Reconfiguring the (Lacanian) Real: ‘Saying the Real (as Khôra — χώρα) qua the impossible–possible event

Philosophy and Social Criticism 38 (8):793-819 (2012)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

I suggest in this article that there are several aspects of the Lacanian Real that so-called Lacanian literature has not adequately addressed, or barely did so. In this pursuit, I present a deconstructing reading of a number of Lacanian texts. My deconstructive reading suggests that three key features characterize the literature on the Real. First, there always is resistance that is involved in thinking about, and in experiencing the effects of, the Real. Second, the Real is most characteristically thought of in negative terms. Third, the Real is more or less thought of as a limit that cannot be transgressed. A deconstruction of these features leads to two arguments. First, I propose that the deployment of the Real as khôra within a discourse is an originary performativity which speaks of retroactively positing of a have-always-been-there Real. Second, I argue that the Real is the impossible–possible event which is at the heart of ‘saying the Real’. The deconstruction thus leads to a reconfiguration of the Real as a ‘ saying the Real ’ qua event in the discourse.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Lacan and the concept of the 'real'.Tom Eyers - 2012 - New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.
Zizek: a critical introduction.Sarah Kay - 2003 - Malden, MA: Distributed in the USA by Blackwell.
Reality: a very short introduction.Jan Westerhoff - 2011 - Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Miracles and common understanding.P. S. Wadia - 1976 - Philosophical Quarterly 26 (102):69-81.
Metzinger's matrix: Living the virtual life with a real body.Shaun Gallagher - 2005 - PSYCHE: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Research On Consciousness 11.
Real life.Gary Mar - manuscript
Things qua truthmakers.David K. Lewis - 2003 - In Hallvard Lillehammer & Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra (eds.), Real Metaphysics: Essays in honor of D. H. Mellor. Routledge. pp. 25-38.
Why Solovay real produces Cohen real.Janusz Pawlikowski - 1986 - Journal of Symbolic Logic 51 (4):957-968.

Analytics

Added to PP
2012-10-23

Downloads
35 (#395,891)

6 months
7 (#175,814)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Writing and difference.Jacques Derrida - 1978 - Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Margins of philosophy.Jacques Derrida - 1982 - Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Limited Inc.Jacques Derrida - 1988 - Northwestern University Press.

View all 40 references / Add more references