Perversion the Social Relation

Perversion 51tern. Lacan's often-repeated illustration of what constitutes lack is theexample of a book that is not present on a library bookshelf. From theperspective of perception, we cannot say that the book is missing becausewe see only what is there, what is present, not what is not there.It is only because of a symbolic grid—for example, the Dewey decimalsystem or the Library of Congress book classification system—that providesthe book with a designation or name (such as "BF173, F23,1899,v. 2") that we can say that the volume is not in its place or is missing(volumes 1 and 3 being there, with no space between them). Nothingcan be thought of as missing except when there is a signifying systemin which certain spaces or places are laid out or ordained. We cannotthink of something as missing without language, without some kind ofsymbolic order.What this implies is that we cannot even speak of the mother as lacking(so far as her child is concerned) until she is said to be wanting in some respect—until she herself verbalizes a longing for something or someone ora desire for something or someone other than her child, or until someoneelse (typically the father) pronounces something about her desire (for example,she is envious of so and so, she wants a fur coat, she wants to bepromoted, she would like the father to act like this instead of like that)or about her shortcomings. The child cannot be said to understand hismother to be lacking or to desire until her desire or lack has been articulated,formulated, verbalized, put into words. Once it has been named,the weight of her demands (her real, physically unavoidable demands regardingthe child's bodily functions, for example) lifts, and a space ofdesire opens up—a space in which her desire is articulated and moves,and in which her child can model his desire on hers.Until "it" is named, there is no lack; the child is submerged in themOther as demand and cannot adopt a stance of his own (a desire thatconstitutes a stance with respect to jouissance, a defense against jouissance).37 The child here is confronted with what we can refer to as alack of lack. Only the mOther's demand exists; she is lacking in nothing"to speak of," nothing that is symbolizable for the child. 38 Once named,however, the "real lack" (the lack in the mother's life—for example, thedissatisfaction with her husband, her career, her whole life—that shehas been attempting to make good through her son, even though it hasnever been spoken) is neutralized to some extent. As Lacan says, the