Masks and mirrors of subject identity. Between the petrification of language and the mimeticization of the gaze

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of the constitution of the subject and the formation of identity in a world that is rapidly changing along with threats it cannot control. The discussion will span between the epistemic interpretive perspectives of Rene Girard and Jacques Lacan, involving aspects of the understanding of the subject, the meaning of language, the perception of the image, and the action of the Real. In the cognitive approach, the goal is to show the space of violence, crisis, trauma and finally language as a representative of culture. In the interpretive perspective, two (signifiant) mechanisms of human behavior are presented: mimicry and petrification, the action of which is revealed in the subject, or for the subject. The critical perspective will refer to the contemporary condition of the subject and its position in relation to nature, culture and social conditions. As for pedagogical discourse, the question is formulated: how do we understand the reality in which the subject exists, and what is the dimension of violence that organizes culture or emerges from this culture? The text uses concepts borrowed from Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalysis.