Žižek and his Contemporaries. On the Emergence of the Slovenian Lacan

"In recent years, the popularity of the inimitable Slavoj Žižek has perhaps cast a shadow over the collective influence exerted by Slovenian intellectuals on modern day philosophy. Yet despite his image as an isolated genius, this timely book relocates Žižek as a thinker whose ideas are born of a specifically Slovenian context. Although only coming to international notice in the early 1990s, the Slovenian school needs to be understood as the culmination of a series of intellectual, artistic and political movements inextricably connected to the quest for the succession of Slovenia from Yugoslavia. These developments in thought must also be seen in the light of one of the giants of Continental philosophy: Jacques Lacan. Featuring brand new interviews with three of its forerunners - Slavoj Žižek, Mladen Dolar and Alenka Zupancic - this fascinating account details each philosopher's individual concerns, whilst shedding light on the complex genealogy and continuing development of the Slovenian Neo-Lacanian school. Rarely are we afforded such an opportunity to study the birth of a philosophy from a seminal moment in modern history"-- Provided by publisher Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 In the beginning 12 Why Lacan? 17 Development of chapters 19 Chapter One What was going on in Ljubljana? 24 ‘The Unconscious is Structured as Yugoslavia’ 24 Waiting for the match to be cancelled 26 The emergence of nationalism 29 Genealogies of philosophy in the former Yugoslavia 33 ‘I Walked our Land and Got an Ulcer’ 37 ‘Gentlemen comrades, I don’t believe you’10 40 Conclusion 44 Chapter Two The Lacan effect 50 Introduction 50 Interpreting Lacan 52 Psychoanalysis and philosophy 57 Psychoanalysis and surrealism 61 ‘Kant with Sade’ 67 Lacan’s The Ethics of Psychoanalysis 75 Conclusion – Lacanianism via Derrida and the Ljubljana troika 88 Chapter Three From punk to cogito to voice: On Mladen Dolar 94 Introduction – Dolar’s philosophical evolution 94 Reading Lacan-Hegel-Marx in Dolar 97 Socrates and the daemonic voice 101 ‘From Structuralism to Lacan’ – Interview with Mladen Dolar 104 Conclusion – Dolar: Breaking through the impasse 123 Chapter Four ‘Learn, Learn and Learn’ – On Slavoj Žižek 128 Introduction 128 The core of the Freudian revolution 131 Lacan, then and now 134 ‘From Lacan to Hegel’ – Interview with Slavoj Žižek 136 Conclusion – ‘Moving the Underground’ with the NSK 157 Chapter Five ‘From Haso to Mujo’:On Alenka Zupančič 162 Introduction 162 The ethics of the real 164 Sexuality from Plato to psychoanalysis 166 ‘Encountering Lacan in the Next Generation’ – Interview with Alenka Zupančič 169 Conclusion – ‘From Haso to Mujo’ 189 Epilogue – ‘We Don’t Know What Will Become of This Psychoanalysis’ 194 Introduction 194 Lacan ‘On a Warpath from the Beginning’ 196 The deadlocks of Lacanianism 199 ‘The New Wounded’ – Žižek for and against Malabou 201 Conclusion – Enjoy your future! 205 Notes 208 Introduction 208 Chapter 1 208 Chapter 2 210 Chapter 3 211 Epilogue 212 Bibliography 214 Primary References 214 Secondary References 217 Index 224 "In recent years, the popularity of the inimitable Slavoj Žižek has perhaps cast a shadow over the collective influence exerted by Slovenian intellectuals on modern day philosophy. Yet despite his image as an isolated genius, this timely book relocates Žižek as a thinker whose ideas are born of a specifically Slovenian context. Although only coming to international notice in the early 1990s, the Slovenian school needs to be understood as the culmination of a series of intellectual, artistic and political movements inextricably connected to the quest for the succession of Slovenia from Yugoslavia. These developments in thought must also be seen in the light of one of the giants of Continental philosophy: Jacques Lacan. Featuring brand new interviews with three of its forerunners - Slavoj Žižek, Mladen Dolar and Alenka Zupancic - this fascinating account details each philosopher's individual concerns, whilst shedding light on the complex genealogy and continuing development of the Slovenian Neo-Lacanian school. Rarely are we afforded such an opportunity to study the birth of a philosophy from a seminal moment in modern history"-- Provided by publisher "In recent years, the popularity of the inimitable Slavoj Žižek has perhaps cast a shadow over the collective influence exerted by Slovenian intellectuals on modern day philosophy. Yet despite his image as an isolated genius, this timely book relocates Žižek as a thinker whose ideas are born of a specifically Slovenian context. Although only coming to international notice in the early 1990s, the Slovenian school needs to be understood as the culmination of a series of intellectual, artistic and political movements inextricably connected to the quest for the succession of Slovenia from Yugoslavia. These developments in thought must also be seen in the light of one of the giants of Continental philosophy: Jacques Lacan.Featuring brand new interviews with three of its forerunners - Slavoj Žižek, Mladen Dolar and Alenka Zupancic - this fascinating account details each philosopher's individual concerns, whilst shedding light on the complex genealogy and continuing development of the Slovenian Neo-Lacanian school. Rarely are we afforded such an opportunity to study the birth of a philosophy from a seminal moment in modern history"--Bloomsbury Publishing. Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 In the beginning 1 Why Lacan? 6 Development of chapters 8 1 What was going on in Ljubljana? 13 ‘The Unconscious is Structured as Yugoslavia’ 13 Waiting for the match to be cancelled 15 The emergence of nationalism 18 Genealogies of philosophy in the former Yugoslavia 22 ‘I Walked our Land and Got an Ulcer’ 26 ‘Gentlemen comrades, I don’t believe you’ 29 Conclusion 33 2 The Lacan effect 39 Introduction 39 Interpreting Lacan 41 Psychoanalysis and philosophy 46 Psychoanalysis and surrealism 50 ‘Kant with Sade’ 56 Lacan’s The Ethics of Psychoanalysis 64 Conclusion – Lacanianism via Derrida and the Ljubljana troika 77 New Interviews With Slavoj Žižek And His Contemporaries, Accompanied By Critical Analysis Of The Wider Slovenian Philosophical And Cultural Context That Spawned Their Thought.