On Zizek's Dialectics: Surplus, Subtraction, Sublimation

by Fabio Vighi

On iek's Dialectics explores the theoretical and practical potential of the psychoanalytic method deployed by Slavoj iek by investigating its epistemological implications within our contemporary capitalist universe. The book begins by evaluating Zizek's account of the capitalist ideology of enjoyment through the analysis of Lacan's critique of Marx's surplus-value. If the originality of iek's wager lies in the claim that enjoyment secretly sustains our ideological space, can we think of surplus-jouissance in a way that not only unmasks the ruse of capitalism but also adumbrates the construction of an alternative social space? The answer to this question is developed in the second part of the book. Arguing that the transformative potential of Zizek's epistemology needs to be fully unravelled if it is to avoid the risk of congealing into mere academic exercise, Fabio Vighi attempts to politicise iek's groundbreaking critical method by calling upon the necessity to translate its emphasis on the "indigestible" surplus of knowledge into the drive to think the new. Under the current conditions, this creative moment can no longer be delayed.

Genres: Philosophy

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2010

Reviews

[Христо]

So I've decided to re-read this; it does give a fairly good representation of Zizekian dialectics, although certainly not for a beginner. My issue so far, as before, is its political presuppositions.

Whenever a charged leftist writes on Zizek, they necessarily aim for the so-called "emancipatory project", as for instance McGowan constantly does. This skews the explanatory power of parallax dialectics, and misrepresents at least a substantial chunk of it, giving it what seems to the untrained as a "built-in" ethical telos.

I'll spend more time with the volume and perhaps edit this review.