TRIANGULAR STRUCTURES OF
DESIRE IN ADVERTISING

J MCoetzee

A form of advertisement
(for example,
a bottle
beautiful woman), and a text
of
projection
("A fragrance

the model, her well-being,
to match your mood today",

that we often meet consists
of perfume),
linking

an image of a model
the model
beauty,
runs

(more prec1se1y,
and so forth)
text).

a typical

(!or

of an image of a product

example,

a
the self-
to the product

like

these
The aim of advertisements
advertised
chase - between the product
element
The need for a third
in the
Yet advertising
by no means obvious.
least
image of
consumer,
the image of the product
plays
own mediating

is presented.
role.)

the product
the model,

range of cases

in a certain

its

is

a link

to create
-
and the consumer of
the model

the
the
-

link of pur-
advertisement.
is

therefore

-
seems to have shown that

transaction
practice

at

the form of advertisement

in whic~ the.

is mediated to the consumer by an image of an 1deal1zed
"works" better

than the unmediated
(In both cases,

form in which only
of course,
the text

One might be tempted to think
is the one effected
inessenti
a1 and can be di scarded
answer to a problem in arithmetic
however,
triangular
from a triad
work developed by the critic
the novel can be applied
sults.

that
the inherent
(in other words,

to a dyad without

that

is

that

in the mediated

form the

"real"

transaction

between the product

and the

consumer,

that

the model

is

as one di scards margi na 1 rough -work once ~e
be argu1ng,
has been obtained.
truly

What I shall

with models

reducing

is
the structure

structure
there

falsifying
Rene Girard
to the reading

of advertisements
is no way of

and that

it).
for
of advertisements

talking

the particular

about mediated

!ram~-
des1re 1n

with valuable

re-

is

in this

d~scussion

paper
is overtly

:he fie1d,of
1sements 1n Wh1Chthe model
the con~u",,:r. H?wever,
in section
absent ~t 1S a m1stake to think of
as ~~d1C as long as the camera mediates
des1r1ng e~e.
f~amework 1n Wh1ChG1rard works. Where this
v1rtues of positivist
I can only accept

a~gument is carried

the consequences.

research

~e

therefore
present

1V, I sugges t
the relation

on from inside

between the two as a non-neutral
the phenomenological
in blindness
to the
dynamics of advertising,

results
into the psychological

the limited

one of advert-
to .
even when the model 1s
and product

to mediate
that
between consumer

the product

of

the psychology

the consumer's

response

of
One rests
to identify

on the mechanism of
with the

idealized

to adve!'t-

ident1-
consumer

to want, use, buy what
on the process

of association:

the model seems to
the. ad~ert-

1nto two broad classes.
the consumer is persuaded
by the model, and thus
rests

The other

~rthodox expla~ations
1~ements fall
flcat10n:
porirayed
~a~n' ~se, b~.
9 1mage 1S such that
s
the glamoro~s',the
of
these
of
yteharn,to ~ossess
em 1n h1mself.

the product

gathers
the superior,

desirable,

aSSOClat10ns to be ineffable),
in order

the product

so that
to capture

around itself
(it

etc.
is
the consumer
the associ ati ons and embody

the
characteristic
is brought

assoc1at10ns

to

aspi~

acco~nts
c~: ~~ver~1~n~,
t"

~O~hethese
t~e;
de
~n~or~s1ng
the i~d~s~~n d~~ndat10~s

~n e
l~dUStry:

a1ne

to explanatory

dS1nce they are capable

the same time,

at
To the 1imited extent

(as dis~inct,f:om

Y

S so w1th1n the 1dent1flcation

power over more or
of supplementing

less

the entire

each other,

and corrmonly are by people

in the

that

it carries

carrying

out market

and association

on an inquiry

research),
models.

For

34

order,

anyone intending
ist
this
operates
comfortably with these
critique which also works within

to develop
fact
ought

a critique
to give pause for

of advertising
thought:

explanatory models,
them could develop any power.

it

as part of
if
is unlikely

the industry

the capital-
itself
any

that

is not my intention

to discuss

theories

of

identification

and association

to try to argue

or
be adumbrating.

that
How one chooses

depends heavily

on what one admits

association
admitted
is

theory,
as evidence, while

in particular,

they are weak in comparison with the

as valid

among competing psychological
The positi-

evidence.
means that only quanti-

a phenomenological

account

a demand for data divorced

from the subject's

experience.

accounts while

ignoring
Avoiding comparisons,

response

to the advertisement

their
I will

philosophical

foundations must
simply sketch an account of
in conflict

which is demonstrably

Attempts

of

basis

I will

It
any further,
theory
theories
vist
fiable
wlll
to compare rival
therefore
the subject's
with both accounts

behaviour

be idle.

resist

the

I have mentioned.

triangular
romanesque
later work (for
insights

desire
(1961),
ex-

into the func-

of civilization

based
I

and scapegoating.
the theory than that

However,

given in Deceit,

with overt mediators

and see how

to.

The image of a beauti-
but on

In her proximity,

of perfume X. The text
cases

itself metonymically
sement

that

is

links
a "you"
the image of
to the beauty of

"you" who use perfume X

.

is

is

of

plane,

rivalry,

form of

forms of

reciprocal

in a Girardian

and the Novel

in human desire

and the Sacred)

to attach
adverti
the

Violence
of mediators

the image of a bottle

referred
the beholder.

ated as Decei t. Desire

I have already
the page at

simply allowed
The promi se of

Girard extends
and builds
violence,

of
et verite
In his
•
his
a theory

two examples of advertisements
reading.

I give is based on the analysis
in Mensonqe romantique
and the Novel

The account
developed by Girard
transl
a~pl:,
tlonlng
o~ processes
wll! not employ a more developed
Deslre
Let us take
they are treated
The first
advertisement
ful woman gazes out of
another
who is both model and beholder with the perfume (in other
the bottle
the model).
are beautifu].
In an identification
(more precisely,
ciation
theory
slide, with beautiful
itself
perfume X because
desires
to models
perfume X.
The second example is
and in her proximity
masterly
fascination
cause one has yielded
model's
as model by deslring
I am not concerned
in a Girardian way.
reading
desire
hand,
not be beautiful

seems to ignore
logic,
you", which an identification
if

logic were to be impeccable,
like

not only the man (who in turn validates

but perfume X.
of
that

because one associates

the beautiful
it,

women and therefore

but merely decently

to identify
it

(For one thing,

wishes
one buys

the perfumers

one has
like

reached
one:

particualr

to argue

with all

theory,

desires

users.

either

with)

her),

this

this

the

one buys perfume X because one identifies

with
In an asso-
by way of a meton.ymic

woman.

hopes that beauty will

assoclate

In a Girardian
a stage of yielding
one desires what one believes

reading,
one desires
the choice of one:s

she deslres,

slightly
a bottle
is a desirable
the choice of one's

more complex. A beautiful
in a state
of perfume X. Hovering about her
in a Girardian
reading,
to models, one desires

man. Again,
desires

woman is portrayed,

of
be-
this
choice of her

one's

these

scenario~
in the second scenano

can on!y be. read
t~e Glrardlan.

theory neatly

"If you use perfume X, deslrable men wlll
On the other
then the rodel
should
the models in a soap-

attractive

caters

for.

35

of consuJl1ltion,

triangulated

powder advertisements.)
ure of
is needed on desire.
object
an image of desire
the perfume,
we try to describe
calling
sumer)

forth
insatiable.

All

I have done thus

desire might
The gaze of
avid and excited.
but appeased.,

look like.
the model

alive

far
is
Further,
is
rarely
she

Instead

to show what a stru~t-
a word of e~aborat10n
presented
looks out of

f1xed on the
the page,

it has made her what

she is

the rood of
her whole being),

the model we characteristically
satisfied
now but by nature

She has used (absorbed,
(happy,
fu1 ..

beauti

consumed)

, - as soon as
find ourselves

(like

the £Q!l-

EmmaBovary and Don Quixote
Not only do they imitate

are the major exemplars

the outward behaviour

triangular

desire

is

in essence

vi~arious.

it

that

is clear

examples

they freely

From these
In literature,
ious desiring.
find in books, but
these models.
and the desired
angle,
is
romanesque (as opposed to romantique)
concretely,
triangular
comteJl1loraries"
Hberatory

Thus in their
object,
through whom desires
and Cervantes,

through the medium of
desire)

the model
that Flaubert

The aims of

but also

(p.3).

cases

•

in which they were first

allow their

desires

there

is not
the characteristic

simply

to be defined

the desiring
of

point

third
Girard's

for

of V1car-
of models they
th~m by
subJe~t
the tr1~
thes1s

general

as well

their

are mediated.

novels,
art,

as the authors
"apprehend
if not
if1llrisoned
are

art

romanesque

of certain
intuitively

other.
and

fonnally,

the system.(of
together with the1r
and
thus

critical

is

study
than EmmaBovary's

taken

fictional

part

The greater
of Girard 's
pl~x forms of mediated desire
wh1ch the mediator
sphere of possible
s?me ~g~e
IIlmet1c nva1ry
~a1-wor1d
1S clearly
w~s
lose
of nediation

rivalry
iJl1lossib1e,
- is not. Thus Girard's

is not a remote or
action
as well
1n Violence

is also relevant

a phantasmal

a ri~al

impinges on the subject's
(from this

as a model
and the Sacred

develops
between the consumer and the model

rore, com-

up with the analysis
or Don Quixote's
character

of
forms 1n
soneone whose
in
therefore
thou~ht on

but
and who is
point Girard's
naturally).
Wh11e
in the advertisement

rivalry
analysis

- in which the consumer must a~-
of
t.o I1\Y pUl1>ose.

the consequences

this

var1ety

of

Girard writes
w~ich attaches
h1s,own desires.
arrlVe,
~tself
~~1icated
~ng subj~ct
.onto1og1cal
lng mediator,

in a philosophical
crucial

importance

tradition
to the ability

stretching
of

from Hegel

the

subject

to Sartre
to choose

In fact,

in Hegel

the stage

of self-consciousness

the "I" does not COllie
as the ~ocus of a lack,

into being,
a desire.
the
in ltS desires.
This yielding
iS,to Yield its
slckness':
in turning
the subJect Yle1ds his ontological

and for
being.

(196~, p.96):

"I"

until
the subject
Thus the being of

to yield

its

autonoJlff as a deslr-
an ,
toward the deslr-

calls

is what Girard
his' desire
autonomy:

does not
becomes aware of
is who~ly
the

"I"

is unable
in ~ choice

to desire
The subject
whatever
that would be solely
(and mode1) 1S needed because his desire
value (1978, p.66).

on his own'

he has no confidence
own.

The rival

his
a1ona....ao con fi rm

~s only a means of

The.obj:ct
des1re 1S almed at
wants to become his mediator.
':'7diat?r
nres1stlb1e

beinq
he wants
~for example} his very being of

(1961, pp.53-4).

the mediator's

reaching

seducer'

the mediator.

The

... The desiring
to steal
'perfect

from the
knight'

subject

or

::tqfts~~~o~r~e~
to this

question,

at,ontsce. of Course:
that

own desires?

the argument

Slre 1
but

Why
is
Girard
appears

so mistrusted
the self
does not gi\/l!! a single
scattered
Over his

that
answer
discussion

36

is

an essent

historical
and becomes a target

ally

one.

Triangular

of analysis

in Don

appearance

first

tradition

the romanesque novelists

of
desire makes its
Quixote,
of
the romanesque
modern phenomenon.
as
and multiplies
most
important
relationships
but between peers,
of
model of desiring)

'equality'

social

which marks the beginning

of
of critical

the modern age as well as the beginning
fictions.

is

It

thus a specifically
humanism

of post-religious

It arises

as a consequence

differences

are levelled.

are not between social

even though these
the

," the presence

of

are rarely
"metaphysical

In a world in which "the
superiors

and inferiors
as relationships
.e.

the phantasmic

experienced
(i

rival"

becomes "more and more obsessive"

(1978, p.80).

In Girard's
structures
the self
with the tidings
filled

reading
of medi ated desi re.

it

can no longer

its
that God is dead,

desire

in experience.

is Dostoevsky who emerges as the subtlest

Dostoevsky's
own desires
that Man has taken his place,

answer
is

to the question

the promise that

that

is not

comes
ful-

analyst

of
of why

the promise

Each individual
that
hi s experience.
one thinks
makes it hell

that

discovers
is
false
The promi se remains
he alone

is

(Gi rard,

1961, P .57) .

in the solitude
but no one is able to universalize

consciousness

of his

true

for Others

condemned to hell,

and that

... Every-
is what

follows

networks

It
that
modern materialist
opportunity
for
dividual
himself
ocracy of which Tocqueville

as unredeemable
in the tradition

all

individualist
reigns

of mediated

desire will be most all-inclusive

in

societies
is
shame.

and failure
private
ontic
of conservative

In this

European critics

where a public
therefore

experienced

ideology

of equal
by the in-
respect Girard sets
of American dem-

is

the main representative:

Not only does democracy make every man forget
it hides
him;
it
in the end to confine
own heart

his descendants
throws him back forever
him entirely

1840, p.194).

(Tocquevi11e,

and separates

upon himself

within

his

hi s ancestors,

contemporaries

from

but

alone,

and threatens

the solitude

of his

Though Girard's
the modern world
cist

social

scie~tist.

enterprise

to describe
his method of procedure

is

Girard

himself

of

the so~i~l

part
is not one fam111ar
point:

on this

is clear

psychology ?f.
to the emp1n-

in certain
superior
of challenging

(literary)
works a knowledge
to any proposed (elsewhere)

..

a matter
it might be found and in no matter how unusual

but of search1ng

science,

there

exists

relationships
all
it wherever

I believe
of desirous
It is not at
for
a place
it is not

(1978, p.49).
farfetched,
involved

The pOints
vertising
1)

Similarly
~re quintessentially
1nsights
interpreters

as

once we concede that

"desirous

in advertising,
into how desire works miIYas well

to a11?W the P?sslbl11ty

be found 1n novel1sts

in the quantifiable

behaviour

of consumers.

~e~a~ionshiPs'
t~at
and the1 r

irrrnediate

of Girard's
of
can thus be surrrnarized as follows:

relevance

theory

to the ana1ysls

of ad-

Tnangular
cendence

structures
unsatisfied

of desire
have their
in the modern world.

origin

in a yearning

for

trans

2) The nature
his desires

triangular

of
to the model.

desire

is

that

the subject

yields

the choice of

37

3)

characteristic

Its
resentment.

concomitant

emotions

are

self-mistrust,

envy,

jealousy,

supposed to effect

is
and in the process

the model

is not

spoken of:

the model
a mediatory role between consumer-and

of

of economics
relation.

Let us now turn to the place
plays
the feminine pronoun here)
subject
and desi red object,
discourse
subject-object
captioned,
ities which include
I11Jstbe so plastic
photographic
next,
of desirinQ cipher,
not because this particualr
would leave its
particular
to desi re.

lack of
under
that

named. She has been selected

identifiable
the hands of
she is not
is not associated with anyone

session

In the advertising

the arti
identified
product.

a nothing whose desires

are

object makes her desire
trace

on her)

but

in advertising.

Nominally

product.

~he (it

is easi~r,to

th~ 11nk between deS1rlng

the model
use

,In fact,
1S treated

1~ the
1S the

to dlsappear.
that

all
image itself

from among aspirant
individuality:

the model
models
her physical
st who makes her up for

is not
for qual-
features
the
to the

from one assignment
In other words,
infinitely
(for

in that

she is

a kind
mobile, who,desires

case

lt

simply because

it

is her essence

of modelling

The treatment
her uniqueness

from the field

products.
above:

The model here has to be carefully
(sometimes
used to sell
what I describe
is allowed to become identified
in fact provides
up of being than the model does,
ation",
Hollywood, people were invited
what

a Simpler

the stars

desired,

i.e. what

case of

that which Amadis of Gaul provides

to "live

like
th~ stars

distinguished
itself~)
given the star
is

stressed,

from the star,
whose very identifiability

the celebrity

just

is
and, ~nlike

the opposite

the model,

is
of
she

with one or

two specific

the mediation

of desire

a case of what Girard

calls
for Don Quixote.

products.

The star

and the yielding

"eternal medi-
In the heyday.of
to deslre

the stars"
their
lent

by learning
images

to.

she hersel

f is

faceless

for her are not
whose originator

as those

called

times".

"X is

that

- since

faces
itself,

back as far

the model wears

they are only "responding

The people who put on these
lies with Fashion
they aver,
If one follows
the lines

The faces
by fashi?n.
authorsh1P,
to be.
one hears ~hat
~ey say, 1~ an utterance
tlVe.
knows the SOurce.
always ,turned bac~ on the subject.
t~e V?lCe of ~ash10n,."b~cause
flfa~10n cons1s~s aga1n 1n denying the existence
~u llty,
Ject,

The lmages of an unpredictably

In a characteristically

of the desiring

she is nothing

assert1ng

subject.

shifting

that

this

to the

at

lI\Ystifying
is

"This
is how you desire
of

the

the same time declarative

repertoire

of which no one,

image of your model",

gesture,

to look."
the model,

the mirror

1S
sa.ys
The lI\YStl-
her
sub-

affirming
the

of

but an image of

the desire

"fashion-setters",

in, Y is out",
and opta-

and hortative

- are prescribed
thei r authors:

no one cla1ms

;a~t~i~,SUCh a galle~

enterpr1se

1n 1s/~er

a
He/~he exper1ences
~sc e andhSChele:)
e.ll\Yst1f1cat10n
decaus\t
,oe\n?
e~st,
~~a~ almp~ .nt,
anal
cre {~lS,O ~fe
er

s 1n 0

a

of mirrors,

of apprehending

the subject

fail
the being of so phantom a model.

consumer)

cannot

(the

to

the bewildering
,des~ribes,
but

envy that Girard
in a modality

peculiar

(following

is precisely

that

of being without

the model/rival
object

Stendhal,

Niet-

to consumer

society:

is

invisible,

or origin:

null,
not only

~nvy has the feel
lt ~oes not know its

,ma ~1~~, a ~lSC(\~tent!

a sense of

1'1,th1S malaise,

"ve~
to h1de 1tself,

remains

own name.
inner
and through
that

It occurs no more precisely
emptiness.

the sham values
(1915,

The most penetrating
that
envy
pp.60-77).

of Max Scheler

~~ei~~~~l~caim/~las~~gn
late
brings ~he aC~iV~~er/~l

ca itali\O

respo~sibilities,

to pursue

the project

oa 1ng envy 1n the advertising

and fashion

industry

th~ de~th of God! if only because Gi:ard's
am1ng 1nto quest1on.

Nevertheless,

1t can barely

of blaming

on the.
own analys1S

yo

38

to sOJreone's material

benefit

that

people

it

is

the

that

and that

that
authorship,
feelings
an envy and sense of worthlessness

escape our attention
should have models of how to desire,
without
include
er how much the beholder
are transcendent.
that, whereas
and lock the colonized
ected in the Third World via the propagation
and therefore
be used of

buys,
Nor can it
in the nineteenth

images as of substances.

because
escape

the creation

the phrase

century

a money economy,

into

that

these models should appear
aroused in their
beholders
cannot be assuaged,
that

to be
should
no matt-

the desires
the historical

trying

he ;s
observer's

to satisfy
attention

alcohol was used as a means to lure
is nowadays eff-
images, models of desiring;

function

that
of

of dependency may as appropriately

that

present.

discussed

of desire

is overtly

the model

in some sense

mechanisms of other

only one genre of advertisement:
The question

I have hitherto
the image of
this
psychological
s~ructure
amount of empirical
t10US:
its
con~ucts,
self-serving
beh1nd it, cannot be ignored.
Thi s research
iety
fulfilled
employ. Any open-minded
that

in which
is
a "key" genre with the help of which we can unlock the
the
to be cau-
itself
the theory
the var-

in which the triangularity
I-Iere one ought

that
impoverished
stresses

so clearly manifest?

the phenomenon must

face the possibility

ends and however

and the variety

by advertising

the industry

investigation

is protean.

now arises:

continually

of means it must

survey of

functions

the vast

however

is not

genres

nature

its

of

of

even in the case of

the genre

I have concentrated

triangular

structure

is

strongest,

on, where the
the analysis
I
by what acculturative

the genre.
toward specific models is
arises
between the gaze of

I have not discussed

for an underlying

Furthermore,
argument
give does not exhaust
the yearning
processes
on the structure
that
desi ring (male)
camera,
to describe
have I
tried
command, or
the semics of
have I discussed
the nature
experience

of beholding
takes

and the gaze of
the
iconological
the looks,

the beholder's

response

as a voyeuristic

on in a world of

images.

set up. Nor have I touched
the model,
the
Nor

the gaze of

(female)
subject.
the genre has at

its

the beholding

repertoire

gestures

and postures

to the narcissism of
act,
the Quality

or

it employs. Nor
the model, or
that personal

not go to the extreme of conceding th~t.a

of

itself

hand,

I will

Insofar

advertising

the desire

description.

an item for

demands that

to cont roland

the elementary

structure
on.

interjects
object

as the advertiser

the hidden triangle.

act must be triangular;

of advertising
disguise

as something else,
Thus,

1S sil11lly one among many structures

catalogue may seem to employ only dyadic

On the other
gular
call
whose des ire he des i res
of
nature
cealed,
be to reveal
~ s~le
1n 1tS advertisements:
brief
?nd description
1tem (whatever
as held in the gaze of desire:
an item des1 red in a model way, not an item in itself.
of
acteristically
FTffsti fi catory
At
be of
regrettably
sketchiest,
phenomenon in society.

of
to an historical
namely in its
Nevertheless,

act
masked himself;
act.

are not
these might be):

in fact
and an analysis

the point where Girard's

is pictured,
why this

the best possible

the apparently

But why this

sale
picture,

the only or

the greatest

triangular;

analysis

dyadic

value

that

is

they represent
they are a representatlon

that

himself
he des i res

trian-
c~n
between the subJect

advert1S1ng

to sell,

and ~nsofar

the shape
a~ the

the advert1~e~

~maln con-
the purpose of crltlc1sm should
of exal11l1es,
~tructures
and a

to take the simplest
subject:-object

wlth a prlce

description?

The picture
the
someon~ s 1mage of. the ;tem
of a des1red ltem,

~pr:sentation

of

Thus. the structure

the Jred1a~orhas
unmasks h1m 1S a de-

char-

triangular
c.rltique
documentation
read in conjunct10n w1th 1tS key texts,

forms of ~e~ire
of advert1s1ng,
of. the ~pre~d of

?ug~t
lt 1S
the

to

39

Stendhal,

Flaubert,
an aetiology

the vision

the background mood of
coofronting
the objects
of a "time before"

the novels of Cervantes,
go a long way toward providing
that
is part of
consumer society
thermore,
more historically
of hi story
we are most familiar with in South Africa.
me briefly
ergy, of
The Imagery of Power

turn to a worK representative,

in the humanist

less
critique

the best of

defensible,

the school of F R Leayis
(1972) by Fred Ingl1s.

a creat10n
of adverti

Dostoevsky
for

the

resen~ful

and Proust,

baffle,:,€nt.

it does

the 1i ves o~ m~y 1n 1ate -cap1 ta 11st
Fur-
seems t? ':'€
than th~ Y1s1on

they are 1nv1ted
th~t we fi nd i n ~i rard

of nosta~gla!
sing, Wh1~h 1S t~e cr~t1que

to consume.

To substantlate

th1S p01nt,

in tenns

of acume~ a~d moral en,..
and Raymond W1ll1ams, namely

in whi ch the pri mary transacti
through
the pri~ry
I scheme is between advertiser

the model,
trans-
and consumer, med1ated t~r-
advert1se-
"immanent

behind the
to the

pseudo-solutions

"anonyroous vantage"

on is

the consumer which have the effect

of

sets

their

in Inglis

own feelings

individualism

the advertiser

From his
about providing

Thus like Girard,
of

In contrast
to the Girardi an scheme,
between consumer and object, mediated
action
ough the advertisement.
ment,
fantasies"
and womanwithin
(p.l8).
condition"
mutual
reinforcing
reign of models (in Inglis,
the power of
except
dualism that we find in one form or another
advertising:
the cunning of
simplicity
vertisers
and manipulate
the truth when they say that
that
focus of analysis
forms it, then the forces

It
stand outside
for

a dualism of
the consumer.

of
in fact
it

they are involved

"spellbinding"

to talk

create

ought

about

their

their

that

it.

and preventing

Inglis

points

and solitude,

quality.
in all

each mal'l
of a common

and on the other
does nothing

of "containing
open seeing
on the one hand to the
to the.
to expla1n
over people's minds,
to a
of
innocent
ad-

Hence he descends
humanist
criticisms

.

the
is profoundly
the system of
is

It

and the

advertiser
to be doubted whether
fantasy
far

roore likely

reigns
that

that

own ends.
they "bel ieve in" what

they are doing,

in the same fantasies
to be the system itself:

as the consumer.

If
the desire

first

in soc1ety
they tell

i.e.

so,
that

the

in-

Inglis
the bad models proposed by advertisements

bad models).

But

the advertisement

itself,

the

earlier

dualism

between the object
the false
Inglis
toward hiding
image in the consumer's mind;

says,
the gap between object

its
are directed

of consumption
image
toward

glamour) of

and the

and

is

the gap concealed.

the more successfully

that must be asked:

signified

why is
with signifier?

can unfortunately

the gullibility

of
accorrplishes

anything.

all

that we find in morally-vased

opposition

between an Edenic

like Leavis before

him, clearly

humanist

so

the consumer

Denunciations
too easily
be
of consumers.

Be}'lind all

critiques
"time before"
believes
that

are debased by being used to glamorize mundane
runs,
of

perfume X or deodorant Y are the prerequisites

the underlying

argument

1ove",

being drawn is between a world in which true

and a world in which X and Y are

felt

to be the

contrast

is between an original

love in which X and Y did not exist
and a mod:rn worl~ in which they do.
and a fallen

1S between an unmed1ated or1ginal

for an unmediated world,

that

world
there was
the

(because
In other words,
mediated modem'
is,

a world without

(i

there

"sP:llbou~d"

into confusing

form as an opposition
.e. usually

comes to talk about

1S a slmple question

of the advertiser,
invisible,

the manlpU~at1Veness of advertisers

When Inglis
emerges in another
and the "moral atmosphere"
(P.?8).
The energies
~ak1ng this op~osition
1mage.. The obJect must.become its
more Sk1l fu~ the ?dvert1ser,
Hen;
eas1ly
of
turned on the1r heads into denunciations
Both are forms of scapeg?ating,
neither
the good ye:sus ~ad dual1sms
of advert1s1ng
and a fallen
lo,:,€, sex,
for. sale.
?~Jects
lf o~e bel1:ves
love?
(unmed1ated)
prerequlsltes?f
of
no need f?r
contrast
and the hidden yearning

. The 1mmedlate contrast

Howcan one truly

the faml!,Y etc.

an ahi storical

love 1S felt

(unmedlated)

the deeper

prese~t.

them),

Inqlis,

love.

true

But

lles

~at

is

40

language

•

References
Girard,

R.

1961:

Girard,

R.

1972:

Girard,

Inglis,

R.

F.

1978:

1972~

Scheler,

M.

1915:

Tocquevil1e,

P. de.

Mensonqe
Grasset.
Des ire
1965.
Violence
Bal timore,

To Double Business
Press.
The Imaqerv
Lond on, Hei nemann .
Ressentirrent.
Press,
1840:
Heffner,

1961.
Democracy

AFRIC~to

romantique
Translated

verite

et
by Yvonne Freccero

romanesque.

Paris,
as Deceit,

an d the Nove1.

BaHi more,

Johns Hopki ns Press,

and the Sacred.
Johns Hopkins

Translated
Press,

1977.

by Patrick

Gregory,

Bound.

Baltimore,

Johns Hopkins

of Power:

A Critique

of Advertising.

Translated

by B Holdheim,

New York, Free

in Jlmerica.

New York, Mentor,

Edited

1956.

by Richard

0

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