The first part of the text deals with the modification of the notion of representation introduced by Saussure’s structural linguistics. It is an attempt at reflecting on the difference between the classical dispositif of representation and Saussure’s construct: we are transferred from the sign that represents something to a signification that projects something. The first thesis is therefore a reversal of the sequence – from the sign to the signified (external reality) into the signifier (meaningless) – the sign (recognition and anchoring in some meaning) – the signified (retroactive product).
The central part of the text attempts to reflect on the place of the signifier and the signified and to define the subject’s position in this relationship. If we previously had a definition of a sign—a sign represents something for someone—,we are now faced with a definition—a signifier represents a subject for another signifier. The last point has implications: the first is that becoming a language means passing from signifiers to semiotics. Second, a sign means a placement within a system, which is the same as saying to recognise something as a sign system. Thirdly, being captured in a system leaves something on the outside, and this appears as its disturbance, as the inability to close the sign system.
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