Abstract:
This paper investigates the intersections and interactions of Lacanian registers of the Real, the Symbolic and the Imaginary in Laclau´s Theory of Discourse. As result of the analysis and systematization of Laclau´s central texts, it finds that his theory addresses the ontic articulation between these registers in three moments. In a first moment, through the symbolic reactivation of the dislocated structure (the Real) that allows for the historical and contingent emergence of the mythical subject that sutures the lack. In a second moment, in debate with Butler, the symbolic representation of the Real appears as an internal limit to the Symbolic that manifests itself historically and assumes suturing ontic contents, based on tendentially empty signifiers. At this stage, Laclau incorporates two dimensions of the Real in relationship with the symbolic and the imaginary: ´negativity´ and ´positivity´. This sets in motion the contingent process of historicity-symbolization of the Real in political dynamics. Finally, in On populist reason Laclau addresses the internal presence of the Real within the symbolic through the marginals, actors who emerge historically from the bowels of the system to reveal its failed unity. He relates this heterogeneous excess that symbolizes the Real to Marx´s concept of ´lumpenproletariat´ and Lacan´s ´caput mortuum´. In this way, the article concludes that Laclau engages in an interactive approach to Lacanian registers, which allow for the analysis of the historical influence of the Real and its modes of symbolic and imaginary representation on political dynamics, and contributes to the study of the historical construction and breakdown of hegemony and ideological formations.
Keywords:
hegemony; subject; the marginals; real-symbolic-imaginary; political theory