Chapte1· 6
Subjectivity
In the chapter on ideology we examined how identities-what we refer
to as subjectivities-could be understood as sites of ideological conflict;
that is to say, we followed the suggestions made by Althusser and Laclau
in arguing that identities/ subjectivities:
• are not essential or permanent; but
• are produced and made meaningful within a culture.
In this chapter we'll look more closely at the way subjectivity has
been theorised within contemporary cultural theory, with particular
reference to tWo questions:
1. If subjectivity is produced within cultures, how does this process
occur? In other words, how do subjectivities become ideologised?
2. What part does the body play in the production of subjectivity?
What are the ramifications of treating human bodies as ideologised
signs?
The best starting point for a consideration of how subjects are
'produced' is the work of Sigmund Freud. His theories have been picked
up and used in a variety of ways, and have passed into everyday culture
in many popularised forms. Prior to Freud, ideas about subjectivity had
been strongly influenced by the work of the philosopher Rene Descartes,
who argued that the human subject was a rational, reasoned and (sdf)conscious
entity whose identity was made certain, was proven, by his
self-consciousness: 'I think, therefore I am.' Descartes presumed that the
T that was spoken ot written was the same as the entity that spoke
the word, and that this 'l' was a stable and knowable entity. Humans,
for Descartes, were reasonable and rational beings who were in full