Deferring the Self (Studies in Philosophy, Culture and Contemporary Society)

This book is a result of studies on psychoanalysis, politics, and art. The topics in this book range from populism, the limits of the political, identity, melancholy, the peculiarity of psychoanalytical interpretation to the connection of theatre and politics. Psychoanalysis is a form of practicing personal truth, which needs to be one's own and which is not a result of anonymous discourse. Politics is the practice of being with others; it is the cultivation of antagonistic relations with others. Art is the practice aiming at giving one's life the mark of something unique, it is the very practice of life. Contents: The Politics of Reading - Psychoanalysis - Politics - Art - Death Drive - Deconstruction - Repression of Eros - The Concept of the Political - Populism after Trauma - Mourning - Narcissism - Identification with the Leader - Monsters - Fragmentation of Identities - Good Dependence - The Satyr on the Scaffolding - Political Theater - The Border - Words and Images - Zoo as an Asylum - Pleasure - Concepts as Monsters - The Spectacle of Torture - Absolute Authority. The book is a collection of essays, weaving together psychoanalysis, political theory and art. Ranging from the discussion of Freud, Foucault, Zizek and Agamben, through revealing analyses of politics and memory in contemporary Poland, to a discussion of Foks, Kozlowski, and Opalka, the author attempts to develop a new style of humanistic thinking. Szymon Wróbel. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 375-388) And Index.