From jakobson to lacan: the construction of the paternal metaphor

Abstract:

This article aims to approach the various nuances of the metaphor in Jacques Lacan’s thought in the 1950s. Our starting point will be the works of linguist Roman Jakobson about the aphasias, from which he postulates metaphor and metonymy as fundamental linguistic elements. Clearly influenced by Jakobson, Lacan constructs the notion of paternal metaphor on which he build the hypothesis of the foreclosure of the Name-of-the-Father as his theory of psychoses. From these points, we will analyze the structural differences between neurosis and psychosis in terms of the consequences of the paternal metaphor in the level of the signifier, speech and lack.

Keywords:
psychoanalysis; Lacan; psychosis; methafor; language