Slavoj Žižek and Communication Studies

Author(s):  
Robert McDonald

Slavoj Žižek stands as one of the most influential contemporary philosophical minds, stretching across a wide variety of fields: not just communication and critical/cultural studies, but critical theory, theology, film, popular culture, political theory, aesthetics, and continental theory. He has been the subject (and object) of several documentaries, become the source of a “human megaphone” during Occupy Wall Street, and become, while still living, the subject of his own academic journal (the International Journal of Žižek Studies). Žižek’s theoretical claim to fame, aside from his actual claim to fame as a minor “celebrity philosopher,” is that he weaves together innovative interpretations of G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx, and Jacques Lacan to comment on a variety of subjects, from quantum physics to Alfred Hitchcock films to CIA torture sites. While there are as many “Žižeks” as there are philosophical problem-spaces, Žižek proposes an essential unity within his project; in his work, the triad Hegel-Marx-Lacan holds together like a Brunnian link—each link in the chain is essential for his project to function. Further, his intentionally provocative work acts as a counterweight to what he views as the dominant trends of philosophy and political theory since the 1980s—postmodernism, anti-foundationalism, deconstruction, vitalism, ethics, and, more recently, speculative realism and object-oriented ontology.

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 108-117
Author(s):  
Anna G. Bodrova

Ivan Cankar (1876–1918), who occupies an honorable place in the Slovenian cultural canon, once changed the course of development of Slovenian literature and influenced the formation of national identity. The national narrative of Cankar was based on contradictions: living far from his people, he sometimes glorified them and sometimes attacked them with heavy criticism; he correlated his homeland with his mother, the mother though being dead. Cankar’s concentration on the subject of mother and homeland is interpreted here in the framework of psychoanalysis. Following Slavoj Žižek, the author develops the idea that it was the mother who became the Symbolic Order representative or Super-Ego for the writer. The concept of “Cankar’s mother”, which became a symbol of self-sacrifice and at the same time repressiveness in the Slovenian cultural space, is considered.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-47
Author(s):  
Toni J Koivulahti

Since his rising interest in Christianity, Slavoj Žižek has discussed many other religions. This article examines his engagement with Buddhism, which he often uses as a stand in for “Oriental spirituality.” For Žižek, Buddhist traditions lack several key features that make Christianity the best prospect for religious political organization. By examining the reasons behind his rejection of Buddhism through his defence of the Subject and the state of Fallenness, the argument will be presented that Žižek's at times negative position on Buddhism can be explained through his commitment to a Lacanian reading of the Cartesian subject. This allegiance means that for Žižek there can never be a harmonious state for the subject, and accepting this provides the subject with a “divine” freedom. This article will also discuss ways in which Žižek's particularism can be overcome without losing the “apocalyptic fervor” of Christian Communist politics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 523
Author(s):  
Nor Holis ◽  
Aprinus Salam

Slavoj Žižek introduces definition of subject through the concept of The Real. He decribes it use the Lacan’s psychoanalys triagle. The process of reaching The Real causes the subject to do something that can be out of the symbolic. Therefore, the position of subject could be decided at this stage. This kind of subject is seen in The Help (2011) film. It is represented by Skeeter. She tries to out from the symbolic order to get the real. In her process to reach the real, she is unable to release herself from the symbolic completely because of her educational background, her thought, and her conscience. Therefore, Skeeter could not be defined as the radical subject based on the process. Still, her effort in order to out from the symbolic is never succeeded. It is because she always does everything with full consideration. In fact, she only moves to the new symbolic order.


2020 ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Ilan Kapoor

This chapter focuses on two recent controversies in which Slavoj Žižek has been embroiled — the European refugee crisis and the issue of Eurocentrism — to illustrate the two universalist dimensions of antagonism. The two controversies are, of course, directly pertinent to international development, since the one (the refugee crisis) is closely entwined with North–South relations and the global politics of inequality, while the other (Eurocentrism) is a key cause of concern for those (postcolonial, decolonial) development theorists and practitioners focusing on continuing patterns of Western domination. Žižek's stand on both issues has been the subject of notable disapproval, if not denunciation. Critics reproach him for being Eurocentric and even racist, charges which he has repeatedly countered. The chapter examines the differing theoretical and political positions in these debates, underlining what Žižek's critics miss or misunderstand about the key notion of antagonism.


Author(s):  
Gabriela Bruschini Grecca ◽  
Marisa Corrêa Silva

This article aims to reflect on some aspects of the poem The Waste Land (1922), by T.S. Eliot, rethinking the poem's movement of equating modernity with a phantasmagoric and unreal dimension, from which it would be possible to escape by reaching an incorruptible sphere of being. However, it is necessary to inquire which tensions are present in the imaginary representations of the poem that conflict with the latent desire of transcendence, making this desire, in the course of the poem, lead, in the words of Slavoj Žižek (2013, p.26), to a sensation of “metaphysical malaise”, and not to a redemptive perspective. Thus, the Lacanian Materialism via Žižek, a Slovenian philosopher who writes in the scope of Political Theory, Film Criticism, Psychoanalysis and Cultural Studies, becomes essential for the possibility of detecting a deeper movement in the dynamics of the poem.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Almeida Sousa

On 17 November 2018, hundreds of thousands of French joined in protest against the ecological tax rise on hydrocarbons announced by Emmanuel Macron. The Yellow Vests phenomenon had been born. Since then, it has been active for several months and there seems to be no end in sight. As the movement began to get organized, it created websites and pages on social media, producing a challenging storytelling based on more than 40 demands and 25 proposals for the crisis. Thus it gave voice to the middle and middle-lower classes, which are deeply dissatisfied with their present socioeconomic conditions. Naturally, this narrative appealed to the extremist parties, from Mélenchon’s radical left to Marine Le Pen’s neo-nationalist right, as they immediately declared their support for the cause. Shortly afterwards, it was time for the intellectuals to manifest their views. On one hand, post-Marxists such as Slavoj Žižek and Antonio Negri wrote their articles on the subject. On the other, Russian nationalists, from leftist Boris Kagarlitsky to traditionalist Aleksandr Dugin, did not hide their enthusiasm about the movement either. For, in fact, all these intellectuals have something in common: they all are story-building for revolution. Resumo A 17 Novembro 2018, centenas de milhares de franceses aderiram ao protesto contra a subida da taxa ecológica sobre os hidrocarbonetos anunciada por Emmanuel Macron. Nascia, assim, o fenómeno dos coletes amarelos, o qual tem perdurado ao longo de vários meses e parece não ter fim à vista. À medida que o movimento se foi organizando, criou um site e páginas em redes sociais, produzindo um «storytelling» de carácter reivindicativo com base em mais de 40 exigências e 25 propostas para a crise; o qual dava voz a um clima de profunda insatisfação quanto à situação socioeconómica em que vivem as classes média e média-baixa. Claro está que esta narrativa agradou aos partidos extremistas, desde a esquerda radical de Mélenchon à direita nacionalista de Marine Le Pen, que imediatamente declararam o seu apoio à causa. Pouco depois, era a vez dos intelectuais se manifestarem. De um lado, destacaram-se os artigos dos pós-marxistas Slavoj Žižek e Antonio Negri. Do outro, os nacionalistas russos, desde o esquerdista Boris Kagarlitsky ao tradicionalista Aleksandr Dugin, tampouco esconderam o seu entusiasmo quanto ao movimento. Com efeito, todos estes intelectuais têm algo em comum: a produção de um «story building» de cariz revolucionário.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Hayat

Muhammad hayatThis research entitled Giant Tempeh Festival: Between subject and given subject was done in Tlogorejo district Bumiaji village, Batu City. “Subject” or term “subject awareness” means Tlogorejo Society grow and develop in their awareness of the power of values which they have produced so far. Meanwhile, term “given subject” means that there is intervention of other values which are more dominant to influence society’s daily attitude. Those other values tend to eliminate society’s original values.This research uses qualitative approach with descrptive model. It employs the theory of subject by Slavoj Zizek. This theory point out that subject grows and develops in the daily awareness of society. The result of this research shows that subject emerges in local values which are represented as manifestation of corn rice as embeddedness. There is embeddedness whice can unite society in their daily attitude based on attitude norms in their knowledge. Further more, Giant Tempeh Festival is also process of learning about atificial thing. It means festival is a sign of image of something with material sense which slowly interferes and eliminates the local awareness on local knowledge. Finally the subject begins to move to something which is so artificial.


TELAGA BAHASA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-96
Author(s):  
Siti Hardiyanti Amri

Paradigma humanis dalam kajian sastra memposisikan manusia sebagai pusat. Penelitian ini mengkaji subjektivitas tokoh dan pengarang dalam semesta novel Lelaki Harimau karya Eka Kurniawan menggunakan teori subjektivitas Slavoj Zizek. Zizek memfokuskan pemikirannya pada tatanan riil dan simbolik dalam kehidupan manusia. Menurutnya, manusia mampu meraih kebebasan dan keotentikan dirinya selama ia bertindak melampaui norma-norma simbolik dan bergerak menuju dimensi riil dalam kehidupannya. Sebaliknya, manusia akan tetap terpenjara dalam dimensi simbolik, selama ia membiarkan dirinya tetap hanyut dalam kesadaran palsu ideologi. Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa ada upaya radikal yang dilakukan oleh tokoh utama untuk mencapai kondisi riil melalui tindakan sadis dan tak berkeprimanusiaan yang melanggar aspek normatif dalam lingkaran simbolik. Akan tetapi, peristiwa yang dihadapi oleh tokoh tersebut berlawanan dengan diri pengarang sebagai subjek. Pengarang justru tidak menunjukkan adanya upaya radikal dalam kehidupannya sehingga ia tetap berada dalam fantasi ideologis.Kata Kunci:Subjektivitas, Slavoj Zizek, Eka Kurniawan, Tindakan Radikal, Fantasi ideologis. The humanist paradigm in literature study assigns humans as the center. This research examines the subjectivity of the characters and the author in Lelaki Harimau novel by Eka Kurniawan using Slavoj Zizek's theory of subjectivity. Zizek focused his thoughts on the real and symbolic order in human life. According to him, humans are able to achieve freedom and authenticity as long as they act beyond the symbolic norms and move towards the real dimension in their life. On the contrary, humans will remain imprisoned in a symbolic dimension as long as they allowed themselves drifted away on a false consciousness of ideology. This research indicates that there are radical efforts made by the main characters to achieve the real conditions through sadistic and inhumane actions that violate the normative aspects in a symbolic circle. However, the events faced by these characters are opposite to the author as the subject. In fact, the author does not perform any radical efforts in his life so that he remains in ideological fantasies.Keywords: subjectivity, Slavoj Zizek, Eka Kurniawan, radical act, ideological fantasy


Janus Head ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-126
Author(s):  
Dušan Bjelić ◽  

In the 1990s, Julija Kristeva and Slavoj Žižek developed a unique discourse within psychoanalysis - the psychoanalysis of the Balkans. Their cultural and political analysis represented the Balkans as a pathological region of nations suffering from the syndrome of an “archaic mother.” They propose in their different ways that the subject (nation) must radically separate from oedipal attachment to the attachment to nationalism as unemancipated Oedipus and subordinate to the authority of the symbolic father, that is, to the West. At the heart of such an approach is a conservative policy of labeling the Balkans as primitive behind Kristeva and Žižek loom self-orientalization and geopolitical de-identification with the Balkans as a precondition for their cosmopolitan and universalist identity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Cesarale

InLess Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism, Slavoj Žižek presents the results of his long meditation on the meaning and ultimate implications of Hegelian philosophy. In this review-article, I will first examine the stages of Žižek’s transformation of Hegelianism, and then analyse the main themes brought up inLess than Nothing. The development of a ‘polemological’ interpretation of the Hegelian concepts of ‘reconciliation’ and ‘absolute’ leads Žižek to emphasise the role of negativity and antagonism in the process of constitution of reality and subject as part of reality itself. This implies a reinterpretation of dialectical materialism: reality is not something that simply precedes the subject, but which contains just multiplicities of multiplicities, and thus the Void itself. Žižek’s assertion that the ultimate reality is the Void itself then renders unavoidable the critique of Hegelian Marxism based on the centrality of the category of alienation. The last part of the review-article surveys, instead, how Žižek’s re-reading of Hegel affects his relation with Marx and also examines the role played by ‘contradiction’ in his theoretical proposal.


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