floating signifier

English

Etymology

Calque of French signifiant flottant as used by French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss.

Noun

floating signifier (plural floating signifiers)

1. (sociology, philosophy) A signifier—that is, a linguistic sign, a label or slogan—with a vague and variable meaning.

   Near-synonyms: empty signifier, master signifier

   • 2020, Ina Kudde, Miranda Loli, “Corruption and populism: the linkage”, in Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Paul M. Heywood, editors, A Research Agenda for Studies of Corruption, →ISBN, page 122:

     However, the elite as a target for populist resentments remains quite fuzzy and rather serves as a floating signifier oscillating between the ‘political establishment’, the ‘economic elite’, the ‘cultural elite’ and the ‘media elite’: in short, one homogenous corrupt group that works against the ‘general will’.

Usage notes

Floating signifier is typically used synonymously with empty signifier, but is sometimes distinguished as a signifier with an over- or underdetermined meaning rather than one that is strictly devoid of content in itself.