Ernesto Laclau’s theory of hegemony interprets in a peculiar way two central concepts of Lacanian psychoanalysis: the signifier and the real. Laclau maintains that signifiers are per se tendentially empty and that there is some constituting impossibility in every social system, that is, some real in the Lacanian sense. This paper levels two criticisms at this interpretation. Firstly, Lacan never employs the concept “empty signifier”: His definition of the signifier as that which represents a subject—and his enjoyment—for another signifier contradicts this emptiness. Secondly, in the place of the impossible, Lacan puts enjoyment. The main political consequence of these two considerations is that the theory of hegemony is mistaken when focusing on the rhetorical debate and forgets that individual political inclinations are based mainly on their enjoyment.

中文翻译：

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主体、享受、霸权：讨论埃内斯托·拉克劳对拉康精神分析中空洞的能指和现实的解释

埃内斯托·拉克劳的霸权理论以一种特殊的方式解释了拉康精神分析的两个核心概念：能指和实在。拉克劳坚持认为，能指本身往往是空的，并且在每个社会系统中都有一些构成性的不可能性，也就是说，在拉康的意义上，有些是真实的。本文对这种解释提出了两种批评。首先，拉康从不使用“空的能指”这个概念：他将能指定义为代表一个主体——以及他的享受——因为另一个能指与这种空性相矛盾。其次，在不可能的地方，拉康把享受。