On the Lost Highway

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On the Lost Highway : Lynch and Lacan, Cinemaand Cultural Pathology

by

Bernd Herzogenrath1999 http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/

Introduction: On Mediation

I want to begin this article on Daid !ynch"s moie Lost Highway with a noteconcerning the use of !acanian psychoanalysis in this paper. #1$ %onathan &uller

has rightly argued that' (since literature ta)es as its sub*ect all humane+perience' and particularly the ordering' interpreting' and articulating ofe+perience' it is no accident that the most aried theoretical pro*ects findinstruction in literature and that their results are releant to thin)ing aboutliterature.( #,$ -hat is true for literature' is also true for the other arts' such aspainting and film. a)ing &uller"s obseration as a guideline' this reading of!ynch"s film parta)es in the mutual informing of both theory and literature. hus'the moies of !ynch are as "useful" in illustrating !acan"s often cryptic remar)s' as!acanian theory is "releant" in thin)ing about !ynch"s poetics.

!acanian psychoanalysis offers a theory of the sub*ect that does without

concepts such as unity' origin' continuity. It goes from the assumption of afundamentally split sub*ect and thus comes up with a model of sub*ectiity thatgrounds itself on a constitutie lac) rather than wholeness. hus' this theorylends itself as a useful and releant bac)ground for the analysis of a sample ofcinema that negates the idea of the autonomous' stable indiidual.

0ccording to !acan' the human being is entangled in three registers' which!acan calls the symbolic' the imaginary' and the real. -hereas the imaginaryconstitutes the #perceptual$ realm of the ego' the register that accounts for a#howeer illusie$ notion of wholeness and autonomy' the symbolic is the field ofmediation that wor)s according to a differential logic. -hereas the imaginary

constantly tries to "heal" the lac)ofbeing of the sub*ect' the symbolic acceptscastration. he human sub*ect is thus doubly split: on the imaginary leelbetween the ego and its mirror image' while on the symbolic leel it is languageand the inscription into a specific sociocultural reality and its rules that bars thesub*ect from any unity. hus' this foreer lost unity belongs to the third register:the real' which is simply that which eludes any representation' imaginary orsymbolic. Because of this lac)' the sub*ect' which' according to !acan' is aneffect of the signifier' aims at recreating that lost unity. he "strategy" of desire

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emerges as a result of the sub*ect"s separation from the real and the "means" bywhich the sub*ect tries to catch up with this real' lost unity again. It is thus desirethat accounts for the sub*ect"s tra*ectory through the human world' whichaccording to !acan (isn"t a world of things' it isn"t a world of being' it is a world ofdesire as such.( #$ his is true for !ynch"s moies' as well for the relation of the

spectator to the cinema in general.2or a span of more than ,3 years' director Daid !ynch has been forciblychanging the face of popular culture. -hen !ynch"s moie Lost Highway cameout last year' the moie was receied with both e+cited appraisal andunsympathetic disbelief. 4uropean audiences were and hae always been more enthusiastic in welcoming !ynch"s isions. 2rom Eraserhad onwards'through The Elephant Man' Dune' Blue Velvet ' Wild at Heart and Fire walk withme' !ynch"s films hae been immensely popular oerseas' especially in 2rance.he 5uite reolutionary 6 series win 7ea)s featured prominently in the 8tatesas well' since the 6 format of a "soap" #een in its weirder form$ doetailed

neatly with 0merican iewing habits. rue to his isionary style and personalobsessions' !ynch has always been cautious not to cater to mass appeal. Hiscareer shows (that he is indeed' in the literal Cahiers du Cinema sense' anauteur' willing to ma)e the sorts of sacrifices for creatie control that real auteurshae to ma)e choices that indicate either raging egotism or passionatededication or a childli)e desire to run the sandbo+' or all three.( #$ Being thusidentified with what more people would accept as a European style of filmma)ing'it should come as no surprise' then' that Lost Highway was financed by the2rench company &IB ,333 as was his last moie' Fire walk with me. 2ieyears after that moie' which had been a success with neither the critics nor theaudience which saw it as a mere "ripoff" of the Twin eaks series' !ynch"s new

moie still diides both: two some' it might (be the best moie Daid !ynch haseer made'( #;$ other reiewers (emerged from an early screening of LostHighway with the cry "


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remember anything. In his deathrow cell' 2red is continuallyhaunted by isions and headaches.

0t this moment' 2red somehow morphs into 7ete Dayton' ayoung mechanic who is suddenly sitting in 2red"s cell. 7ete"s life

is situated in typical !ynchian suburbia' an almost e+act replicaof the smalltown in Blue Velvet . 8imilarly to Blue Velvet "s !umberton' 7ete"s lifeis oershadowed by his connections to the town"s Aafia boss' Ar. 4ddy. 0t somepoint' 7ete meets 0lice -a)efield' Ar.4ddy"s babe. -ithin a few minutes' 7ete'although he is still dating his girlfriend 8heila' finds himself entangled in a sultryloe affair with the local


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in fact the more appropriate attitude in particular towards postmodern culturalproductions. Daid !ynch himself has warned against attempts at an une5uiocalreading of a filmic te+t' especially when as)ed for the "hidden meaning" of LostHighway : (the beauty of a film that is more abstract is eerybody has a differentta)e. ... -hen you are spoonfed a film' people instantly )now what it is ... I loe

things that leae room to dream ...( #J$ Being particularly ague with respect tothe 5uestion of "meaning'" !ynch on the other hand emphasizes film as an artform in its own right ( It doesn"t do any good ... to say "his is what it means."2ilm is what it means( #Cine"antasti%ue$.

In the following' I want to return to my initial 5uestion -hat are we doing whenwe are watching a film? How do we read films? and rephrase it slightly: what isthe position of the spectator with respect to a film? &hristian Aetz' in his seminalstudy of cinema as The &maginary 'igni"ier #9$' has tac)led the problem fromwithin a !acanian framewor). His analysis starts off from the notion of perception (he cinema"s signifier is perceptual #isual and auditory$( #The &maginary

'igni"ier ,$ and goes on to distinguish the cinema from other arts inscribed intothe perceptual register #such as painting' sculpture etc.$ by stating that thecinema is (more per(eptional ( #The &maginary 'igni"ier $ by inoling moreperceptional a+es. &ompared with other types of the "spectacle'" such as thetheater or the opera' this apparent superiority' howeer' is thwarted by the factthat in the cinema' the spectator and the spectacle do not share the same space'since not only the diegetic reality of film is an illusion' (the unfolding itself isfictie: the actor' the "dKcor'" the words one hears are all absent' eerything isre(orded ( #The &maginary 'igni"ier $. hus' (Gthe uni5ue position of the cinemalies in this dual character of its signifier: unaccustomed perceptual wealth' but atthe same time stamped with unreality to an unusual degree ... it drums up all

perception' but to switch it immediately oer into its own absence' which isnonetheless the only signifier present( #The &maginary 'igni"ier ;$. hisconflation of #perceptual$ wealth and simultaneous absence closely connects thecinematic' i.e. the imaginary signifier' to !acan"s ob*ect o' the ob*ect cause thatsets desire in motion' the belated reconstruction of the foreer lost ob*ect. Aetzhimself draws this connection when he states with respect to film' that the lac) iswhat it wishes to fill' and at the same time what it is always careful to leaegaping' in order to surie as desire. In the end it has no ob*ect' at any rate noreal ob*ectE through real ob*ects which are all substitutes #and all the morenumerous and interchangeable for that$' it pursues an imaginary ob*ect #a "lostob*ect"$ which is its true ob*ect' an ob*ect that has always been lost and is alwaysdesired as such. #The &maginary 'igni"ier ;9$

In further relating film to #and also distinguishing it from$ the dream' daydreamand #conscious$ fantasy #and thus relating film to the status of a symptom' of acultural or' culturally sanctioned pathology$' Aetz" imaginary signifier can beseen to be inscribed the !acanian formula of desire' which is also the formula of

fantasy/the phantasma' and which reads : (he phantasma is defined inthe most general form which it receies through an algebra constructed by us ...

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the formula # $' in which the romb should be read as "desire for."( #13$ he further 5uestion now arises how' in the cinematic situation' this "desire for"the cinematic signifier is realized. 0ccording to Aetz' the spectator simultaneously (all# per(eiving ( #The &maginary 'igni"ier J$' since s/he first of all(identi"ies with himsel" ... as a pure act of perception #The &maginary 'igni"ier 9$'

but in fact "missing" on the screen #which is why the film is a ery special )ind ofmirror$ also identifies with what"s going on on screen. @ne #and in fact' themost common$ way' is to identify with the "central character" in/of the film' whichis ultimately an identification with a certain camera position. Aetz thus definesthe position of the spectator as basically oyeuristic' a position that has beenthematized in 5uite a lot of films #sy(ho' eeping Tom' Halloween$' aparadigmatic e+ample being !ynch"s own Blue Velvet . In semiotic film studies'the relation of the spectator position to the film which recalls the relation of thesub*ect to its ob*ect of desire in !acan"s formula is called "suture." #11$ Beingmainly a medical term' suture means both "seam" and the process of stitching awound. 2ollowing %ac5ues0lain Ailler"s definition of suture' this concept denotes

the (procedures by means of which cinematic te+ts confer sub*ectiity upon theiriewers( #'u$)e(t o" 'emioti(s 19;$. Howeer' een if Ailler proided anelaboration of suture' it is first of all a !acanian term' and in the following I wouldli)e to do a (ross#over of the cinematic reading of suture with a psychoanalyticalreading of this concept' only fitting for a medium which is constantly brought intopro+imity with psychic formations.

0ccording to !acan' the sub*ect is an effect of the signifier' of discourse' insofarthat the signifier een (represents the sub*ect for another signifier( #*(rits 1>$he sub*ect thus has to permanently re inent and reassure itself through itsdiscourses that is' through language' literature' and through film' among others.

Ailler defines suture as that moment where the sub*ect "ades by becomingrepresented in discourse by a signifier:

8uture names the relation of the sub*ect to the chain of its discourse ... it figures there as theelement which is lac)ing' in the form of a standin. 2or' while there lac)ing' it is not purely andsimply absent. 8uture' by e+tension the general relation of lac) to the structure of which it is anelement' inasmuch as it implies the position of ta)ingtheplaceof. #1,$

his definition not accidentally recalls Aetz" obseration that the spectator is assuch missing from the cinematic discourse' and that the iewing sub*ect mightidentify with the camera position as its standin. his has lead some theorists'such as %ean7ierre @udart' to identify the operation of suture with certain filmic

techni5ues' especially the shot/reerse shot which facilitates #and directs$ thespectator"s identification with a certain gaze. 8tephen Heath has e+panded theconcept of suture' arguing against its e5uation with such formalized techni5uesand strategies. 8ince the imaginary and the symbolic are always simultaneouslypresent an image haing no alue in itself' but always with reference to acultural bac)ground' to a set of rules or genreconentions suture in Heath"saccount refers to the play of presence and absence as a mode of sub*ectproduction in which the identification with the image always has to be read

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against the bac)ground of a symbolic system: (the spectator is always already inthe symbolic ... o discourse without suture ... ' but e5ually' no suture which isnot from the beginning specifically defined within a particular system which giesit form ...( #1$

-ith !acan' the term suture denotes the (con*unction of the imaginary and thesymbolic.( #1$ -ith respect to the !acanian registers of the imaginary' thesymbolic' and the real' suture thus refers to the stitching of the representationalregisters' with the seam closing off the real from reality' closing off theunconscious from conscious discourse. 8uture thus preents the sub*ect fromlosing its status as a sub*ect' preents it from falling into the oid of the real' fromfalling into psychosis. hus' the sub*ect"s identification with the moiefundamentally relies on this (con*unction of the imaginary and the symbolic(leels within the cinematic discourse itself. +ormally ' that is' in most of thee+amples of the classical Hollywood moie' this *unction is well $alan(ed! themeans of representation parallel the narratie itself' in a mutual and constant

comment.If suture' then' ultimately ties the spectator into the moie by mapping theisual/aural #i.e. perceptual' and thus imaginary$ means of representation ontothe narratie #and the structure of the narratie$' the ripping open of that seamconse5uently has to result in a problematization' if not complete undermining ofidentification. his de#suturing then draws attention to the fabrication of theillusion of wholeness of both the spectator and the moie. he 199 film 'uture by 8cott Ac


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0merican. his pererse logic is conse5uently reflected in the title of the film: themoie 'uture ultimately withholds suture. #1>$

Lost Highway ' I argue' functions in 5uite a similar manner. In order to slowlyapproach this problem' I will in the following comment on certain aspects of the

film which I thin) are most important for an understanding . 2irst' there is thestructure of the film. 0fter the credit titles that flic)er oer the screen fittinglyaccompanied by Daid Bowie"s song (I"m deranged'( a trac) that sets the tonefor what"s to come the moie begins with 2red sitting alone in front of a window'smo)ing' his image mirrored in the pane of glass' when suddenly a messagecomes in through the intercom: (Dic) !aurent is dead=( #,9C .wa file$ 2red doesnot yet )now who this mysterious Dic) !aurent is #or better: was$' nor who itwas who brought the message. either does the spectator. 8hortly before theend of the moie' 2red rushes to his house and deliers e+actly this message (Dic) !aurent is dead=( into his own intercom. -hereas most reiewers haefailed to ta)e notice of this strange structure' in faor of a more straightforward

telling of the tale' een the one article that has mentioned it fails to ac)nowledgeits real impact:

at the conclusion of Lost Highway ' when 2red returns to his home to delier the message that willset the whole narratie in motion again' a new element has entered ... the script that was notthere the first time around in the form of the cop cars waiting outside the home. his illustrateswell that repetition is neer identical' and that at the core of sameness is difference. #1$

If we hae a loo) or much more importantly a careful !I84 to these twoscenes again ... right after the (Dic) !aurant is dead( message' you can hearsirens' and a car speeding off ... in fact' they"re the same sirens #and carspeeding off$ that occur at the end of the moie. 8o' the reiewer 5uoted before

was right' it is about repetition with a difference' there is a new element' but it"snot the cop cars' it is the position of 2red. It is not' howeer' that he has simplychanged from receier to sender: he is both sender and receier' 0D 0 H480A4 IA4 ... 0D 870&4=

In order to approach this mystery' a different topology is needed' a topologyaccounting for a time#spa(e that differs mar)edly from 4uclidean space andteleological time concepts. 0 topological figure that ma)es such things possible isthe Aoebius 8trip' and both !ynch and Barry


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1. a)e a strip of paper ,. Aa)e sure that it has two sides. a)e one end of the strip' ma)e a 1J3 degree twist' and put it to the other

end.. ape or' better' with respect to suture' which is important' as we will see

stit(h the two ends together.;. 0s a result' you now hae a onesided figure instead of a two sidedfigure.

Ill 1: he Aoebius 8trip

he Aoebius 8trip suberts the normal' i.e. 4uclidean way of spatial #and'ultimately: temporal$ representation' seemingly haing two sides' but in facthaing only one. 0t one point the two sides can be clearly distinguished' butwhen you traerse the strip as a whole' the two sides are e+perienced as beingcontinuous. his figure is one of the topological figures studied and put to use by!acan. #19$ @n the one hand' !acan employs the Aoebius 8trip as a model toconceptualize the (return of the repressed'( an issue important in Lost Highway as well. @n the other hand' it can illustrate the way psychoanalysisconceptualizes certain binary oppositions' such as inside/outside' before/after'signifier/signified etc. and can' with respect to Lost Highway ' characterize

2red/7ete. hese oppositions are normally seen as completely distinctE theAoebius 8trip' howeer' enables us to see them as continuous with each other:the one' as it is' is the (truth( of the other' and ice ersa. eni &eleste ino)es asimilar topology' when she comments on !ynch"s rewriting of 0mericanmetaphysics' a rewriting that emphasizes the position where (iolence meetstenderness' wa)ing meets dream' blond meets brunette' lipstic) meets blood'where something ery sweet and innocuous becomes something ery sic) anddegrading' at the ery border where opposites becomes both discrete andindistinguishable( #&eleste$.

In Lost Highway ' the merging of opposites is crucial' and the problematization of

the inside/outside opposition is a most important issue. In fact' it is an importantissue in !ynch"s oeuvre as such it suffices to refer to the scene in Blue Velvet 'when the camera intrudes the seered ear that %effrey finds' and at the end ofthe moie' the camera irtually seems to come out of %effrey"s ear again. In LostHighway ' the 5uestion of inside and outside and their conflation is repeatedlyposed. @n a general leel' the diegetic reality of the moie that what we actuallysee on the screen' as it were' I8ID4 the moie is composed out of bits andpieces from other moies: !ynch uses the different genres of Hollywood as a )ind

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of 5uarry. 0nd not only the Hollywood genres: he almost iolently e+ploits his ownwealth of images' almost eery shot initiates the sho(k o" re(ognition, @ne mightcall this repetitieness' but' after all' language in general and especially adistinct filmlanguage such as !ynch"s relies on repetition in order to function.

0nother specific e+ample of the merging of inside and outsideapart from the "rame#tale #Dic) !aurent is dead$ alreadymentioned' is' most important' the scene in which 2red meetsthe Aystery Aan for the first time. In fact' the Aystery Aan simultaneously being inside and outside can be read at theplace where these #and in fact: all$ opposites meet' he is so tospea) the twist in the Aoebius strip. In !acan"s use of theAoebius 8trip' the place denoting the suture of the imaginaryand symbolic in a way (hides( the primordial cut that instigatedthis topological figure in the first place' the cut that is theunconscious #or' in !acanian terminology: the real$. It is by

suturing off the real that reality for the sub*ect remains a (oherent illusion' thatpreents the sub*ect from falling prey to the real' that is' falling into psychosis. Itis no wonder' then' that the Aystery Aan always appears when a change inpersonality is close.

eni &eleste is correct when she obseres that in Lost Highway ' there are threeimportant fissures: (that which e+ists between one discrete indiidual andanother' that which e+ists between the indiidual and itself' and that which e+istsbetween the thing and its representation ... hGe ameless Aan G&eleste"s namefor the Aystery Aan ... stands between doubles' between passages from onerealm to the ne+t' and between each indiidual and itself( #&eleste$. Howeer' it

is important to note that the structure of the Aoebius 8trip reconceptualizesthese fissures' allowing them to be seen not so much as fissures' or ruptures' butas places of transition. Lost Highway "s moebial structure disallows the suture ofthe sub*ect into the narratie. In contrast to the traditional Hollywood diegesis' inwhich the narratie unfolds in a straightforwardly telelogical manner een inspite of displacing strategies such as flashbac)s' or the (film within the film(motif Lost Highway in fact presents a multiple diegesis. he more so' since bothstories the story of 2red and the story of 7ete are not simply related to eachother as pre5uel' and/or the solution of the other. 0lthough there are definiteanchoring points that clearly connect the two stories: the one does not subsumethe other without remainder. It might een be argued that with eery (identityshift'( the narratie produces yet another author/narrator.

'ee)ing to the Scri)t

I now want to refer to the attempts of categorization of the moie underta)en byits script writers. he moie has been dubbed by !ynch and


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published ersion of the screenplay$ as (0 ,1st &entury oir Horror 2ilm. 0graphic inestigation into parallel identity crises. 0 world where time isdangerously out of control. 0 terrifying ride down the lost highway.( -hereas the(time dangerously out of control( has already been hinted at in the section on theAoebius 8trip' I want to use the remaining mar)ers in the following as a )ind of

guideline.

*& #1+t Century Noir $orror ilm- *

(I don"t li)e pictures that are one genre only' so this is a combination of things'(#,3$ !ynch has said in a recent interiew. 4lsewhere' !ynch has articulated hisfascination with the noir genre: (here"s a human condition there people introuble' people led into situations that become increasingly dangerous. 0nd it"salso about mood and those )inds of things that can only happen at night( #7ress

Cit$.

I want to focus on the noir genre' not with its foregrounding of amnesia' mista)enand/or changed identities #as' e.g.' in Dark assage$' of which there are obiousreferences in Lost Highway . I would li)e to concentrate on the genre"s disturbedand disturbing urban enironment' on the figures of mobsters and "emme "atales'with respect to the @edipal constellation that underlies the genre' and I thin) it ismainly in this connection that Lost Highway #and here especially the second part'7ete"s story$ can be regarded as a noir moie. #,1$

In the essay "13 8hades of oir'" the ezine &mages states that (Gunli)e other

forms of cinema' the film noir has no paraphernalia that it can truly call its own.he film noir borrows its paraphernalia from other forms' usually from the crimeand detectie genres' but often oerlapping into thrillers' horror' and eenscience fiction.( #,,$ Hence 8lao* Lize)"s obseration that noir might not be (agenre of its own )ind ... G' but a )ind of logical operator introducing the sameanamorphic distortion in eery genre to which it is applied.( #,$ Lize) relates thisanamorphic distortion to 5uestions of identity which are more often than notplayed out in an @edipal scenario.

he first part of Lost Highway presents a marital scenario of uncertainty' an+iety'and unspo)en suspicion. It ta)es place in a house which more resembles a

fortress than a cosy home. 2rom the film"s beginning' we hae the feeling oftension and fear: home' the family unit is the place of trouble and terror. hisfeeling is emphasized by !ynch"s masterly employment of the soundtrac). 2or!ynch' (Ghalf of Ga film is picture ... the other half is sound. hey"e got to wor)together( #ress -it $. 8o' in !ynch"s wor)' the soundtrac) is a most importantfactor to enhance the mood of a scene. 2or e+ample' during the dialoguesbetween 2red and enee there is no resonance to their oices. It is as if thewor)s are spo)en in a soundabsorbing enironment' the whole spectrum of

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oertones' all those features that ma)e a human oiceseem alie' seems to hae been cut. In its dryness'the oices of enee and 2red almost seem to enact

an absence of sound' or better an absence of room' of the acoustics of space:it"s as if they are liing in a recording studio coered in acoustic tile. his

soundscape underlines the similarity of this scenario with !acan"s sub*ect beingentangled in the register of the imaginary' most powerful symbolized in the child"ssymbiotic relationship with the @ther' its mother. he incestuous twoness isunderlined by arious deices. he strange lights in the Aadison liingroom'e.g.' those lamps that somehow seem to be throwing their light in strange angleson no ob*ect but themseles #,$ might indeed be read as a hint at thisincestuous relationship: all there is is ourselves, 0s 8teen 8hairo has noted'the Aadison house in itself is (a closed space' folded bac) upon itself.( #,;$ 8imilarly' when 2red has se+ with his wife' she lies there' showing no emotions only after the act' she stro)es 2red"s bac)' gently' li)e a mother soothes herchild. In such a dyadic world' the child wants to be eerything for its mother' and

it wants the mother to be there *ust for it. #,>$ Here' in the Aadison marriage' we hae a routineersion of this symbiosis. 0lldistance has gone' and' since desire can be said to be e+actly relying on thisdistance between sub*ect and ob*ect' desire has gone' as well. Being too near tothe ob*ect of desire causes an+iety. 0nd indeed' there are also disturbing signs of something that threatens to undo this imaginary wholeness. 2irst' there are thosestrange ideotapes. In addition' both 2red and enee hae an uncanny feeling of being obseredE note for e+ample enee"s facial e+pression when she finds thefirst ideo' which might be both e+plained by the fact that she fears that it mightbe one of those porn ideos she is starring in' and of which 2red does not )now

anything' or by the general feeling of being obsered' a feeling that ta)es shapein the fact that they lie close to the (obseratory.( he outside literally starts tointrude the inside' and the threat is emphasized by the deep droning sounds #in acinema with a good sound system' the spectators actually can "eel this threat asa uncomfortable feeling in their stomachs ... already in Eraserhead ' !ynch hadmade use of this deice' the constant droning of a ship"s engine underlying thewhole moie$. #,$

2red also feels that he is not eerything to his wife. !i)e the child' he feels thathis mother desires something that is beyond him. 2red remem$ers.dreams o" anight when he was playing sa+ophone in his club' and he saw eneedisappearing with another guy' 0ndy ... one can see the neon 4MI sign there'and that"s e+actly how it is: enee is loo)ing for an e+it/escape out of that prisonli)e symbiosis. 8o' after he had se+ with enee' 2red"s face e+presses not onlyhorror' but also the burning 5uestion: (-hat am I for you? -hat am I for the@ther?( 8o' somehow' 2red is precisely dependent on the desire of the @ther'and therefore it is necessary for him that the @ther' enee' e+actly remains inher position as loegiing' complete Aother' unspoiled by any lac) and it issuch a lac) that the mother reeals in her desire for someone else' and also the

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lac) in the child' 2red' since he is seen as incapableof filling the lac). hus' the imaginary scenario is anattempt of 2red"s to disaow castration by all means.

In the second part of the moie' 2red"s story' the

@edipal scenario is brought to the fore een stronger.Here' now' we hae 2red' the young manE 0lice' the "emme "ataleE and Ar. 4ddy'the fatherli)e mobster. 2ather' because both of his age' and because he treats7ete with a )ind of paternal attitude. In !acanian terminology' the fatherfigure isaccepted by the sub*ect as its idealego' and as such seres for theinternalization of the laws of society. Howeer' the flipside of this beneolentfigure of the idealego is the superego' the father as (pererse father'( thee+ception at the origin of the law. he Aaster' the 2ather' he who gies the !awis an (obscene' ferocious figure( #*(rits ,;>$ that (imposes a senseless'destructie ... almost always antilegal morality.( #,J$ o imagine what is at sta)e'it suffices to recall 2reud"s notion of the /rhorde. he primal father en*oyed all

the women of the tribe' he was the chieftain' the lawgier' and when his sons)illed him' out of shame the forbid themseles to (hae all the women.( 8o' at thebottom of the law' of the incest taboo' there is the figure of the @ne who hadbeen the e+ception to the rule. In Lost Highway ' this becomes clear in the scenewhen Ar. 4ddy beats and humilates a drier for tailgating #J;C .wa file$. Ar.4ddy e+plicitly ta)es recourse to the law in his pererse pleasure' and with 8lao*Lize) it can be argued that it is e+actly in the law' in the hypercorrect following of it' that the perert finds pleasure. #,9$ In terms of the Aoebius 8trip' then' in Lost Highway there is a switch from the (desire of the #A$@ther( to the (ameofthe2ather( #!acan"s nom.non de pere' which can also mean the o=ofthefather' asin Ar. 4ddy"s warning that 0lice is his babe$. #3$ It is important to note that here

the spectator learns that Ar. 4ddy is Dic) !aurent #the name Di(k clearlyassociating phallic' paternal power$' and that Dic) !aurent is dead' that the deadfather is already from the word go lur)ing there in the bac)ground' representingthe symbolic agency that thwarts the symbiotic relationship of enee and 2red.his twist parallels the switch from the realm of the preoedipal dries' closelyrelated to the mother' to the realm of desire proper' and desire here ine+tricablyrelated to lac)' to the neerreceding distance to the ob*ect' as can clearly beseen in the se+y loescene between 2red and 0lice (ou"ll neer hae me=(#9C .wa file$

*& gra)hic in.e+tigation into )arallel identitycri+e+*

It is the phrase parallel identity crises that interests me the most here. It is usuallyread in terms of "double identity'" mostly using the term s(hi0ophrenia. here hasbeen 5uite some misunderstanding about this ery term. In 1911' the 8wiss

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psychiatrist 7aul 4ugen Bleuler replaced Craepelin"s term for a group ofpsychoses' dementia prae(o1 ' with the term s(hi0ophrenia. Dementia prae(o1 meant a psychosis of early onset' which Bleuler wanted to capture with the termschizophrenia' meaning literally (split mind'( since he thought the splitting ofpsychic functions to be the structuring element of these psychoses. &olin oss'

in his study on Dissociatie Identity Disorders' a term including pathologies suchas Aultiple 7ersonality Disorder #A7D$ and the Borderline 8yndrome' states that'(dementia prae(o1 is actually a better name for this group of disorders Gdescribedby Craeplin than s(hi0ophrenia' while s(hi0ophrenia is a better name forGDissociatie Identity Disorder than multiple persona disorder.( #1$ Hence thepopular notion of schizophrenia as (split personality'( a misconception that doesnot account for the fact that schizophrenia is an organic disorder of the brain' andnot actually a personality disorder.

In addition to this reading of (parallel identity crises( in terms of (split personality'(I want to suggest some further thoughts that account for this split with reference

to the structure of the Aoebius 8trip. hus' it is not that simple that 7ete"s story isonly the reerse of 2red"s story #remember' a Aoebius 8trip has no such thing asa reerse side it is one#sided=$. 7arallel' in the moe$ial sense o" the word ' doesnot mean dou$le or reverse here' but mutual . 7ete"s story is not only the reerseside of 2red"s story' simultaneously 2red"s story has to be the reerse side of7ete"s story ... otherwise the constant references to (that night( #the film"slacunae$ would not ma)e sense. rue to the logic of the Aoebius 8trip' what on aery lo(al leel seem to be two sides of the story is actually one. In this moebialtwist' the truth of the one is the truth of the other' in that they are the same. @nthe leel of the images of the moie' this complicity can be shown by acomparison of two scenes that occur more than once in Lost Highway, hese two

scenes of 2red in the dar) hallway #enee calling (2red=($ and 7ete in front of hisparents" house #8heila calling (7ete=($' iewed in parallel' function li)e a )ind ofwormhole which traerses the different event#levels of the moie I would eenargue that if you mirrored those two scenes onto two screens put ne+t to eachother' it would hae the effect of the one character changing oer to therealm/screen of the other. 0nother "perspectie" of this simultaneous immersioncan be seen in the (transformation scene.( Here again' the moebial twist of insideand outside' one and other' is brought to the fore' this time effected by shotsintruding the inside of the body.

*/P+ychogenic0 ugue*

0 last reference I want to ma)e use of is the term (psychogenic fugue( that the2rench 7roduction &ompany of Lost Highway ' &IB ,333' used as a )ind ofshort hand plotsynopsis in their prepublicity campaign for the moie. In aninteriew with Daid !ynch' &hris odley as)ed !ynch if he was (eer aware that

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such a mental condition' a form of amnesia which is a flight from reality' actuallye+isted( #Lyn(h on Lyn(h ,J9$. !ynch answered that

the unit publicist on the picture' happened to find it in some medical *ournal or something. 8heshowed it to us' and it was li)e Lost Highway . ot literally' but an interior thing can happen that"sery similar. 0 certain mental disturbance. But it sounds li)e such a beautiful thing "psychogenic

fugue." It has music and it has a certain "or(e and dreamli)e 5uality I thin) it"s beautiful' een if itdidn"t mean anything. #Lyn(h on Lyn(h ,9$

et it does mean something' and in this last section of this article' I want tosituate Lost Highway in the conte+t of human pathology. 2irst of all' I want toreturn to !acanian psychoanalysis and to the road metaphor in one and the samegesture. I hae shown elsewhere that in a Heideggerian and !acanian conte+t'the metaphor of the road can sere as a trope not so much for freedom andrebellion' but as a trope for life as such as detour. #,$ !acan employs themetaphor of the road in his account of the death drie' #$ but he ma)es itunmista)ably clear that such a notion of the drie is far from representing an

imaginary and narcissistic freedom from any law whatsoeer. 4en this drie forfreedom depends for its e+istence on laws' on barriers ... freedom needs barriersfor their transgression. In his seminar on the psychoses' !acan e+plores thefactors that trigger off a psychosis. 0nd again' he ta)es recourse to the metaphor of the road. In a chapter appropriately named (he highway and the signifier"being a father'"( he writes:

a succession of minor roads and a highway are not at all the same thing. ... he highway isn"tsomething that e+tends from one road to another' it"s a dimension spread out in space' thepresencing of an original reality. If I ta)e the highway as an e+ample' it"s because ... it"s a path ofcommunication. ... the highway is an undeniable signif ier in human e+perience. #$

-hat !acan is alluding here to is his notion of the point de (apiton' the 5uiltingpoint' which is that point which ma)es sure that some temporary notion ofmeaning can be created in language. 0gain' as in the concept of suture' themetaphor of stitching and sewing comes to the fore' since a 5uilting pointdesignates an upholstery button' a place where (the mattressma)ers needle haswor)ed hard to preent a shapeless mass of stuffing from moing to freelyabout.( #;$ 8o a point de (apiton is a place where signified and signifier areliterally stitched together this is suture in the register of the symbolic. !i)e ahighway with respect to a system of smaller streets' the 5uilting point holds thatsystem of discourse together' and a minimal number of these points are(necessary for a human being to be called normal' and which' when they are not

established' or when they gie way' ma)e a psychotic( #'eminar &&& ,>J9$.

0ccording to !acan' the most important points de (apiton' the highway amongstsome minor roads' so to spea)' is the name o" the "ather ' the paternal metaphor'which is 5uite important in !ynch"s (postpatriarchal pro*ect.( #>$ he answer to!acan"s rhetorical 5uestion (Gwhat happens when we don"t hae a highway ...?(#'eminar &&& ,9,$' or' in other words' what happens when the highway is lost is:psychosis. he foreclosure' what 2reud called Verwer"ung ' of the primordial

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signifier' the name o" the "ather ' is a strategy for eading castration: the sub*ect is(castrated( by its entry into the symbolic' into language and society. hus' thedenial of this castration leads to psychosis. his re*ection of the symbolic @therthat results in the disappearance of the phallic function leads to the sub*ect"sdistortion of its relation to the social order as well to its loss of se+ual identity. 0s

in 2reud"s case of %udge 8chreber' 2red Aadison tries to escape the threat ofcastration' but he e+periences a (return of the repressed( in the real instead of inthe symbolic' in his hallucinations #that is' in his second identity as 7ete$'because he does not accept the name o" the "ather ' the agency that might disturbhis symbiotic relationship with enee and/or 0lice: Dic) !aurent is dead= 8o' the(Highway( of the title is e+actly this 5uilting point' this suture' that would benecessary for the sub*ect to be inscribed into (reality'( into a state of (normality.(@nce this point is lost' once this seam is undone' the sub*ect falls prey to thereal' becomes psychotic. -ith respect to the delusional aspects of psychosis'!acan comments on (this buzzing that people who are hallucinating so oftendepict ... this continuous murmur ... is nothing other than the infinity of these

minor paths( #'eminar &&& ,9$' these minor paths that hae lost their centralhighway. -hat is the deep droning sound underlying most of the moie but this(continuous murmur?(

he dissolution of reality is alarmingly hinted at when 2red' being as)ed tocomment on the fact that he does not li)e ideo cameras' remar)s (I li)e toremember things my own way. ... How & remember them' not necessarily the waythey happened.( #11C .wa file$ #$ 8een in this light' the ideos mightrepresent the truth (the way it happened'( that is: the repressed truth of 2red#and it is here that the se5uence of the burning cabin shot in reerse gainsspecial significance as a recurring image of that repression$. Lost Highway treats

its topic (performatiely' not *ust representationally( #-allace$. hus' ta)en asmetaphor' what is at sta)e here is the notion of the decentered or split sub*ect.@ne image in the moie which ma)es it clear is the image of the highway itself.here are two ariants of this specific shot that are important here. @n the onehand' there is a )ind of doublee+posure of this particular image' which indeedhints at the split in the sub*ect' at the dissociation. #J$ @n another leel' thedotted line can also be read as the sub*ect"s attempt at suture' at the stitching ofreality and closing off the real again' of which the symptom itself is a way ofdealing with.

he ery term (psychogenic fugue( in !ynch"s statement connects Lost Highway to a pathology that has gained prominence particularly during the few last years the before mentioned Dissociatie Disorders' such as the Borderline 8yndromand A7D Aultiple 7ersona Disorder. he term (psychogenic fugue( in particular is closely connected to the latter. he symptom called (psychogenic fugue(

inoles a sudden' une+pected trael away from one"s home or customary place of wor)' with aninability to recall the past' that occurs in the absence of an organic mental disorder ... here isoften the assumption of a new identity. ... ypically' indiiduals in a fugue state hae no memory

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of their primary identity. -hen they recoer their primary identity' they often hae a reciprocalamnesia for the eents of the fugue state. #9$

It is widely ac)nowledged that this symptom' closely connected to a )ind of (timeloss( in the patient"s memory' is a common feature of A7D' a disorder haingentered mass consciousness through the biography' case study and moie The 2Fa(es o" Eve' starring %oanne -oodward. #3$ !i)e the Borderline 8yndrome'A7D is a (type of narcissistic personality organization'( #1$ that is' basically' adisorder of the egofunctions. -hereas in the Borderline 8yndrome' the sub*ectis unable to create a coherent ego' that is' to create the illusion of autonomy'A7D refers to the splitting of the sub*ect"s ego into seeral compartmentalizedpersonae. he reised third edition of the Diagnosti( and 'tatisti(al Manual o"Mental Disorders GD'M#&& gies the following criteria for A7D:

1. he e+istence within the indiidual of two or more distinct personalities or personalitystates #each with its own relatiely enduring pattern of perceiing' relating to and thin)ingabout the enironment and one"s self$.

2. 4ach of these personality states at some time' and recurrently' ta)es full control of theindiidual"s behaior. #,$

he main reason for the onset of A7D is to be found in traumatic e+periences'one of the most common of which is continuous se+ual abuse' mostly in earlychildhood. A7D thus is a strategy inented by the sub*ect to (cope withunmanageable stressors'( #$ a strategy to escape the stress of an unbearabletraumatic eent such as' e.g.' the murder of one"s own wife. Gor (that night(

Both the Borderline 8yndrom and A7D are almost e+clusiely 0mericanpathologies. he 5uestion has already been raised' what might be the reasons

for this being so. 6arma' Bouri and 6ig' three Indian psychiatrists' hae arguedthat (twentiethcentury -estern man' especially in orth 0merica' has shown aspecial fascination with role playing. he role is adopted with some gain orfaourable outcome in mind. he fulfillment of the role may ma)e him act een ina manner contrary to his usual self ... he role adopted' li)e in multiplepersonality ... represents an e+pedient or e+pected behaiour conceied for aparticular setting.( #$ -hile there are similar )inds of possession states in other cultures' e.g. 6oodoo #Haiti$' !atah #Aalaysia$ or -hitigo #&ree Indians$' in theNnited 8tates the e5uialent would hae to be loo)ed for in media culture. owonder' then' that in the literature dealing with A7D' cultural and mediainfluences rate highly. ay 0ldridgeAorris refers to the fact that (orth 0mericais ine+tricably associated with show business ... and the film industry inparticular( #0ldridgeAorris 13J$' and Ian Hac)ing has obsered that the differentpersonae (tend to be stoc) teleision characters' often assuming een namesfrom sitcoms or crime serials ... Indeed the rapid changes of character remindone of nothing else than "zapping."( #;$ -ith regard to postmodern 0mericanconsumer culture' Han*o Berressem has rightly argued that (a somewhat cynicalcase might be made for the idea that multiple or fractal selfs are once more good

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consumers' because each role' or alter' can be inserted into a separate mar)et.(#>$

-ith respect to Lost Highway ' it has to be noted that the narratie of the moie islocated in !os 0ngeles' the film metropole. 0nother point which I thin) might be

worthwile analyzing is the function of the abundance of references to means ofmedia and communication in this moie: ideotapes' camcorders' cell phones'phones' the intercom. he whole moie' as it seems' is penetrated by a )ind of(ommuni(ational ele(tro#smog ' and somehow all of these deices are related toery strange and mysterious powers.

0nother point that in my eyes ma)es A7D an especially 0merican culturalpathology is a fact that relates it to 0merican History itself. &ommenting on LostHighway ' Daid !ynch highlighted the initial idea that started the whole thing.(-hat if one person wo)e up one day and was another person?(#Cine"antasti%ue$. 0 reiew of the moie rendered this basic premise in more

direct terms (-hat if I had a second chance?( #eiew by 8tee Biodrows)i inCine"antasti%ue$. his initial 5uestion' I argue' reminds one of one the most basictruths of 0merican History. %ohn . Irwin' in his study 4meri(an Hieroglyphi(s'has commented on the 0merican desire for a (limitless possibility' ... an infinite"second chance" or new beginning' one of whose historical manifestations wasthe idea of the e+panding frontier.( #$ 0nother of these (manifestitions'( it has tobe added' was the idea of the (open road( ... his especially 0mericanpreoccupation with an eer new beginning' with (a second chance'( also nicelyties in with the cultural pathology of A7D.

he clinical picture of A7D' I argue' is put to use in Lost Highway as a metaphor

for the split' decentered sub*ect' in a similar way of 0lluc5uere osanna 8tone"sand 8herry ur)le"s treatment of this parallel. ur)le writes:

hrough contemporary psychoanalytic theory which stresses the decentered sub*ect and throughthe fragmented seles presented by patients #and most dramatically by patients who present withmultiple personality$ psychology confronts the ways in which any unitary notion of identity isproblematic and illusory. -hat is the self when it functions as a society? -hat is the self when itdiides its labor among its constituent "alters" or "aatars"? #J$

I would li)e to add a final comment on the term (psychogenic fugue'( not as aclinical phenomenon' but as a term. In his interiew with !ynch' &hris odleyalso mentioned the connection with the musical term "ugue' describing it as (one

theme starts and is then ta)en up by a second theme in answer. But the firstcontinues to supply an accompaniment or countertheme ... ou could thereforedescribe Lost Highway uni5uely as a film which truly echoes a musical term. ...Did you and 0ngelo Badalamenti discuss the score in terms of a fugue?( #Lyn(hon Lyn(h ,9$. 0fter giing you the additional information that in a fugue' not onlyone theme is ta)en up by a second theme' but also by another instrument'another oice' I want to gie you !ynch"s answer' which I thin) is 5uite reealing.He said' (2ugues ma)e me feel insane. I can only listen to a certain amount of a



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fugue' and then I feel li)e I"m gonna blow up from the inside out( #Lyn(h onLyn(h ,9$. #9$

0nd here we are bac) again' (full circle'( where we started !ynch"s fascinationwith the mystery: (o me' a mystery is li)e a magnet. -heneer there is

something that"s un)nown' it has a certain pull to it( #Lyn(h on Lyn(h ,1$.!acan' in his ealuation of the mystery' of that which cannot by symbolized' butwhich neertheless has immense effects in symbolization' goes een further:(he tip of meaning' one can sense it' is the enigma'( #;3$ insofar as meaning assuch is something that can neer be halted' neer be fi+ed there is always aremainder. his remainder' I argue' that which cannot be symbolized' is on theone hand gien in the moie as a )ind of e+cess of the images' a )ind of surplusalue of the imaginary which manifests itself in moments of )ouissan(e. @n theother hand' the enigma in Lost Highway ta)es on its most concrete form in thegaps and oids' in the long se5uences of dar)ness that permeate the wholemoie. hese sotospea) materiali0ed (uts #sometimes almost 3 seconds of

pure dar) screen$ proide the space where a$ suture is wilfully withheld' and b$where the mystery/enigma somehow can be both felt and filled by thespectator ... finally' there is or: can be a certain strange ersion of suture thatfunctions by alining the gaps in the cinematic discourse with the desire of thespectator: in filling the gaps with his own interpretations/obsessions "images' hebecomes an important part of the diegetic reality of the moie' a )ind of lynchianersion of unconscious interactiity.

8o' what happens to 2red in the end? he ery last shot shows him in theprocess of transformation again. !ynch had used almost the same scene in hissecond moie' The Elephant Man' where it denoted the effect of a traumatic

e+perience on the process of giing birth to a (new sub*ect.( -hat will be theresult of 2red"s transformation? et another persona? @r' will he retransform into7ete' thus adding another temporal twist to the narratie remember that 7etehad been imprisoned once' not for murder' but for cartheft' and what the policewill eentually find after 2red has transformed into 7ete again' will simply be7ete' in a stolen car ... only that now' since the cops had found 7ete"s fingerprintsall oer 0ndy"s place' 7ete will be charged for murder ... but' does that e1plain things? Do we now understand ?

In the recent rema)e of the thriller +ightwat(h' now called Free0e' the policeinspector turned serial)iller' played by ic) olte' philosophizes: (4+planationsare *ust fictions to ma)e us feel safe. @therwise' we would hae to admit theune+plained' and that would leae us prey to the chaos around us. -hich ise+actly what it is.( @r' in terms of Lost Highway : identity is anything but simple'stable' whole. In the end' we can see what it really is: a terrible collection offragments' fragments li)e the parts of enee"s mutilated body. Ay attempt at(ma)ing sense( of Lost Highway has tried to add another such fiction to (ma)eone feel safe( #een if it in fact might hae added een more confusion$. #;1$ 0s!acan would hae it' (Gdesire' in fact' is interpretation itself( #Fundamental



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Con(epts 1>$. Ay reading of !ynch"s moie' then' necessarily and inescapablyparta)es in this desire. It is entangled between ultimate failure and the

)ouissan(e that (does not sere anything( #;,$ (here is no ruth ... But oneruns after it all the same( #Fundamental Con(epts ii$.

Endnote+

1 his paper is a slightly reised ersion of a tal) I gae at the 0merican 8tudies&ollo5uium 199J in @lomouc' &zech epublic.

, %onathan &uller. 5n De(onstru(tion, Theory and Criti(ism a"ter 'tru(turalism.Itha)a' ew or)' 19J,' 13.

%ac5ues !acan. The 'eminar o" 6a(%ues La(an Book &&! The Ego in Freud7sTheory and in the Te(hni%ue o" sy(hoanalysis 89:;#:: . rans. 8. omaselli.&ambridge' 19JJ' ,,,. 8ubse5uently 5uoted as #'eminar && $.

Daid 2oster -allace. 0rticle on Lost Highway in remiere' 8ept. 199>.http://www.m i)edunn.com/lynch/lh/lhpremiere.html 8ubse5uently 5uoted as#-allace$.

; Ai)al ' 199. http://www.mi)edu nn.com/lynch/lh/lhrs1.html

> ichard &orliss. "Aild at Heart." T&ME ' 0pril ' 199' .

7eter -ollen. 3eadings and Writings! 'emioti( Counter#'trategies. !ondon'19J,' ,.

J 2rederic) 8zebin and 8tee Biodrows)i. "0 surreal meditation on loe' *ealousy'identity and reality." Cine"antasti%ue' 0pril 199. http://www.mi)edunn.com/lynch/lh/cinelh.html 8ubse5uently 5uoted as #Cine"antasti%ue$.

9 &hristian Aetz. The &maginary 'igni"ier, sy(hoanalysis and the Cinema .rans. &. Britton' 0. -illiams' B. Brewster and 0


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11 &p. Ca*a 8ilerman"s account of this concept in her study he 8ub*ect of8emiotics. ew or)' 19J' 19,>' subse5uently 5uoted as #'u$)e(t o"'emioti(s$.

1, %ac5ues0lain Ailler. "8uture #elements of the logic of the signifier$." '(reen

1J:' #19/J$' , ' ,;>.

1 &p. 8tephen Heath.


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,9 see 8lao* Lize). The lague o" Fantasies. ew or)' !ondon' 199.

3 see 8lao* Lize)"s interpretation of Hitchcoc)"s sy(ho with respect to thismoebial twist in 8lao* Lize) #ed.$. Everything you always wanted to know a$outLa(an >$ut were a"raid to ask Hit(h(o(k? . ew or)' !ondon' 199,.

1 &olin oss. Disso(iative &dentity Disorder, Diagnosis= Clini(al Features= andTreatment o" Multiple ersonality . ew or)' 199.

, 8ee &hapter ' "5n the road : he oad oel and the oad Aoie'" of myboo) 4n 4rt o" Desire, 3eading aul 4uster . 0msterdam and 0tlanta' 1999' 1;9,.

&p. %ac5ues !acan. The 'eminar o" 6a(%ues La(an Book &&! The Ego inFreud7s Theory and in the Te(hni%ue o" sy(hoanalysis 89:;#:: . rans. 8.omaselli. &ambridge: &ambridge Nniersity 7ress' 19JJ' where he comments

on the (roads of life( #J1$ and describes life as a (dogged detour( #,,$ towardsdeath.

%ac5ues !acan. The 'eminar o" 6a(%ues La(an, Book &&&! The sy(hoses=89::#:@ . ransl. by . ;.

; Aalcolm Bowie. La(an. !ondon' 1991' .> his term is 0nne %ersle"s. 8ee her study David Lyn(h i vore A)ne, &openhagen' 1991.

hus' the whole second part of the moie #7ete"s story$' can be read as2red"s attempt to (remember things( his own way' een to remember' in theliteral sense of the word' both his fragmented sense of self and enee"s dismembered body ...

J 0 more hypermaterialisti( rendition of the split sub*ect is the scene in which

0ndy"s head is irtually split by the glass table ... it"s as (literal( as you can get.9 2ran) -. 7utnam. Diagnosis and Treatment o" Multiple ersona Disorder .ew or)' 19J9. 1. 8ubse5uently 5uoted as #7utnam$.

3 he case of 4e has *ust recently been found out to hae been fa)ed by theanalysts.

http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath5.html#Call_29http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath5.html#Call_30http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath6.html#Call_31http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_32http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_33http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_34http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_35http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_36http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_37http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_38http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_39http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_40http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath5.html#Call_29http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath5.html#Call_30http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath6.html#Call_31http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_32http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_33http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_34http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_35http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_36http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_37http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_38http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_39http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_40


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1 &lary' -.2.' Burstin' C.%.' Q &arpenter' %.8. "Aultiple personality and borderlinepersonality disorder." sy(hiatri( Clini(s o" +orth 4meri(a' #19J$' J9133.

, 0merican 7sychiatric 0ssociation. D'M#&& . -ashington' 19J' 13>.

ay 0ldridgeAorris. Multiple ersonality, 4n E1er(ise in De(eption. Hoe'19J9' 13. 8ubse5uently 5uoted as #0ldridge Aorris$.

6arma' 6.C.' Bouri' A.' Q -ig' .. "Aultiple personality in India: &omparisonwith hysterical possession states." 4meri(an 6ournal o" sy(hotherapy ; #19J1$'1.

; Ian Hac)ing. "Aultiple 7ersonality Disorder and Its Hosts." History o" theHuman '(ien(es ;., #199,$' 1' 11.

> Han*o Berressem. "4motions 2lattened and 8cattered: (Borderline

8yndromes( and (Aultiple 7ersona Disorders( in &ontemporary 0merican2iction." in:


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"Cir(ulus Vitiosus: 8purensuche auf Daid !ynchs Lost Highway mit 8lao* ?i?e)."his article only mentions in passim some of the aspects I hae tried to discussin more detail in this paper' so' both articles somehow respond to each other li)ethe (two sides( of a Aoebius 8trip as well ... cp.http://st1hobel.phl.uniie.ac.at/cinete+t/magazine/circit.html

;, Le 'minaire Livre ! En(ore. 7aris' 19;' 13. Ay translation.
http://st1hobel.phl.univie.ac.at/cinetext/magazine/circvit.htmlhttp://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_52http://st1hobel.phl.univie.ac.at/cinetext/magazine/circvit.htmlhttp://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/papers/herzogenrath7.html#Call_52

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On the Lost Highway