Tra parola e canto. La voce tra fenomeno e oggetto pulsionale

• Main Author: Cristian Muscelli
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rosenberg & Sellier 2017-12-01
• Series: Rivista di Estetica
• Subjects: voice; singing; Lacan
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/estetica/3366
• ISSN: 0035-6212; 2421-5864

Singing shows how voice can be a means for enjoyment. In order to understand the reasons we first need to acknowledge that the enigmatic character of voice has been hidden by the traditional idea that it is a transparent vehicle for meanings, and that it can immediately carry out this function because voice cancels the distance between expression and the content of the expression itself. On the contrary, we can conceive of voice as an object that is independent from its relationship with meaningful concepts. To this end we need to look into the history of philosophy, at those attempts to demonstrate that voice is essentially acoustic matter and it is not a mere medium. Under these conditions voice becomes homogeneous with the body, and only as such it can give pleasure. Through Lacan’s definition of voice as a “drive object” we can investigate the reasons of singing as enjoyment: the “object”, in psychoanalysis, is that through which drive can get its satisfaction. Beyond the Freudian theory, Lacan includes voice in the list of those objects that allow drive to gain its goal: to satisfy itself. The Lacanian voice not only cannot be reduced to speech, but it has nothing to do with speaking: it is tied with the body and with enjoyment. Thus the object-voice, intended as drive object, is what comes closest to singing.