Eagar,+Timothy



Slavoj Zizek is a critical theorist and philosopher from Slovenia who gained wide recognition for his theories and criticisms, drawing heavily from the works of Jacques Lacan. He is very left-leaning politically, identifying himself as a “radical leftist” and communist. By using popular culture in his explanations of his theories, and because he is called upon to comment upon current political events, he has gained nationwide recognition as a philosopher, perhaps analogous to Carl Sagan in the field of astronomy and science. Despite this, he remains a highly controversial figure in philosophy, politics, and criticism. Zizek was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1949. Despite living in a communist state, he eagerly consumed Western media and culture as a youth, leading to its pervasiveness in his work as a theorist in adulthood. He dove head-first into academic studies, studying Lacan, Derrida, and other French theorists and philosophers, learning to speak six languages. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree at the University of Ljubljana, his master’s thesis gained wide recognition – but also put him under suspicion, as the works of the French theorists he wrote about went at odds with the Marxist ideals that the Soviet Union enforced. Unable to find teaching work because of the controversy, he eventually joined the Communist Party, gaining work as a speechwriter, a job he kept well into his rise to international fame. Zizek’s personal style of criticism is extremely distinct – he’s known for putting out vast volumes of material at one time (at one point putting out three full books in a single year) and sometimes contradicting his own earlier views, often even within the same work. One thing does stay consistent in his views, however, and that is his relative adherence to the teachings of Jacques Lacan – particularly a predilection toward the concept of “The Real”. Zizek subscribes to the notion that there is an inherent virtuality to our perception of the world, and that “The Real” – the truth behind reality independent of our notions – is always just out of reach. Indeed, we do not perceive the world as it really is – we merely use our highly limited senses to take in our immediate surroundings and make an interpretation based on past experiences. However, our senses can fool us (and indeed must fool us if we are to continue to function) so it’s impossible to glean the truth of reality by simple observation. Therefore, most of our understanding of the world takes the form of “Symbols” – while this may be as simple and pure as the use of language and imagery (I.E. the word “table”, a picture of a table, and the sound of the word table, as compared to the reality of an actual table), this may also extend toward our perceptions of other forces and concepts in the world (such as the feeling of the wind through your hair or the sight of trees swaying standing in for the actuality of wind). Zizek was also interested in introspection and traditional forms of psychoanalysis in his criticisms, even though they have fallen out of vogue as being relevant in recent times. Unlike many theorists, who stick to one philosophy and hold to it their entire careers, Zizek has been known to go back on previous statements he had made; he did not see the philosopher’s job as being an all-knowing imparter of basic fundamental truths, but instead saw value of engaging with people and changing his own beliefs and theories with the times. For example, he opens up his essay “Eastern European Liberalism and its Discontents” with a retraction of some statements he had made in an essay previous: “…in the east, the west found a sucker still having faith in its values. The leftist demand to give a report on what is “really going on” in the east functions as a kind of mirror-reversal of this demand: we are expected to confirm suspicions, to say that people are already disappointed in “bourgeois” democracy, that they slowly perceive not only what they have gained but also what they have lost (social security, etc.). In my article, I consciously walked into this trap and gave the left what it wanted: a vengeful vision of how now things are even worse…” He goes on to explain his new position on the matter, and even for someone who has no idea behind the politics of the east twenty or so years ago, it remains an accessible and fascinating read. Zizek’s tendency to equate foreign concepts with familiar ones and punctuate his points with parenthetical observations and hypothetical quotes allows even the layperson to absorb his works rather easily. Zizek’s work is not without its detractors, however. His relatively breezy style of writing and tendency to sprinkle pop culture references and casual vernacular in his academic writing has led many to not take his ideas as seriously, and many critics find fault with his relatively unstable point of view and his willingness and tendency to go back on things he had said before. Because of his radical political position, any who tend toward the right will find fault with Zizek’s opinions – and Zizek’s occasionally controversial statements and informal language provides potent ammunition for his detractors to use to discredit him. Overall, Slavoj Zizek is an incredibly interesting person, and I would like to see him gain more recognition outside of academia – the accessibility of his written works could lead to a better understanding of the field of philosophy and criticism overall. His ideas may be radical, but people could always stand to gain more exposure to radical ideas, or risk complacency and a lack of imagination. Below is an illustrated lecuter of Zizek's that I think is incredibly interesting - I've seen one such lecture illustrated before, and it really serves to help make his ideas easier to understand and more accessible.

media type="youtube" key="hpAMbpQ8J7g" height="390" width="640" align="center" Works Cited De Kesel, Marc. "Act Without Denial: Slavoj Žižek on Totalitarianism, Revolution and Political Act." //Studies in East European Thought// 56.4 (2004): 299-334. Print. Dean, Tim. "Art as Symptom: Žižek and the Ethics of Psychoanalytic Criticism." //Diacritics// 32.2 (2002): 21-41. Print. Galt Harpham, Geoffrey. "Doing the Impossible: Slavoj Žižek and the End of Knowledge." //Critical Inquiry// 29.3 (2003): 453-85. Print. Žižek, Slavoj, and Christopher Hanlon. "Psychoanalysis and the Post-Political: An Interview with Slavoj Žižek." //New Literary History// 32.1 (2001): 1-21. Print. "Slavoj Zizek - Professor of Philosophy and Psychoanalysis - Biography." //The European Graduate School - Media and Communication - Graduate & Postgraduate Studies Program//. Web. 16 Apr. 2011. . "Slavoj Zizek Biography - Life, Parents, Name, History, School, Young, Son, Book, Old, Born, Marriage, Time, Year, Grew Up Under Communism, Worked as Speechwriter." //Encyclopedia of World Biography//. Web. 16 Apr. 2011. . Zizek, Slavoj. "Eastern European Liberalism and Its Discontents." //New German Critique// 57: 25-59. Print.