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The Analyst's New Clothes: Lacan, Derrida and the Pursuit of Truth in Le Facteur de la Vérité

I still aintain that Derrida's criticis of Lacan is a case of !rodi"ious isreadin"#$la%o& i(e)#

Few tas)s are as a!!ealin" as en*uiry into the laws that "o%ern the !syche of e+ce!tionallyendowed indi%iduals#$i"und Freud#

In the !enultiate section of The Post Card: Fro $ocrates to Freud and eyond, entitled LeFacteur de la Vérité, -ac*ues Derrida turns his attention fro $i"und Freud .the su/&ect of the/oo)'s second section, 0To $!eculate 1 on 'Freud'02 to the French !sychoanalyst -ac*ues Lacanand Lacan's seinar on 3d"ar Allan Poe's short story 0The Purloined Letter#0 For Lacan# Poe'sstory illustrates a 0!sychoanalytic truth0 essential to his 0return to Freud#0 0The Purloined Letter00illustrate4s5 the truth which ay /e drawn fro that oent in Freud's thou"ht under study4eyond the Pleasure Princi!le5 1 naely, that it is the sy/olic order which is constituti%e for thesu/&ect # # #0.672# As such, Poe's tale coes to Lacan as an already a%aila/le illustration of theitinerary of the sy/olic order and its relation to the re!etition co!ulsion# Derrida insists thatLacan's readin" of 0The Purloined Letter0 liits the !lay of the written word on thereader8analyst's res!onse to the te+t# Derrida atte!ts to return the dou/le trian"les Lacan has

reo%ed fro the o%er all frae of the story to the te+t itself and to show how Lacan's frain"destroys the !ossi/ility of 0te+tual drift0 in writin"# y i"norin" the o%er all fraewor) of the te+t 1/y e+cludin" literature fro literature 1 Lacan does away with the !ossi/ility for literature to actitself out# 9e liits the !lay of the uncanny within Poe's te+t /y e+tractin" the story's dou/ledscenes fro the narrati%e te+tual whole# For, as we shall soon see, Derrida ar"ues that the story'snarrator and the narrati%e fraewor) within which he o!erates allow for a nu/er of dou/lin"s./etween the narrator and Du!in or Du!in and the inister D111, for e+a!le2 which /oth !re%entanalysis of the story and allow Poe's tale to !ro%ide its own analytic inter!retation#

3d"ar Allan Poe's 0The Purloined Letter0 is the third and final of a trio of detecti%e stories#Followin" /oth 0The urders in the ;ue or"ue0 and 0The ystery of arie ;o"et,0 0ThePurloined Letter0 is already !art of its own trian"ular relationshi!# Narrated /y a friend of Poe'sdetecti%e C# Au"uste Du!in, the tale docuents the theft of a letter fro the <ueen of France and

the letter's e%entual return to its ori"inal reci!ient# The story itself is di%isi/le into three sections#

Durin" the o!enin" oents of the tale the unnaed narrator !ro%ides a /rief o%er%iew of thee%enin" he has /een s!endin" in the co!any of Du!in# As it ha!!ens, uch of that e%enin"sdiscussion has focused on the e%ents of the two stories !recedin" 0The Purloined Letter0 in Poe'sdetecti%e trilo"y# Their con%ersation has "i%en way to silent ruination on the !art of /oth!artici!ants, a state of affairs that will soon /e interru!ted /y the entrance of the Prefect of theParisian Police which /e"ins the second scene of the tale# The Prefect iediately enters into acon%ersation with Du!in and the narrator concernin" the theft of the !urloined letter#

Throu"h the narrator's retellin" of this con%ersation the reader disco%ers that, while entertainin"the =in" and a certain inister D111 in her /oudoir, the <ueen of France witnesses the theft, /ythe inister, of a letter she had /een forced to lea%e o!en with address u!!erost u!on a ta/le#

The contents of this letter, which reain un)nown to the reader throu"hout the tale, would /e 1 asthe inister reali(es 1 e+treely co!roisin" to the <ueen should they /e disco%ered to the=in" .who is unaware of what is ta)in" !lace under his nose2# After conductin" his official/usiness and a)in" sall tal) for a while, the inister !laces a letter of his own on the ta/lene+t to the <ueen's letter and, witnessed /y the <ueen, !ic)s u! her letter, lea%in" his own in its!lace# Des!ite the inutest of searches of the inister's hoe /y the Parisian !olice, the letterreains in the hands of the inister# The inister, eanwhile, has /een usin" the letter .or, ore!recisely, the threat of its !resentation to the =in"2 to i!ro%e his !olitical !osition at court#

 After descri/in" /oth the scene of the letter's theft and the conse*uent atte!ts to reco%er it, the

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Prefect of Police concludes .under the !ro!tin" of Du!in2 /y 0read4in"5 aloud a inute accountof the internal, and es!ecially of the e+ternal, a!!earance of the issin" docuent0.>?2# Thiselli!sis ends the second di%ision of the tale and the first of the story's two dialo"ues# The narratorthen "oes on to descri/e another eetin" /etween hiself, Du!in, and the Prefect that ta)es!lace a onth after this first con%ersation# Durin" this second con%ersation Du!in, u!on therecei!t of fifty thousand francs fro the Prefect .a fraction of the reward the !refect will recei%e ifhe reco%ers the letter2, !roduces the issin" letter# After another narrati%e interlude in whichDu!in and the Prefect e+chan"e letter for chec) and the Prefect lea%es, Du!in e/ar)s on ane+!lanation of his reco%ery of the letter#

Du!in, ha%in" seen the inade*uacies of the !olice's search ethods, !ays a %isit to the inister#@earin" "reen tinted "lasses to co%er his wanderin" eyes, Du!in sets a/out the tas) of locatin"the letter# After ascertainin" the wherea/outs of the letter which, as he disco%ers is as o!en in theinister's roo as it had /een in the <ueen's, Du!in ta)es his lea%e of the inister ha%in"0for"otten0 a snuff1/o+ which he lea%es on the inister's ta/le# ;eturnin" the ne+t ornin" toretrie%e his snuff1/o+, Du!in has arran"ed for a cootion to ta)e !lace in the street /eneath theinister's window while he is inside# @hile the inister is occu!ied with the distur/ance in thestreet Du!in retrie%es the <ueen's letter fro its hidin" !lace in a 0tru!ery fili"ree card1rac) of!aste/oard, that hun" dan"lin" /y a dirty /lue ri//on, fro a little /rass no/ &ust /eneath theiddle of the antel!iece0.6>2 and su/stitutes a facsiile of his own a)in" in its !lace# Thus,

Du!in "ains !ossession of the letter and returns it, %ia the Prefect of Police, to the <ueen#

The letter Du!in lea%es for the inister .and it is certainly for the inister2 in !lace of the ori"inalletter is ore than &ust a facsiile of the ori"inal# Du!in has ta)en the o!!ortunity afforded hi /ythis occasion to !ay the inister /ac) for an 0e%il turn0.6?2 done to hi !re%iously and to lea%ethe inister in no dou/t as to who has succeeded in outwittin" hi:9e 4the inister5 is well ac*uainted with y $#, and I &ust co!ied into the iddle of the /lan)sheet the words 110'1111111n dessein si funeste,$'il n'est di"ne d'Atree, est di"ne de Thyeste#'They are to /e found in Cré/illon's 'Atrée#'0 .6?2 It is with these words that Poe's story concludes#

Derrida's analysis of Lacan's readin" of 0The Purloined Letter0 /e"ins with an e+tended first

section, translated as 0Di%ested Prete+ts,0 on which the whole of his su/se*uent readin" is hi"hlycontin"ent# 9is analysis /e"ins with the stateent, re!eated throu"hout, that 0!sychoanalysis,su!!osedly, is found# # # # @hen one /elie%es one f inds it, it is !sychoanalysis itself, su!!osedly,that finds itself0.B>?2# The resonance of this stateent is re!eated throu"hout Derrida's readin" ofLacan# Psychoanalysis finds itself8is found in the %ery literature it atte!ts to analy(e# The !lay ofdifférance, the whis!er of the trace, and the !lay of the uncanny ust /e allowed to surface ifliterature is to counicate fully# For Lacan, fiction .and Poe's tale in !articular2 0e%en has thead%anta"e of anifestin" sy/olic necessity ore !urely to the e+tent that we ay /elie%e itsconce!tion ar/itrary0.672# Thus, as Derrida ar"ues, Lacan .li)e Freud, as we shall see !resently2coes to his fictional e+a!le e+!ectin" to find a certain truth already in !lace#

The notion of !sychoanalysis and its always already !resent nature is central to Derrida's readin"of Lacan and his own, intertwined, readin" of 0The Purloined Letter#0 Derrida continues:

For e+a!le: what ha!!ens in the !sychoanalytic deci!herin" of a te+t when the latter, thedeci!hered itself, already e+!licates itself @hen it says ore a/out itself than does thedeci!herin" .a de/t ac)nowled"ed /y Freud ore than once2 And es!ecially when thedeci!hered te+t inscri/es in itself additionally the scene of the deci!herin" @hen the deci!heredte+t de!loys ore force in !lacin" onsta"e and settin" adrift the analytic !rocess itself, u! to its%ery last word, for e+a!le, the truth .B>B2 9ow to tal) a/out a te+t that already says ore thanyou e%er could, a te+t that /rea)s o!en its own analysis8deci!herin", /efore the act of!sychoanalysis /e"ins to ta)e !lace# @hat is there to analy(e in an always8already %eiled andun%eiled te+t For Derrida what 0The Purloined Letter0 shows us is that .in li"ht of and des!iteLacan's analysis2 any atte!t to frae a te+t will always result in a liitin" of what that te+t has to

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offer# As Da%id Carroll !oints out in his essay 0Institutional Authority %s# Critical Power, or theneasy ;elations of Psychoanalysis and Literature:0Lacan's neutrali(ation of the narrator is directly lin)ed to his !ositin" of a transcendent !osition of!sychoanalysis # # # this is the !osition fro which Lacan s!ea)s when he distin"uishes /etweentruth and falsity # # # neutrali(ation is the only way to achie%e astery, and all institutions andschools wor) this way: /y neutrali(in" o!!ositional forces they !retend to s!ea) with a unified%oice fro a !osition of authority that is as sus!ect as it is !owerful and lethal when allowed tofunction uno!!osed# .>6B2 Indeed, this 0transcendent !osition of !sychoanalysis0 is e+actly whatDerrida shows 0The Purloined Letter0 to /e desta/ali(in" in Lacan's analysis# @hat Derrida/elie%es Lacan finds, ins!ite of hiself, is a te+t that refuses to /e tied down to any definition ofthe truth# @hile he entions neither analyst nor story /y nae in these 0di%ested !rete+ts,0Derrida is clearly referrin" to Lacan and his readin" of Poe fro the outset# Indeed, Derrida isar"ua/ly returnin" to a criticis of Lacan he first %oiced in 0Freud and the $cene of @ritin"0 inwhich he stated that 0des!ite se%eral atte!ts ade /y Freud and certain of his successors, a!sychoanalysis of literature res!ectful of the ori"inality of the literary si"nifier has not yet /e"un,and this is surely not an accident# ntil now, only the analysis of literary si"nifieds, that isnonliterary si"nified eanin"s, has /een underta)en0.6?, first italics ine2# Throu"hout this firstsection, he will set u! the analytic scene of his own deci!herin" of Lacan throu"h a ore "eneralreadin" of the !osition of !sychoanalysis in8and literature .and that of literature in!sychoanalysis2# Always, howe%er, with his ultiate "oal in ind: 0The $einar on 'The Purloined

Letter#'0

@hat ha!!ens when a te+t .and we will ris) ta)in" it as read that Derrida is already referrin" here,al/eit i!licitly, to Lacan and 0The Purloined Letter0 2 0!uts truth onsta"e0.B>B2 Indeed, what isthis truth It is not, for Derrida, the 0astery of the author0 or the 0eanin" of fiction:0This sur!lus does not con%ey the astery of the author, and e%en less the eanin" of fiction#;ather, it would /e the re"ular effect of an ener"etic s*uarin"1off# @ithin which truth would !lay a!iece: lifted, /y the !hiloso!her or the analyst, fro within a ore !owerful functionin"# .B>B2 This0s*uarin"1off0 is Derrida's res!onse to Lacan's trian"ular frain" of Poe's te+t# $een as /oth the"eoetric creation of a fourth side which turns the trian"le into a s*uare .what will later /e calledthe 0dou/le s*uare of )in"s04BE?52 and as a !ositionin" in !re!aration for a fi"ht or an ar"uent,Derrida is !re!arin", as he does throu"hout this !reliinary discussion, for his tac)lin" of Lacan#@e are still left, howe%er, with the o!en1ended 0sur!lus0 of the 0settin" adrift0 this uncanny te+t is

a/le to o/ili(e# Derrida will turn, for a oent, /ac) to Freud in his atte!t to unco%er the 0truthof the te+t0.B>B2 ;eadin" Die Traudeutun", Derrida turns to Freud's notion of the !riary andsecondary as!ects of a literary te+t:# # # Freud esta/lishes a rule: e%erythin" in a te+t that does not constitute the seantic core of thetwo 0ty!ical dreas0 he has &ust defined .incest with other and urder of father2, e%erythin" thatis forei"n to the a/solute nudity of this oneiric content, /elon"s to the 0secondary re%ision of theaterial0 .se)undaren ear/eitun" des $toffes2# The foral .te+tual, in the usual sense2differences that coe, as if fro the outside, to affect the seantic structure, here the 0edi!usco!le+,0 thus constitute secondary re%isions# For e+a!le, when one %iews edi!us ;e+ as atra"edy of destiny, as a conflict /etween en and the "ods, a theolo"ical draa, etc#, one hasta)en as essential what actually reains an after1the1fact construction, a "arent, a dis"uise, aaterial added to the literal $toff !recisely in order to as) its nudity# .B>B1>G2 $toff, thedictionary tells us, has a %ariety of eanin"s, each of which resonates in Derrida's readin" of

Freud's te+t: atter, su/stance, aterial, fa/ric, cloth, a"ent, su/&ect1atter# The cloth of theliterary te+t, its 0secondary re%isions,0 ser%e to %eil the na)ed truth of the te+t# The aterial of the0secondary re%isions0 is the a"ent of its own co%erin"# In the o!erational !araeters of DieTraudeutun", it would /e the role of the analyst to unco%er what Derrida calls, after Freud, the0!riary content /eneath the secondary re%isions0.B>G2# As Derrida's readin" of 0The PurloinedLetter0 will soon a)e ore than a!!arent, howe%er, this unco%erin" is not as easy .nor as!ossi/le2 as it i"ht see# Derrida "oes on to raise a *uestion that is central to his readin" of0The Purloined Letter:0 0is the nudity of the eanin" hidden /eneath the %eilin" fors of thesecondary re%ision a eta!hor0.B>G2 In other words, is the truth of the te+t a eta!hor If so, forwhat

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3+hi/itin", denudin", undressin", un%eilin": the failiar acro/atics of the eta!hor of the truth# And one &ust as well could say the eta!hor of eta!hor, the truth of truth, the truth of eta!hor#@hen Freud intends to denude the ori"inal $toff /eneath the dis"uises of secondary fa/rication,he is antici!atin" the truth of the te+t# The latter, startin" fro its ori"inal content, is to /ecoordinated with its na)ed truth, /ut also with truth as na)edness# .B>G2 As such, the eta!hor as0trans!arent %eil0.B>G2 /oth %eils and un%eils that for which it is a eta!hor# In such a fashion, thetruth of the te+t is that the truth always contains another truth# As Derrida atte!ts to show,howe%er, the 0truth0 Freud .and after hi Lacan2 finds turns out to /e a lac)# The te+t, whether0The Purloined Letter0 or, as we shall see !resently in the case of Freud, 0The 3!eror's NewClothes,0 re%eals its own truth 1 a truth that /oth Freud and Lacan in turn ta)e to /e the truth#Freud finds the 0truth of the te+t0 /ecause that is what he is e+!ectin" to find# @hat he hasactually found, howe%er, is a eta!hor of the truth .or the truth of eta!hor2# 3ach and e%eryun%eilin" sees to !roduce another %eilin"# 3*ually, as Derrida continues, 0na)edness "i%es riseto su/stitutes0.B>G2# The un%eiled te+t dis"uises itself /ehind other eta!hors, the 0lac) ofclothin" # # # is dis!laced onto other attri/utes0.B>G1>H2# The stoff of the te+t, its 0seanticstructure,0 continually dis!laces truth with eta!hor# Thus, 0na)edness does not e+hi/it the !enisor the a/sence of the !enis, /ut the a/sence of the !hallus as an attri/ute su!!leentin" a!ossi/le fault, the a/sence of the colossal dou/le0.B>H2# The un%eilin" of the truth of the te+tre%eals nothin" /ut a lac), a lac) that the eta!hor of the truth /oth %eils and un%eils# The truthfound /y !sychoanalysis .of either a Freudian or a Lacanian nature2 in literature always, for

Derrida, re%ol%es around the notion of the 0lac) of a !hallic attri/ute0.B>H2# The readin" of thislac), in /oth Freud and Lacan, lea%es the clin"in" to or claiin" a truth that, as Derrida willar"ue, /oth contains and %eils its own lac):ut with this threat 4that 0a letter can always not arri%e at its destination05, the circuit 4of the letter5can always not finish# 9ere disseination threatens the law of the si"nifier and of castration asthe contract of truth# It /roaches, /reaches # # # the unity of the si"nifier, that is, of the !hallus#.BBB2 The clai to truth of the 0law of the si"nifier0 dis"uises its own e+treely !recarious!osition# ut, as Derrida would say, we are not there yet# For the !resent, suffice it to say thatthese notions of a/sence, su!!leent, and the re%ealin" of a lac) are central to Derrida's readin"/oth of 0The Purloined Letter0 itself and his readin" of Lacan's readin" of Poe's te+t# efore he"ets to Lacan's analysis !ro!er, Derrida ust still e+!licate this notion of the %eilin"8un%eilin" oftruth in fiction and the liitin"8deliitin" nature of the !sychoanalytic readin"# 9e will answer, inshort, the *uestion of why !sychoanalysis is always8already !resent in the literary te+t 1 of e+actly

how !sychoanalysis is found8finds itself#

To do this, Derrida returns, once a"ain, to Freud# To /e !recise, he turns to Freud's readin" of thefairy tale 0The 3!eror's New Clothes#0 @ithin Freud's readin" of this te+t Derrida will find a/lindness that s ar)ed siilarity to the shortcoin"s he finds in Lacan's seinar# f Freud'sreadin" Derrida states that 0Freud !ays no attention to a fold in the te+t, to a structuralco!lication which en%elo!s his discourse# @hich is inelucta/ly to /e found there 4s'ytrou%er50.B>2# This 0fold in the te+t0 is the %ery nature of the te+t itself# 0The 3!eror's NewClothes0 1 as te+t 1 is, for Derrida, a dis"uise# 0Li)e all narrati%es, li)e all secondary ela/orations,the tale %eils a nudity0.B>E2# The fairy tale is itself e+!licitly concerned with the readin" of its ownte+tuality# 0If one ta)es into account the ore than eta!horic e*uation /etween %eil, te+t, andte+tile, Andersen's te+t has the te+t as its thee0.B>E2# The su/&ect atter of the fairy tale,in%isi/le clothin" and those that can and cannot see it, !resents 0onsta"e0 the %ery thee of the

hidden within the te+t# Andersen's fairy tale !resents Freud, as it were, with his own scene ofwritin"# Thus, 0!sychoanalysis is found8finds itself#0 Derrida /elie%es that Freud has /een /lind tothis te+tual !lay and has /een una/le to see the te+t's un%eilin" of his own !ro&ect fro withinitself#

The Analytic $cene of Deci!herin"

If !sychoanalysis is found8finds itself within literature .s!ecifically here, 0The 3!eror's NewClothes02, then what difference is there, if any /etween the literary and the !sychoanalytic te+tIndeed, for Derrida, the %ery nature of the !sychoanalytic te+t calls into *uestion its !osition as an

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e+!lication of the truth of fiction# It is not, as he notes, 0a literary fiction0.B>E2# Des!ite this,howe%er, its nature as a scientific te+t is also *uestiona/le# Freud's te+t 0deri%es no ore frotraditional scientific discourse than fro any classified fictional "enre0.B>E2# Derrida e+!licitlyreturns to the nature and the 0criterion0 of truth: 0In atte!tin" to distin"uish science fro fiction,one finally will resort to the criterion of truth0.B>E2# @hat this *uestionin" turns u!, howe%er, is thealready stated hy!othesis that !sychoanalysis will always find its own analytic scene in theliterary te+ts it atte!ts to e+!licate# The a/ility of literature to !lace this truth onsta"e *uestionsthe a/ility of the !sychoanalytic ethod of analysis, which atte!ts to unco%er its eanin", to dosuch a thin":The analytic scene, the denudin", and the deconstitution of the 3in)leidun" are all !roduced /yThe 3!eror's New Clothes in a scene of writin" that unclothes, without seein" to, the astereanin", the aster of eanin", the )in" of the truth and the truth of the )in"# Psychoanalysisfinds itself8is found 4se trou%e 5 1 e%erythin" that it finds 1 in the te+t that it deci!hers# ore thanitself# .B>72 @hat does it ean for the literary te+t to already contain ore eanin" than the!sychoanalytic inter!retation of that te+t @hat !ur!ose, if any, does the !sychoanalytic analysisof literature ser%e if its analysis is already !resent Can the literary te+t /e analy(ed or decodedusin" the 0!sychoanalytic scheas # # # this literature itself !roduces0.B>72 These are the %ery*uestions Derrida will atte!t to answer throu"h his readin" of Lacan's 0$einar on 'ThePurloined Letter#'0 Indeed, it is Lacan's seinar that we are 0led to0 in the closin" !ara"ra!hs of0Di%ested Prete+ts#0

Derrida's analysis of Lacan's seinar /e"ins with the assertion that, while Lacan has 0ne%erdirectly and systeatically /een interested in the so1called 'literary' te+t # # # the "eneral *uestionof the te+t is at wor) unceasin"ly in his writin"s, where the lo"ic of the si"nifier disru!ts nai%eseanticis0.B62# Therefore, Lacan's wor) is already in%ested in the relationshi! /etweenlan"ua"e8te+t and truth# Lacan's seinar .a!!arently2 is concerned, not with the!sycho/io"ra!hical readin" of Poe's te+t, /ut with the !ursuit of the 0*uestion of the te+t0.B62#Indeed, 0ri"ht fro the o!enin" 4Lacan's5 analysis of The Purloined Letter is antici!ated /y ahori(on: the *uestion of the truth in its relation to fiction0.B6>2# Thus far, all would see to /e well#Indeed, this *uestion is concerned with the whole !ro/leatic of literature and its relation to thetruth and to !sychoanalysis that Derrida has already a!!ed out#

;eadin" Lacan, ;eadin"

Lacan's analysis of 0The Purloined Letter0 /e"ins fro the !reise that the 0re!etitionautoatis .@iederholun"s(wan" 2 finds its /asis in what we ha%e called the insistence of thesi"nifyin" chain0.6E2# Further:The lesson of this seinar is intended to aintain that these ia"inary incidences, far frore!resentin" the essence of our e+!erience, re%eal only what in it reains inconsistent unlessthey are related to the sy/olic chain which /inds and orients the# # # # @e ha%e decided toillustrate for you today # # # that it is the sy/olic order which is constituti%e for the su/&ect 1 /ydeonstratin" in a story the decisi%e orientation which the su/&ect recei%es fro the itinerary of asi"nifier# .6E172 This story is, of course, 0The Purloined Letter#0 Lacan uses Poe's story to showthe functionin" of the sy/olic order in its relationshi! to the huan su/&ect# The sy/olic orderwill /e a!!ed onto the dynaics of the !urloined letter in its transitory !aths throu"hout thestory# Lacan di%ides the story into two co!lientary scenes# The first, 0which we shall

strai"htway desi"nate the !rial scene0.?2 and a second scene, the action of which /oth irrorsand ad%ances that of the first, !rial, scene# The !lay of the si"nifier .the letter2 on the story'scharacters is a!!ed /y Lacan as a series of "lances that alternately see all and see nothin"#These "lances are dou/led and shifted fro the first scene to the second:# # # three oents, structurin" three "lances, /orne /y three su/&ects, incarnated each tie /ydifferent characters#The first is a "lance that sees nothin": the =in" and the !olice#The second, a "lance which sees that the first sees nothin" and deludes itself as to the secrecyof what it hides: the <ueen, then the inister#The third sees that the first two "lances lea%e what should /e hidden e+!osed to whoe%er would

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sei(e it: the inister, and finally Du!in# # # #Ji%en the intersu/&ecti%e odulus of the re!etiti%e action, it reains to reco"ni(e in it a re!etitionautoatis in the sense that interests us in Freud's te+t# .?62 The tra%el of the letter and itssi"nificance on those who /oth see and do not see it is of the utost i!ortance for Lacan# The!ositions of the story's characters in relationshi! to the letter and the tri!led "lance, denote andare 0deterined /y the !lace which a !ure si"nifier 1 the !urloined letter 1 coes to occu!y intheir trio0.?62# In short, the !ositions of the characters and their relationshi!s to /oth one anotherand the letter are deterined /y the !osition of the letter within the "rou!# It is the letter, and notthe characters thesel%es, that is of the "reatest i!ortance#

Lacan's frain" of the story into two scenes contains the shiftin" !ositions of the three "lancesand the characters they constitute as its central thee# In each scene, as we ha%e seen, the!ositions of the characters chan"e in relation to the letter# It is these chan"in" !ositions thatconstitute the 0decisi%e orientation which the su/&ect recei%es fro the itinerary of thesi"nifier0.672# f ost !articular interest for Lacan is the !osition of the detecti%e, Du!in, inrelation to the letter and the su/&ecti%e triad# Du!in, at one !oint or another holds the !osition of/oth the third "lance, which 0sees that the first two "lances lea%e what should /e hiddene+!osed0.?62, and 1 !erha!s ore tellin"ly 1 the second "lance, which 0sees that the first seesnothin" and deludes itself as to the secrecy of what it hides0.?62# @hen Du!in o%es into the!osition of the second "lance it is the reader of the tale, in this case the analyst, who sees what

has /een left e+!osed# Thus, the third "lance is contained /oth within and without the story itself#The third "lance is, in effect, the "lance of the analyst# As one who can see what the other/elie%es hidden, the analyst occu!ies the !osition of the third "lance for, as Lacan notes, 0we # # #/ecoe the eissaries of all the !urloined letters which at least for a tie reain in sufferancewith us in the transference0.B72#

ecause of the nature of the letter as si"nifier, its contents, for Lacan, are rarely of i!ortance.althou"h this will not /e the case when Du!in inscri/es his facsiile letter to the inister2, it isthe eanin" of the letter in its relation to its holders that is of i!ortance# Indeed, the !olicecannot find the letter /ecause they are loo)in" too literally: 0# # # the detecti%es ha%e so iuta/lea notion of the real that they fail to notice that their search tends to transfor it into its o/&ect0.?72#It is only throu"h the analytical "lance that the !osition of the letter can /e witnessed# This is, in!art, /ecause the letter itself, as si"nifier, is desi"nated not so uch /y its !resence than /y its

a/sence:For the si"nifier is a unit in its %ery uni*ueness, /ein" /y nature sy/ol only of an a/sence# # # #@hat is hidden is ne%er /ut what is issin" fro its !lace # # # for it can literally /e said thatsoethin" is issin" fro its !lace only of what can chan"e it: the sy/olic# For the real,whate%er u!hea%al we su/&ect it to, is always in its !laceK it carries it "lued to its heel, i"norant ofwhat i"ht e+ile it fro it# .?71B2 Thus, the letter carries i!ortance in as uch as it is 1 andhence Lacan's final assertion 1 always already in its !lace# @here%er it is is where it should /e#The letter's uni*ue !osition is a%aila/le to it throu"h its functionin" as a sy/olic chain# The rolesof the story's characters alter in reference to their !osition with re"ards the letter, not the otherway around# Indeed, the letters tra&ectory throu"hout the story is already inscri/ed in its/e"innin"# The 0!urloined0 nature of the letter is that it has /een, not stolen, /ut detoured# The!ossi/ility of the letter's return to its ri"htful !osition has /een a%aila/le fro the start:Thus we are confired in our detour /y the %ery o/&ect which draws us on into it: for we are *uite

si!ly dealin" with a letter which has /een di%erted fro its !athK one whose course has /een!rolon"ed .etyolo"ically, the word of the title2, or, to re%ert to the lan"ua"e of the !ost office, aletter in sufferance# .B?2 y returnin" the letter to 0its !ro!er course,0 /y returnin" it .%ia thePrefect of Police2 to the <ueen, Du!in /ecoes, as it were, the !ostan of the sy/olic order# Inreturnin" the letter, howe%er, Du!in is una/le to !re%ent hiself fro coin" under the sway ofthe intersu/&ecti%e triad# Cau"ht u! in his "ae of re%en"e with the inister, Du!in falls into the0edian !osition !re%iously held /y the <ueen and the inister0.G2# 9e has !ositioned hiselfwithin the second "lance fro which the analyst, in the !osition of the third "lance, will /e a/le tosee what he .Du!in2 /elie%es to /e hidden# As Lacan a)es clear, 0what is !erha!s at sta)e is4Du!in's5 withdrawal fro the sy/olic circuit of the letter0.B72# Indeed, ha%in" seein"ly

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withdrawn fro the "ae .uch li)e the analyst2 /y recei%in" financial reuneration for hisser%ices, Du!in reinserts hiself throu"h his essa"e to the inister .0n dessein si funeste, 8$'il n'est di"ne d'Atrée, est di"ne de Thyeste#02# @hy The answer of course is that he cannothel! hiself# Du!in, li)e anyone else, is held under the sway of the sy/olic order# In the finalanalysis nothin" has chan"ed# Du!in, is !erha!s a little richer, the inister a little less !owerful,and the <ueen .!ossi/ly2 a little ore cautious# All in all, howe%er, and des!ite an o%era/undance of !ositionin" and re!ositionin", the su/&ect is still /ound /y the sy/olic chain# Thus,0the sender # # # recei%es fro the recei%er his own essa"e in re%erse for# # # # @hat the'!urloined letter,' nay, the 'letter in sufferance,' eans is that a letter always arri%es at itsdestination0.G61?2# 3%erythin" returns to, and is held under the sway of, the 0order of theLaw0.G2# @e are left, as in Freud, with /ut one esca!e fro this law: death#

Truth as8in Death, or the Function of the Law

Lacan entions death e+!licitly in his seinar only twice, /ut each of these occasions /are closeattention# The first instance directly lin)s death to the functionin" of the si"nifier:ou reali(e, of course, that our intention is not to turn the 4the relations /etween letter and!lace5 into 0su/tle0 relations, nor is our ai to confuse letter with s!irit, e%en if we recei%e theforer /y !neuatic dis!atch, and that we readily adit that one )ills whereas the other*uic)ens, insofar as the si"nifier 1 you !erha!s /e"in to understand 1 ateriali(es the a"ency of

death# .?E, y italics2 Therefore the letter, as si"nifier, 0ateriali(es the a"ency of death#0 Itfunctions within the real of a re!etition co!ulsion, as an au+iliary to the death dri%e# indin"the su/&ect to the 0decisi%e orientation which the su/&ect recei%es fro the itinerary of asi"nifier0.672, the letter )ee!s e%eryone on trac), as it were# The letter's function astranscendental si"nifier .the !osition of the !hallus2 forces each su/&ect, in each of Lacan's three!ositions, to fall /ac) into and re!eat the actions of those who ha%e occu!ied their !ositions/efore the# As re!etition autoatis, this constant re!ositionin" of the su/&ect within theorientation of the si"nifier /inds the to the death dri%e# The a"ency of the letter forces thesu/&ect, as it does the inister, to confront death# Death is the answer to the *uestion of 0whatreains of a si"nifier when it has no ore si"nification0.G>2# The answer, of course, is that thesi"nifier will always ha%e the ultiate si"nification 1 the ine%ita/ility of death:0@hat are you, fi"ure of the die I turn o%er in your encounter .tyche2 with y fortune Nothin", ifnot that !resence of death which a)es of huan life a re!rie%e o/tained fro ornin" to

ornin" in the nae of eanin"s whose si"n is your croo)# Thus did $chehera(ade for athousand and one ni"hts, and thus ha%e I done for ei"hteen onths, sufferin" the ascendancy ofthis si"n at the cost of a di((yin" series of fraudulent turns at the "ae of e%en or odd#0 .G>2Lacan, here is %entrilo*ui(in" the *uestion which has led the inister to the 0s!ot ar)ed /y/lindness0.G>2# Indeed, it is the %ery s!ot Du!in now inha/its# Du!in, li)e the inister /efore hi,faces the ine%ita/ility of his return to the structure of the re!etition autoatis# 9e, li)e theinister, can only stand outside of the "ae for so lon" 1 there is no esca!e fro the "ae/esides death# For the insistence of the "ae is that death is the ultiate si"nified to which weare drawn /y e%ery si"nifier# The order of the Law, the law of the father, the !hallus astranscendental si"nifier, etc#, all lead us to the sae !lace# Thus it is that Lacan will su""est thatthe inister 0will lea%e the ta/le in tie to a%oid dis"race0.G62# Ta)in" the lead of -ose!h 9# $ithand @illia =erri"an in the introduction to Ta)in" Chances: Derrida, Psychoanalysis, andLiterature, all that is left is for us to notice that the author of Poe's e!i"ra!h is $eneca, whose

nae eans suicide# A letter always arri%es at its destination /ecause there is, ultiately, onlyone destination#

;eadin" Derrida, ;eadin"

In his readin" of Lacan's seinar, Derrida is concerned with one central !oint: that Lacan isa!!ro!riatin" Poe's story as an e+a!le, 0an e+a!le destined to 'illustrate,' in a didactic!rocedure, a law and a truth forin" the !ro!er o/&ect of a seinar0.B6H2# any of Derrida'scriticiss of Lacan in Le Facteur de la Vérité ste fro this sin"le !oint# Indeed, as with hisreadin" of Freud's analysis of 0The 3!eror's New Clothes,0 Derrida is concerned here with what

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this a!!ro!riation does to truth: 0the te+t is in the ser%ice of the truth, and of a truth that istau"ht0.B6H2# For Derrida, 0The $einar on 'The Purloined Letter'0 illustrates ore clearly thanany of his other writin"s Lacan's !osition in re"ard to the nature of truth and fiction:The 0truth which ay /e drawn fro that oent in Freud's thou"ht under study04eyond thePleasure Princi!le5, the truth with which the ost decorati%e and !eda"o"ical literary illustration iscoordinated, is not, as we will see, this or that truth, /ut is the truth itself, the truth of the truth# It!ro%ides the 0$einar0 with its ri"orously !hiloso!hical i!ort# # # # oreo%er, if Lacan'sstateents on the relation /etween fiction and truth are less clear and less une*ui%ocalelsewhere, here there is no dou/t a/out the order# .B6H2 This 0truth of the truth0 is, for Derrida, afallacy# Lacan's !ursuit of this truth ne%er *uestions that within which it is searchin" .0ThePurloined Letter02 and 0this first liit contains the entire '$einar'0.B62# As such, Lacan's wholeanalysis falls under the sway of what Derrida ters 0!hallo"ocentris#0 Indeed, Lacan's wholeseinar, for Derrida, is !redicated on the %alori(in" of s!eech o%er writin", 0on the authentice+cellence of the s!o)en, of s!eech, and of the word: of lo"os as !hone0.BH?2, a criticis which 1as we shall see 1 Derrida has le%elled at !sychoanalysis /efore#

 As Derrida will ar"ue, the truth Lacan finds in Poe's te+t i!oses a liit on the functionin" of thete+t itself, outside of any ar/itrarily i!osed order# Lacan uses Poe's te+t to:# # # "round fiction in truth, to "uarantee fiction its conditions of !ossi/ility in truth, and to do sowithout e%en indicatin", as does Das nheiliche, literary fiction's eternally renewed resistance

to the "eneral law of !sychoanalytic )nowled"e# .B6H12 This "roundin" of 0fiction in truth0 ta)es!lace to the detrient of the story's !ossi/ilities for eanin"# Lacan's use of the tra&ectory of theletter as an illustration of the truth in Freud's wor) liits the !lay of the te+t# As Derrida ar"ues:This story is certainly that of a letter, of the theft and dis!laceent of a si"nifier# ut what the0$einar0 treats is only the content of this story, what is &ustifia/ly called its history, what isrecounted in the account, the internal and narrated face of the narration# Not the narration itself#The 0$einar's0 interest in the a"ency of the si"nifier in its letter sei(es u!on this a"ency to thee+tent that it constitutes, !recisely, on the first a!!roach, the e+e!lary content, the eanin", thewritten of Poe's fiction, as o!!osed to its writin", its si"nifier, and its narratin" for# Thedis!laceent of the si"nifier, therefore, is analy(ed as a si"nified, as the recounted o/&ect of ashort story# .B61E2 Thus, the liit of the seinar is that it finds only what it e+!ects to find, its!sychoanalytic truth# Therefore, this truth 1 whate%er it ay /e 1 forces the ost !rofound of liitson the te+t in which it is found# As !sychoanalysis is found8finds itself, this findin" confers a

%iolent /indin" on to that in which it is disco%ered# As Da%id Carroll !oints out:There sees to /e no inter!retati%e situation in which !ower is not in !lay, in which soe force orother is not called u!on to confront, neutrali(e, o%ercoe other forces in order to !rotect theinte"rity and authority of the institutions a)in" use of the so1called doinant forces# .>6?2 $uchis the case with Lacan's use of Poe's tale# Psychoanalysis, in the act of findin" itself, liits that inwhich it is found# Thus, Lacan's i!osition of the trian"ular fraewor) on Poe's te+t and therelated reduction of the role of the narrator ensures that he finds what he wants .)nows2 to /ethere /y liitin" other inter!retations, e%en 1 as Derrida ar"ues 1 those offered /y the te+t itself#

Lacan's frain" of the circuit of the !urloined letter within the sy/olic order and the 0decisi%eorientation which the su/&ect recei%es fro the itinerary of a si"nifier0.672 can only o!erate as asysteic whole if the letter, as si"nifier and si"nified, can /e returned to its 0!ro!er !lace#0 Thisdefiniti%e orientation of the tra&ectory of the letter only functions /ecause Lacan 0ceaselessly

su/ordinates the letter, writin", and the te+t0.BH?2# Thus, Derrida's !ro&ect is to reo%e the letter.and 0The Purloined Letter02 fro within the liits of this su/ordination# Indeed, Derrida is in factreturnin" to a criti*ue he /e"an in 0Freud and the $cene of @ritin",0 in which he cautioneda"ainst:The sy!toatic for of the return of the re!ressed: the eta!hor of writin" which haunts3uro!ean discourse, and the systeatic contradictions of the onto1theolo"ical e+clusion of thetrace# The re!ression of writin" as the re!ression of that which threatens !resence and theasterin" of a/sence# .>72 This 0re!ression of that which threatens0 clearly correlates toDerrida's criticiss of Lacan's 0trian"ular lo"ic0.B7>2 in Le Facteur de la Vérité#Lacan's ain failin", for Derrida, is that he reo%es the su/&ect of 0The Purloined Letter0 .the

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letter itself and its trian"ular tra&ectories2 fro the tale's o%erall literary fraewor)# First, /oth theauthor of the te+t and the author of the letter itself are reo%ed fro the scene of writin"# Thus:This letter, a!!arently, has no !ro!rietor# It is a!!arently the !ro!erty of no one# It has no !ro!ereanin", no !ro!er content, a!!arently, that /ears on its itinerary# $tructurally, then, it is %olanteand %olée# And this theft8fli"ht would not occur if the letter had a eanin", or at least if it wereconstituted /y the content of its eanin", if it liited itself to /ein" eanin"ful and to /ein"deterined /y the le"i/ility of this eanin": 0And the o/ili(ation of the ele"ant society whosefrolics we are followin" would as well ha%e no eanin" if the letter itself were content with ha%in"one0 .$#, !# GH2# .B6616?2 $econd, the narrator of the tale, he who Lacan refers to as the0"eneral narrator0.?B2, is denied any role in the action of the tale# Lacan concludes that 0thee+treity to which the ori"inal narrator is reduced !recludes her alterin" any of the e%ents0.?B2# Ino!!osition to Lacan's %iew, Derrida ar"ues that the narrator is a central fi"ure in the te+t andshould not /e left out of an analysis of 0The Purloined Letter0 if the full richness of the te+t is to /eunco%ered# For Derrida the narrator's function is central to 0The Purloined Letter#0

3ach of Lacan's liits o!erates to ensure the 0truth0 of his own readin"# The e+clusion of thenarrator in Lacan's seinar !re%ents the !lay of the uncanny Derrida sees as a central facet ofPoe's story# An inclusion of the narrati%e !ers!ecti%e while studyin" Poe's te+t 0o!ens u!structures that reain closed to Lacan0.BG72# The narrator's insistence on the dou/led nature ofDu!in .e+cluded fro Lacan2 structurally effects the tale /y ru!turin" Lacan's trian"ular !artitions:

Du!in is dou/le, dou/les hiself, and s!lits hiself in two /y hiself# If Du!in is a dou/le /yhiself alone, and if he is the dou/le of a dou/le .the narrator2, etc#, this ris)s creatin" soedistur/ance in the deliitation of trian"les in the 0draa0 called 0real,0 as well as in theidentification of !ositions and "lances within the 0draa#0 All the ore so in that, as we ha%eseen, in the 0real draa0 itself, Du!in successi%ely identifies with all the characters, as do allthose who find the letter in its !ro!er !lace and e%ident eanin"# # # # All the 0unheilich0 relationsof du!licity, which unfold without liit in a dual structure, find thesel%es oitted or ar"inali(edin the $einar# .BH2 This liitin" of the !lay of the uncanny throu"h the dou/led nature of Du!in.and the narrator2 allows Lacan to aintain his distinctions /etween the sy/olic and theia"inary# Therefore the oent in Poe's te+t which ost desta/ali(es the !ursuit of!sychoanalytic truth .or any truth for that atter2 is neutrali(ed at the outset# This neutrali(ation,for Derrida, is !art of Lacan's su/ordination of writin" to s!eech#

@hat Lacan is ista)in" for the letter in *uestion, the !urloined letter, is the 0ideality of a letter0which could 0resist destructi%e di%ision0.BHB2# As such:9e considers the letter only at the !oint at which it is deterined .no atter what he says2 /y itscontent of eanin", /y the ideality of the essa"e that it 0%ehiculates,0 /y the s!eech whoseeanin" reains out of the reach of !artition, so that it can circulate, intact, fro its !lace ofdetachent, that is, to the sae !lace# In fact, this letter does not only esca!e !artition, itesca!es o%eent, it does not chan"e its !lace# .BHBK y italics2 The notion of the ideal letter,"rafted onto the letter in Poe's te+t, is what allows Lacan to find his truth# The 0decisi%eorientation0 illustrated /y Poe's te+t is itself a %eilin" and a lac)# 9owe%er, it is a lac) that isdis"uised /y the distin"uished and doinatin" !osition "i%en to the !hallus, as si"nifier, which.for Derrida2 %eils the !ossi/ility of its own !artition:This transcendental si"nifier 4the !hallus5 is therefore also the si"nified of all si"nifieds, and this iswhat finds itself sheltered within the indi%isi/ility of the ."ra!hic or oral2 letter# $heltered fro this

threat, /ut also fro the disseinatin" !ower that in f Jraatolo"y I !ro!osed to call @ritin"efore the Letter .title of the first !art2: the !ri%ile"e of 0full s!eech0 is e+ained there# Thea"ency of the Lacanian letter is the rele%e of writin" in the syste of s!eech# .BHG2 Thus, as Irene9ar%ey !oints out in her essay 0$tructures of 3+e!larity in Poe, Freud, Lacan, and Derrida,0Derrida finds Lacan "uilty of holdin" 0an array of traditional @estern eta!hysical assu!tionsthat 4his5 te+t thus e+e!lifies concernin" the nature of the si"n, the !ri%ile"e of the !hone or%oice o%er writin", and the eanin" of ein" as !resence0.6G62# As such, the whole of Lacan'sreadin" of Poe's story is !redicated on a host of !hiloso!hical !ositions that Derrida has ade ithis !ro&ect to refute# For Derrida, Lacan's !ositionin" of the transcendental !osition of the !hallusensures an illusion of sta/ility:

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The transcendental !osition of the !hallus .in the chain of si"nifiers to which it /elon"s, whilesiultaneously a)in" it !ossi/le2 thus would ha%e its !ro!er !lace 1 in Lacanian ters, its lettere+e!t fro all !artition 1 in the !honeatic structure of lan"ua"e# No !rotest a"ainstetalan"ua"e is o!!osed to this !hallo"ocentric transcendentalis# 3s!ecially if withinetalan"ua"e, lan"ua"e is centered on the %oice, that is, on the ideal site of the !hallus# If /ysoe isfortune the !hallus were di%isi/le or reduced to the status of a !art o/&ect, the entireedifice would colla!se, and this ust /e a%oided at all cost# .BH1E2 Indeed, as Derrida clais,this always does ha!!en# The edifice always colla!ses, /ut s!eech reassures us that its structureis intact# 0The Purloined Letter0 howe%er, a story which is 0already an affair of writin"0.BEB2,refuses to /e held within such fraes# In Derrida analysis, Lacan falls into the %ery tra!s he seesca!turin" Du!in# na/le to aintain his doinant !osition, he too falls into the second !osition,that of the =in" and the law, /lind to the structure that /inds hi:;e!etition of Du!in then# In that he ay 0now easily read its solution in /road dayli"ht,0 theauthor of the $einar, let us not for"et, is a)in" a scene for his confreres, the /ad, andunfaithful, "uardians of the le"acy of Freud# @ith the 0e+!losion of feelin",0 whose si"ns we ha%e!ointed out, he is see)in", at least, to "et /ac) on course: to rectify, to redress, to !ut /ac) ontothe ri"ht !ath that which is not deli%ered 4en souffrance5, and 0ared0 with the 0return to freud,00to correct a de%iation too anifest not to ha%e /een a%owed as such at e%ery turn#0# # # 9erea!!ro!riates his ters for hiself, then, /ut he too does so in order to "i%e the /ac), to returnthe to Freud, for the issue here is to restore the true instruction, the true doctrine# -ust as Du!in,

/y callin" hiself a 0!artisan of the lady,0 /oth o/li"es the <ueen and ies the contract whichlin)s her to the =in", so there would /e soethin" li)e a !act /etween Freud # # # and the author.the !lace of the author2 of the seinar# .BGG1GH2 Lacan, in essence, /ecoes another dou/leof8with Du!in, una/le to )ee! hiself 1 as an analyst should 1 fro re&oinin" the "ae, thesy/olic circuit whose !ath is decided /y the letter# As such, the ultiate destination of Lacan'sseinar is the return to Freud# $uch is the i!ortance of the title of this section of Derrida'sanalysis: 0First $econd 8 The Truth of the Letter fro Freud's 9and#0 This title indicates the three!ositions a!!ed out /y Lacan as e/odyin" the su/&ect's 0decisi%e orientation:0 0># a "lancethat sees nothin" # # # 6# a "lance which sees that the first "lance sees nothin" and deludes itselfas to the secrecy of what it hides # # # ?# 4a "lance that sees5 that the first two "lances lea%e whatshould /e hidden e+!osed to whoe%er would sei(e it0.?62# As such the third !osition, e/odyin"the 0truth of the letter0 as Lacan recei%es it fro Freud hiself, coes to occu!y the !osition!re%iously occu!ied /y /oth the inister and then Du!in# This !osition is one fro which, as we

ha%e seen, the su/&ect cannot fail /ut fall /ac) into the second !osition .that which is ar)ed /y/lindness2# This fallin" /ac) is the true nature of the third !osition and is the one in which Derrida!laces Lacan# Li)e the scene of writin" fro which Lacan !ulls his trian"les, this !osition isunsta/le# 3ach and e%ery one of its occu!iers ust e%entually return to the !osition of /lindness,allowin" thesel%es in turn to /e !luc)ed fro /ehind li)e Lacan's !olitical ostrich .?62# Dare oneas) what !osition Derrida /elie%es hiself to occu!y

Lacan's atte!ted return to Freud is, for Derrida, hi"hly sus!ect and only !ossi/le throu"h theulti!le su/ordinations Derrida shows Lacan enforcin"# Lacan's 0seantico1/io"ra!hical0 0triado1foralist0 0!sychoanalytic inter!retations0.BE?2 !re%ent 0The Purloined Letter0 fro e+ecutin" itsown scene of writin"# Lacan's frain" of the te+t !re%ents it fro 0tell4in"5 itself0.BE?2# ye+cludin" the narrator Lacan 0oits e%erythin" in the scene of writin" that o%erflows the twotrian"les0.BE?2# Thus, he is in uch the sae !osition as the one in which Derrida finds Freud

readin" 0The 3!eror's New Clothes:0 /lind to that which the te+t itself can show hi# y ta)in" atale which 0one could already read # # # was an affair of writin", and of writin" adrift0.BEB2 ande+tractin" the trian"ular fraes that constitute /ut a !art of its whole, Lacan liits the !lay of thete+t# As such, he can forulate a stance fro which 0a letter always arri%es at its destination0.G?2#For Derrida, howe%er, a letter can always not arri%e:

 As soon as the narrator a)es Du!in return his letters 4and thus uch of the i!ortance of thenarrator in Derrida's forulation5 # # # the letter di%ides itself, is no lon"er atoistic # # # andtherefore loses any certain destination# The di%isi/ility of the letter 1 this is why we ha%e insistedon this )ey or theoretical safety loc) of the seinar 1 is what chances and sets off course# @ithout"uarantee of return, the reainin" 4restance5 of anythin" whatsoe%er: a letter does not always

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arri%e at its destination, and fro the oent that this !ossi/ility /elon"s to its structure one cansay that it ne%er truly arri%es, that when it does arri%e its ca!acity not to arri%e torents it with aninternal driftin"# The di%isi/ility of the letter is also the di%isi/ility of the si"nifier to which it "i%esrise # # # .BEE1E72 The eanin" of this di%isi/ility, this driftin", is that 1 in the case of 0The PurloinedLetter0 1 there is no 0real true su/&ect of the tale0.BE?2# Ta)in" into account this drift the di%isi/ilityof the letter and all its !ossi/ilities for loss, theft, and fli"ht, does not "i%e us the truth# Indeed, iteans that there is no a/solute truth# The !sychoanalytic truth Lacan searches for and finds inPoe's tale is not an a/solute# As Derrida has atte!ted to show, it only /ecoes a truth at thee+!ense of e+cludin" other as!ects of that fro which it is drawn# Truth therefore, e+ists onlywithin a !ers!ecti%e .which, in this case, ha!!ens to /e !sychoanalytic2# As Da%id Carrollrear)s:0Derrida's insistence on the "eneral narrator # # # 4is5 not to 0sa%e the te+t,0 then, /ut rather toe!hasi(e the !sychoanalytical, !olitical, and !hiloso!hical, as well as literary, effects of thenarrator, the effects of his !osition on the e%ents narrated and how they are narrated# Derrida's!ur!ose is to show how Lacan's un%eilin" of Freudian truth !roceeds /y eans of a neutrali(ationof the narrati%e effect of fiction and a refusal to ta)e into account the effects of the conte+ts of thetruth on the truth found there 1 a neutrali(ation that Derrida clais is not neutral, not only asconcerns Poe's te+t /ut ore i!ortantly as concerns the relation of !sychoanalysis to truth#.>6?16B2 For Derrida truth coes, if at all, at a !rice# In the case of Lacan's 0$einar on 'ThePurloined Letter,'0 this !rice is the e+clusion of the narrati%e scene of writin" and all that e+clusion

entails: the uncanny dou/lin" of the narrator, Du!in, the inister, etc#K the te+tual drift that /othanaly(es and denies analysis# The !ursuit of truth carries with it the i!ossi/ility of its ownreali(ation# The findin" of truth ta)es !lace only within a %iolently /indin" and liitin" analysis thatis /lind to its own failin"s# Therefore, !sychoanalysis finds itself8is found only within a liited siteof analysis# The disseinatin" !ower of the letter, /oth as si"nifier and word, forestalls and!re%ents a/solute inter!retation#