Pointing, Oscillation, and the Fracture of Identity

There is a well-known photograph - or rather, a well-known kind of image - in which Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy point at each other simultaneously. Each one points at the other. Neither points at himself. The image is funny, and also a little vertiginous, because it is not immediately clear who is accusing whom, or whether the gesture means anything at all when it is perfectly mutual. It is worth…