A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
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abductee reports that dur<strong>in</strong>g her experience—which <strong>in</strong>volved observ<strong>in</strong>g “a ‘man’ and a ‘horse’<br />
engage <strong>in</strong> sexual contact” and be<strong>in</strong>g anally penetrated by an alien figure—“she was given to<br />
believe…that <strong>the</strong> aliens were carefully monitor<strong>in</strong>g her feel<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> shame, guilt and<br />
humiliation.” 310<br />
The sense <strong>of</strong> shame as central to <strong>the</strong> abduction scenario is also attested to by <strong>the</strong><br />
centrality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> genitals, and later anus, to <strong>the</strong> abduction narrative. This focus on two classical<br />
loci <strong>of</strong> Freudian drives <strong>of</strong>fers yet ano<strong>the</strong>r suggestive l<strong>in</strong>k between abduction and psychoanalysis.<br />
Abduction constitutes an exposure to what Lacan refers to as <strong>the</strong> Real—“<strong>the</strong> realm <strong>of</strong> raw,<br />
unrepresentable fullness prior to <strong>the</strong> organization <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> drives.” 311<br />
Given that <strong>the</strong> anal and<br />
genital are two primary seats <strong>of</strong> that very organization, <strong>the</strong>ir shameful and terrify<strong>in</strong>g recurrence<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> abduction scenario po<strong>in</strong>ts to an encounter that reverberates at <strong>the</strong> most basic levels <strong>of</strong><br />
be<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
The account <strong>of</strong>fered by Lacan to describe what he means by <strong>the</strong> Gaze does not h<strong>in</strong>ge<br />
upon <strong>the</strong> subject be<strong>in</strong>g cast <strong>in</strong>to opacity by enter<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> vision <strong>of</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r subject. In<br />
Lacan’s account, it is not ano<strong>the</strong>r human be<strong>in</strong>g that casts his own position <strong>of</strong> mastery <strong>in</strong>to<br />
doubt— it is a sard<strong>in</strong>e can. As recounted <strong>in</strong> Four Fundamental Concepts <strong>of</strong> Psychoanalysis,<br />
Lacan was <strong>in</strong> Brittany, out to sea with local fishermen. Referr<strong>in</strong>g to a sard<strong>in</strong>e can float<strong>in</strong>g<br />
nearby, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> men exclaimed, “You see that can? Do you see it? Well it doesn't see you!”<br />
312 Lacan believed that, <strong>in</strong> some ways, <strong>the</strong> man’s statement was fundamentally untrue—that <strong>the</strong><br />
object does stare back. Lacan’s <strong>in</strong>sight was basically that to see <strong>the</strong> can as “sard<strong>in</strong>e can” or even<br />
as “can” or “conta<strong>in</strong>er” or “metal” was to “see” it through a semiotic veil. This moment <strong>of</strong><br />
clarity experientially revealed to Lacan <strong>the</strong> gap between <strong>the</strong> physiology <strong>of</strong> vision and <strong>the</strong> socially<br />
310 David M. Jacobs, “Subsequent Procedures” <strong>in</strong> Alien Discussions: Proceed<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Abduction Study<br />
Conference, ed. Pritchard et al. (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Press, 1994) 65.<br />
311 Jay, 350.<br />
312 Jacques Lacan, The Four Fundamental Concepts <strong>of</strong> Psycho-analysis (New York: W.W.Norton, 1978) 95.<br />
213