Language Is a Key for a Hearer

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When i, when i say signifiers, i don't mean just language, but also like non verbal cues, a smiling, and how people hold the infant. A lot of these meanings pre exist that that. I mean, almost all of them pre exist the infant's arrival in the world. And one cood example is gender, where sometimes parents ar unless they are very, you know, forward looking, they paint their nurseries different colors depending on whether they are expecting a boy or girl. So that's a really clear example of how signifiers, in some ways, determine the child's a being on some level, even before it arrives into the world.

Neuroscience has given us great insights into how our brains work. But there is still room for purely humanistic disciplines to help us think through our thoughts and emotions, not to mention the meaning of our lives. Mari Ruti is a professor of English literature, with expertise in critical theory, gender studies, and psychoanalysis, especially the work of French theorist Jacques Lacan. We talk about the psychological drive that is motivated by what Lacan calls “lack,” which is related to “desire.” We use this as a way to think about such essential human experiences as mourning, creativity, and love. (We don’t talk about love enough here on the podcast.)

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Mari Ruti received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from Harvard University. She is currently a Distinguished Professor of critical theory and gender and sexuality studies at the University of Toronto. She is the co-editor of the Psychoanalytic Horizons book series for Bloomsbury.

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