master signifier

plural master signifiers · alternative Master-Signifier · alternative master-signifier

1. human sciencesA signifier, i.e. a linguistic sign, with no determinate content beyond itself, serving as a nodal point dominating and grounding the content of a chain of other signifiers.

   It is the broader umbrella concept of cultural re-birth that acts as a master signifier suturing the vast spectrum of Islamism, from its peaceful articulations to its more violent manifestations.

   2021, Tahir Abbas, Countering Violent Extremism: The International Deradicalization Agenda, →ISBN

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   The same reversal that gives rise to a new Master-Signifier is at work in ideology: in anti-Semitism, all fears (of economic crisis, of moral degradation …) are exchanged for fear of the Jew […] And is not the same logic also discernible in a horror film like Spielberg’s Jaws? I fear the shark, my friend, and have no other fears. …

   2006, Slavoj Žižek, The Parallax View, →ISBN, page 37

   Synonyms: empty signifier, floating signifier