effects of signification which, one could suggest, “give form” to the unconscious
by turning it into consciousness: this is possible only as a result of the presence in
the unconscious of a structural arrangement of signifiers, that is, unconscious
meaning.
All this leads us to conclude that signifiers are simultaneously inscribed in both
consciousness and the unconscious. As we shall see in more detail toward the end
of Chapter 3 , double inscription is a consequence of primal repression. Primal re-
pression mythically occurs as soon as desire—or, better, demand—is alienated in
language, as soon as the individual subject uses language—or initially disorgan-
ized sounds—to attain the satisfaction of his instinctual needs. The primordial
signifying cry that accompanies the attempt to fulfill one’s need causes primal
repression which, in turn, marks the birth of the unconscious. Therefore, the fact
that every signifier is doubly inscribed means simply that once one signifier has
been repressed in the unconscious, all successive signifiers will be linked to the re-
pressed signifier, the nucleus of repression, and will form chains even though they are
not themselves directly repressed.The simple inscription of a signifier in the unconscious
corresponds to a metonymic combination in the unconscious: this occurs when-
ever a signifier is uttered or heard in consciousness, which means at the same time
as a new “segment” is added to the conscious signifying chain.
On the other hand, repression stricto sensu,that is, repression of a specific signi-
fier from consciousness—(secondary) repression is by definition, for Lacan, the
repression of a signifier—corresponds to a metaphoric substitution which “redi-
rects” the multiplicity of unconscious signifying chains; topographically speaking,
it imposes on them a 90 -degree turn.^69 Lacan is extremely clear on the following
points: (a) repression is a metaphor; (b) repression cannot avoid the return of the
repressed; (c) the return of the repressed—the formations of the unconscious—
functions according to metaphoric substitutions; (d) signification is produced ex-
clusively by metaphor. Hence, one should argue that if signification, and thus the
signified, arises only as a result of metaphoric substitutions, then signification is
necessarily related to both repression and the return of the repressed. In other
words, repression (of a signifier) engenders new signification in consciousness;
the formations of the unconscious are nothing but neologisms, “signifiers that es-
cape the code”: this is particularly evident in the case of jokes.^70 Finally, it is im-
portant to add that Lacan himself emphasizes that allsignifiers composing the
battery of signifiers of a given positive language, the code equivalent to the verti-
cal/substitutive axis of Saussure and Jakobson, and thus their signification, were
originally neologisms.^71 Metaphor creates new signification by substituting one
signifier for another, and this can occur only in concomitance with repression.
tuis.
(Tuis.)
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