Talk:Floating signifier

The link to Abserswyth University's website is broken (404 error). Cyclostome (talk) 03:37, 17 September 2019 (UTC)

Empty and floating signifiers are not synonymous
Earlier, 141.51.21.160 made an edit noting that "empty signifier and floating signifier are not the same." He added the cryptic rationale that "Empty signifier is the successful outcome of a floating signifier" which I agree with though I think there are better ways of elaborating for broader audiences.

The oxford reference citation that supports the idea that the two terms are synonymous is a quote from Oxford dictionary of critical theory which I have also cited in the article. I think what Buchanan (the author) is pointing out that they are often used interchangeably. Laclau himself noted that in practice the distinction between the two terms do become blurred. However, multiple authoritative sources including Laclau himself make it clear that they are conceptually distinct. For this reason I have quoted directly from Laclau and from an interview of Laclau at length due to the difficulty of the concept.

I think Moraes did a good job, but perhaps an expert in critical theory or semiotics is aware of a better source which succinctly explains the distinction in a manner comprehensible to non experts in the field. J JMesserly (talk) 00:22, 26 April 2021 (UTC)
 * To expand on that Laclau distinction, I will make a brief addition to the lead pointing to Laclau's separation of the two wordings. Alexandre Hocquet (talk) 13:48, 22 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Done, plus removed an incorrect ref to Levi Strauss. Alexandre Hocquet (talk) 13:55, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

Clear examples needed
This article is quite impenetrable and I think the examples section should do more to clarify with actual examples. What are the different interpretations of the shark in Jaws? It's not clear that a shark is anything more than a shark, the antagonist of the story.

Race and gender are pretty well established concepts, but even if they weren't, how exactly can a word for a concept be more or less "stable" than the concept itself? Specific examples are needed.

The American flag is described as having some positive attributes, and then a claim is made that "the flag can carry either positive or negative significance". If that is true then surely at least one example of a negative significance should also be given. It seems fair to say that there no negative use of the flag for those who take pride in their country. On the other hand, someone who considers America, or Americans in general, to be a negative force might see the flag as signifying the thing they personally dislike. If so, that would only be their subjective view, not the intended purpose of the one using the flag for positive significance. So again, I think concrete examples are needed to clarify how the flag could be used for negative significance.

Concrete examples, clear to everyone, and more than three examples, would go a long way to making this article understandable and useful to readers, including those laymen who have not studied postmodernism at an American university. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.44.208.185 (talk) 09:25, 16 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Fair comments. We don't want this article to itself be a floating signifier. Boud (talk) 13:01, 14 January 2024 (UTC)