The Reverse of a Postscript
[excerpt]

Jean-Claude Milner

translated by Asunción Alvarez

 

"L'Étourdit" ends with a dating: "Beloeil, 14th July '72." Then comes a postscript, in very small characters and very short lines, like a colophon:

Beloeil, where it might be thought that Charles I, although not in my line, failed me, but not, it must be known, Coco, perforce Beloeil, by living in the nearby inn, namely the tricolor macaw which, without exploring its sex, I had to classify as hetero—, so that it can be said to be speaking.

The postscript is intriguing. One wishes to interpret it. I tried to. Looking back, I think that, throughout my deconstruction, I have brought to light what, after so many years, makes me stay with Lacan.

[...]

In a parallel line, Coco is the French Communist Party: that's what people called it. Like Charles I, it lives in the nearby inn, namely France, which shares a border with Belgium, where Beloeil is located. D'habiter is causal; its subject is Charles I and Coco. The same cause explains two apparently different behaviors, De Gaulle's and the French Communist Party's. This cause is stated: France, like an inn. Unlike the bourgeoisie, which can be summed up by De Gaulle, committed to maintaining order, the French Communist Party didn't entirely fail Lacan. At least on the level of knowledge: qu'on le sache. This phrase becomes clearer through comparison to "Radiophonie": "It is obvious that now they [les communistes] make as much use of me as it [l'hypocrisie universitaire] does. Save for the cynicism of not naming me: these are honorable people."

[...]

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