The End of Dissatisfaction?: Jacques Lacan and the Emerging Society of Enjoyment (SUNY series in Psychoanalysis and Culture)

Exploring The Emergence Of A Societal Imperative To Enjoy Ourselves, Todd Mcgowan Builds On The Work Of Such Theorists As Jacques Lacan, Slavoj Zizek, Joan Copjec, And Theresa Brennan To Argue That We Are In The Midst Of A Large-scale Transformation -- A Shift From A Society Oriented Around Prohibition (i.e., The Notion That One Cannot Just Do As One Pleases) To One Oriented Around Enjoyment. Mcgowan Identifies Many Of The Social Ills Of American Culture Today As Symptoms Of This Transformation: The Sense Of Disconnection, The Increase In Aggression And Violence, Widespread Cynicism, Political Apathy, Incivility, And Loss Of Meaning. Discussing These Various Symptoms, He Examines Various Texts From Film, Literature, Popular Culture, And Everyday Life, Including Toni Morrison's Paradise, Tony Kushner's Angels In America, And Such Films As Dead Poets Society And Trigger Effect. Paradoxically, The End Of Dissatisfaction? Shows How The American Cultural Obsession With Enjoying Ourselves Actually Makes It More Difficult To Do So. Book Jacket.--jacket. Introduction: Psychoanalysis After Marx 1 -- 1. From Prohibition To Enjoyment 11 -- 2. The Decline Of Paternal Authority 41 -- 3. Embracing The Image 59 -- 4. Shrinking Distances 75 -- 5. Interpretation Under Duress 95 -- 6. The Appeal Of Cynicism 121 -- 7. The Politics Of Apathy 137 -- 8. A Missing Public World 155 -- 9. Explosions Of Incivilty, Aggressiveness, And Violence 177 -- Conclusion: From Imaginary Enjoyment To Its Real Counterpart 191. Todd Mcgowan. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 197-232) And Index. Winner of the 2004 Gary Olson Award for best book in cultural theory presented by JAC Exploring the emergence of a societal imperative to enjoy ourselves, Todd McGowan builds on the work of such theorists as Jacques Lacan, Slavoj Zðizûek, Joan Copjec, and Theresa Brennan to argue that we are in the midst of a large-scale transformation—a shift from a society oriented around prohibition (i.e., the notion that one cannot just do as one pleases) to one oriented around enjoyment. McGowan identifies many of the social ills of American culture today as symptoms of this transformation: the sense of disconnection, the increase in aggression and violence, widespread cynicism, political apathy, incivility, and loss of meaning. Discussing these various symptoms, he examines various texts from film, literature, popular culture, and everyday life, including Toni Morrison's Paradise, Tony Kushner's Angels in America, and such films as Dead Poets Society and Trigger Effect. Paradoxically, The End of Dissatisfaction? shows how the American cultural obsession with enjoying ourselves actually makes it more difficult to do so. Annotation Exploring the emergence of a societal imperative to enjoy ourselves, Todd McGowan builds on the work of such theorists as Jacques Lacan, Slavoj Zizek, Joan Copjec, and Theresa Brennan to argue that we are in the midst of a large-scale transformation--a shift from a society oriented around prohibition (i.e., the notion that one cannot just do as one pleases) to one oriented around enjoyment. McGowan identifies many of the social ills of American culture today as symptoms of this transformation: the sense of disconnection, the increase in aggression and violence, widespread cynicism, political apathy, incivility, and loss of meaning. Discussing these various symptoms, he examines various texts from film, literature, popular culture, and everyday life, including Toni Morrison's Paradise, Tony Kushner's Angels in America, and such films as Dead Poets Society and Trigger Effect. Paradoxically, The End of Dissatisfaction? shows how the American cultural obsession with enjoying ourselves actually makes it more difficult to do so