Like a Hysteric--ooh!--Touched for the Very First Time! Jacques Lacan points out an interesting split between the "subject of the enunciated" and the "subject of enunciation," that is to say, between the "I" of the stated and the "I" who is speaking. Because of this distance between statement and speaker, one can plainly make a objectively true statement but do so from the position of a liar thus tainting the true statement. Such is the case with all the criticisms of Zizek's new book, "Violence." True, he does conflate all sorts of violence; true, he repeats material; and true, you can find him delivering these essays in lecture form on the web. But such observations are false since those who speak them nonetheless occupy positions of envy and resentment. In other words, don't be fooled by the pretense of objectivity; the criticisms are subjective.
This new Zizek is a breath of fresh air. It contains six tightly wound up essays that reflect on the nature of violence. Zizek's underlying thesis is that violence takes on three forms: subjective, linguistic, and structural. Only the first is readily visible. But the latter two are more devastating and damaging in their effects. One of the highlights of the book is his short (only a couple of paragraphs) commentary on Heidegger's notion that Being is founded in violence. I remember reading that and thinking to myself "Why violence?". Well, Zizek tells you why. Even the most devoted Zizek follower will find this book compelling. In it, he does a great job of following his theses to their conclusions, stating clearly where he stands, and building an argument throughout the six chapters. It seems to me that anyone moving from Parallax View to Lost Causes will want to take a stop with Violence. Truly for the most weathered Lacanian/Zizekian reader, "Violence" will feel like a first encounter of the Slovenian kind.
violence and freedom: the logic of forced choice or the vel of alienation+ this punchy little book deserves to be taken or viewed progressively, as an enactment and reconcilation of his thought to time. one cannot easily systemitize his thought but and only- to use his comentary on lacan against him- take him against himself, zizek versus zizek. i think this can account for the other reviewers, duplicity... agreed this zizekian collection isnt his per usual uncompromising text-though he claims to the contrary- it would be tasteless without a foundational knowledge of zizek or the plenitude of referrents. this is accessable, i guess that's positive. to comment on the last review the equivalence made between clitoridectomy and western body-mod misses the point while simultaneously offering no alternative. the operative forced choice is precisely the point, liberalism can not possibly articulate its own unthought unfreedom. we have ran out of red ink or is it...blue. i fail to make the joke. either way this title is recomended... to the reviewers or future reviewers i defy you to come up with a zizek book that is an island, which is to say does not contain implicit reference to his previous work. end.
Get real Zizek is brilliant and reading the various arguments one can't help but be dazzled by their inventiveness and erudition. Then take a step back and you see he is equating the violence done to women who undergo ritual genital mutilation due to cultural pressures with the situation of affluent women in the West who feel cultural pressure to be beautiful and undergo Botox injections. That doesn't pass the laugh test. The author is too smart by half.
Violence--polished lectures avaliable on the net Substance: If you type in the chapter titles from the book into youtube, you'll find many lectures which more or less constitute the content of this book.
Material: the cover is its own dustjacket, it folds unto itself to provide pseudo cover flaps, the pages are unevenly cut in the "custom-bound" look that makes the page ends opposite the spine resemble a Richter Scale reading.
Content and Dimensions: At 128 pgs, the small book dimensions and the already available digital video resources available on the internet, Zizek's Violence does not have a great deal more to offer to either the neophyte or the acquainted student. Right for the price, but then again, not enough new to justify the monies of most whom are interested in Zizek's thought.
violence elsewhere is everywhere if you have the time to follow Zizek's lectures on youtube, on Liberalism, Euthansia of Tolerant Reason after Kant, Marxism in the Streets, Truth,Sam Harris,procedural Toilets; there is a lot duplicated, duplicitous in this nifty little paper-back, you can read it while listening to AC-DC, also from his "In Defense of Lost Causes". Yes Zizek forgot how violent Rock n'Roll is,how it and continuously assaults our senses and sensibilities for decades now,so was the Seventies carpet bombing of Cambodia, (Kissinger had a hand in that;well they will name a library after you Henry, dont worry); but Zizek covers topicalities interestingly, perceptively; Paris Riots,("We are Here") Katrina, Middle East,Intifada, with nice reflections of context on colonialism and Israel,"Who wants two states?", cites the "Jerusalem Chalk Circle"(a twist on Brecht with another twist on King Solomon)one cannot divide in two without killing something) time of things,of nation-building; and if sovereignties came too late, what the Ruling Classes of Globe require now is for acceptance of its Rule to an extent; to be respectable,to have violence without violence;de-caffeinated, war without war, (Colin Powell),but just for things to go on as they are requires violence everyday, every minute, so Zizek says; and there are some provisos indicated by Zizek,with the help of Badiou,"we live in a worldless culture" events are not deposited in consciousness as before;events are filtered through a hermeneutical sieve of interpreted reality, Lacanian Lenses all are utilized,all the time to gauge the states of desire, what we buy, what gives us pleasure;bouts with Fukuyama, "ends of",Sam Harris; Zizek loves to name drop, but he simply explains it and puts it all in a useful exciting context, as liberalism today, what is it, who practices it, what do they want? with spokespeople-writers and court jestors as NYT(Mr.Glib) Friedman,"there are simply problems to solve. . ."no classes, no poverty, no conflicts; "liberal fascist",Zizek calls them as Peter Sloterdijk, typically the designation is extreme but Zizek wants to you to get off yer butts and think a little bit, before you plug in your IPOD to Zone out for the day.Walter Benjamin and Paul Klee's "Angelus. . . " is here he thought about violence, and the divine violence,as in "Psycho", Arbogast on the stairs,it just happens; that the imperfections of capitalism and greed, exploitation, torture and coercion, the IRS processes, are sometimes too much, we need relief, well humanity does at some point, "divine violence" is not necessary it simply is there, like the Hurricane called Katrina, showed how the USA still philosophicaly is an Old World power, in that it couldn;t provide basic sustaining lifeforms for its taxpaying citizens,racism was central to that; just allowed people to die in water, squalor.Europe as well is still very Old World order, can it solve its problems of violence, as the Paris Riots,there were racist violence ten years ago; the youth merely wanting to know if they are part of society, can you give us a Job?, or do we live in poverty our entire existence, Sarkozky really doesn't care, it would tarnish his star status, the French Ruling elites need entertainment; and divine violence?, sans-culottes,the French Revolution an event beyond what it actually is, perhaps Beethoven's entire work would have takened a different turn, been less powerful, more woosee, if it never happened, so violence, spills spirals over into the future, like the Cultural Revolution,the last one to study; where China now props up Bill Gates and Western Capital, saving it, Freddie Mac, and Frannie needs bucks the 12$$ Trillion in its mortgages, need leveling out,propping up, curious how violence works into the future, Zizek has the interests to follow these conceptual trajectories , with Hegel in the Wings for assistance;we need to be violent so the people are not,there is systemic violence, and mythic one, all never really admitted, there is more violence happening everyday than we actually see just in order to keep things as they are.. . . from not getting worse, what do we know,"What do you know. . . ?" as the CIA Agent(Cliff Robertson) tells Robert Redford at the end of "The Day of the Condor".
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