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Where exactly did it apply its pressure, gain control? Representations: of his interests, advantages and disadvantages, pleasures and displeasures; for the condemned man and for the spectators it is an object of representation.
By what instrument did one act on the representations? Other representations, or rather couplings of ideas; these pairings could function only in the element of publicity: scenes that established them or reinforced them in the eyes of all.
His role was to reintroduce the real presence of the signified. Producing this signified abundantly and visibly, and therefore reactivating the signifying system - it is with this coin that the offender pays his debt to society.