostiza. Text edited by Oscar Sawicke.

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