Taking into consideration that the main characteristic of the signifier is practiced in relation to the subject, we attempted to understand the anorexic subject through an investigation of the specific signifier "body". The study material was formed by a ninety minutes semi-structured interview with a patient diagnosed as anorexic. Data analysis was qualitative, following the "French" discourse analysis and Lacanian psychoanalysis. The analysis indicated that the signifier "body" was linked to "weight" and "feeding" in the same discursive chain. Thus, this significant chain established the order of identity and alterity, governed by (lack of) control. The conc1usion is that the anorexic´s silent complaint, materialized through a refusal to eat, is directed at the Other in an attempt to attain alterity.
anorexia; significant chain; identity; alterity