Identity is often perceived as construed in discursive practices. The aim of this paper is to make this notion more precise through the application of semiotic theory, My point of departure is the political theory of Ernesto Laclau's, whose recent book is aimed at developing the theory of collective identity construction (Laclau 2005). In his previous work (1990), however, he made it clear that his conception is equally valid for political and subjective identity analysis. In Laclau, the central role in the construction of political identites is played by empty signifiers that perform a function of representing chains of equivalent demands. The conception of identity formed of demand is based on Lacan's notion of subject as subject of desire, and this Lacanian trope makes the connection between subjective and political dimensions of the theory still stronger. The process of identity construction is discursive, and such rhetorical figures as catechresis and synecdoch play fundamental roles here, This semiotic aspect of Laclau's theory is probably of largest importance for the theory of education, as it precisely shows how, in almost technical terms, identities are discursively produced. If we remain within the tradition of discourse studies, especially in their Foucaudian trait, rhetoric figures cease to be a mere “finery of the language” and gain ontological status: their understanding brings us close to the understanding of how social worlds are produced in their ontic reality. In my opinion this aspect of Laclau's theory can be extended and made still more interesting for educational thinking when we supplement Laclau's analysis with Umberto Eco's conception of the semantics of metaphor. Eco explains the metaphor as a “leap” in the chain of metonymies, providing for an interesting idea of how the two crucial figures are dynamically and operationally interrelated. Connecting these two theories into a more coherent semiotics of identity formation is the main objective of the proposed paper..

The methodoly is based on the analysis of the two theories (Laclau and Eco), and involves necessary reconceptualisations that can create a common ground for their connection. There are some problematic points here (for instance pertaining to how both authors define catechresis – a crucial term in Laclau's semiotics), but the combination of those two theories seems possible when we note that catechresis is often related to metaphor, and synecdoch to metonymy.

The outcome will be a proposition of a theory that explains in one language the processes of the construction of the self and the construction of the political, which is of immense importance for educational thinking. This takes us close to a semiotic theory of identity which is precise enough to provide a language for understanding the discursive practice of identification, and capable of interpretation of empirical research into cultural, political and educational construction of identity. Such empirical investigations are under way: the theoretical analysis proposed in this paper is part of the ongoing project called Discursive Construction of Identity financed by the Ministry of Scence and Higher Education in Poland (grant number N10702632/3637) and conducted at University of Gdansk.