Description
We have a candidate and we have an examiner.
- "Tell me", says the examiner, "about the battle of Marengo."
The candidate pauses for a moment, with a dreamy air. "The battle of Marengo...? Bodies everywhere! It's terrible... Wounded everywhere! It's horrible..."
"But", says the examiner, "Can't you tell me anything more precise about this battle?"
The candidate thinks for a moment, then replies, "A horse rears up on its hind legs and whinnies."
The examiner, surprised, seeks to test him a little further and says, "In that case, can you tell me about the battle of Fontenoy?"
"Oh!" says the candidate, "a horse rears up on its hind legs and whinnies."
The examiner, strategically, asked the candidate to talk about the battle of Trafalgar.
The candidate replies, "Dead everywhere! A blood bath.... Wounded everywhere! Hundreds of them...."
"But my good man, can't you tell me anything more precise about this battle?"
"A horse..." "Excuse me, I would have you note that the battle of Trafalgar is a naval battle."
"Whoah! Whoah!" says the candidate. "Back up, Neddy!" The value of this joke is, to my mind, that it enables us to decompose, I believe, what is at stake in a witticism.
(Extract from Chapter VI)
About the Author
Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) was one of the twentieth-century's most influential thinkers. His many works include Ecrits, The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis and the many other volumes of The Seminar.
Book Information
ISBN 9780745660387
Author Jacques Lacan
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 816g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 41mm