Semiotics of the End: Essays on Capitalism and the Apocalypse

Network Notion #1

by Alessandro Sbordoni

The end of the world is just another sign of semiocapitalism.

Semiotics of the End is a collection of thirteen essays about the end of the world and its representation in XXI-century culture. The apocalypse as such will not take place because it is already finished. Today, there is no longer any difference between the end of the world and capitalism itself: from Britney Spears’ Till the World Ends to The Caretaker’s Everywhere at the End of Time, from Avengers: Endgame to Donnie Darko, and all the way down to the internet’s Backrooms, the world never ends but is reproduced again and again according to the semio-logic of capital.

In contrast with Mark Fisher’s capitalist realism, Semiotics of the End is a manifesto for the imagination of another relationship with the end. If it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism, as Slavoj Žižek, Fredric Jameson, and Mark Fisher put it, it is only because we have not imagined anything yet. The end is just the beginning.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Theory

Paperback

Published September 1, 2024

Reviews

[Cru · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had big hopes on this but... :(
I should know... if there is too much of Byung-Chul Han, Mark Fisher, Nick Land, Hauntology & co., I know what to expect.
I'm not saying this is not relevant, but when are we finally writing books about the apocalypse that are not just useless and full of expected hopelessness? Like, we get it, the world is fucked, maybe for you it's really interesting to theroize about it and be edgy, but honestly, do something.
I'm sorry to be harsh, I also have respect towards these theorists, but this is not what I look for when reading about the apocalypse. Empty antimetaboles like "time is nothing and nothing is time", and statements like "there's no hope anymore"... idk... just do something or at least try. Men writing about pessimism and nihilism: great red flag!
Besides, hauntology is the worst theory ever created... It just reveals some weird exceptionalism of modernity, as if everything that was invented there was not also a loop of the 19th century and so on and so forth. Hauntology reveals more about some male frustration of post-modernity (because you're not the center of the world anymore) than anything else.
Sorry... :(

[Isabella Mariano · Rating 5 out of 5]

eu adorei esse livro. em meio a tantos livros dificeis de ler sobre o tal do fim do mundo, esse me trouxe uma visão esperançosa de um jeito que eu não esperava.

o livro é uma crítica cultural muito atual, que pega emprestado conceitos da psicologia e da filosofia da linguagem e gera uma poderosa análise semiótica de prosa poética que aposta na construção de novos símbolos para imaginar um novo futuro.

me lembrou a música “primavera” de Don L que facilmente poderia ser objeto desse estudo.

[BonGard]

کامل مطالعه نکردم که نمره مشخصی بدهم
فقط فصل آخر آنتی‌هانتولوژی را خاندم
بد نبود، به ذهنیتم در پروژه تز کمک کرد

[Vincent Vanthienen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might not be smart enough to understand the jerking off of mark fisher written in a million ism, ist and ions but atleast I'm smart enough to turn off my phone and go for a walk.

[Kaden · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just as Marx does in his masterpiece, Kapital, with the dialetical method, the ingenious Sbordoni imbeds his written argument in the form it is advocating for; that is, utter meaninglessness on both counts. Of course there are a few sparse genuinely interesting ideas in the sea of terrible attempts at prose. But even these are riddled with nonsensical technical references (zeros and ones bro!!) and epigonic plagiarism. All of these "discoveries" of the abitrary transformation of abstract time and the collapse of high art into culture (postmodernism) have been articulated before by people who actually want to say something rather than spew signs. A reflection of these dreary times, I suppose.

[Vardavas Dimitrios · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sbordoni is one of the most cutting-edge voices of his generation. We think of the end to be as brief as a fullstop. Sbordoni reveals it as a territory. Read his work!

[Eglė Valintėlytė · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Questo libro è stato la sempre scomodata goccia che et etc
Conosco il pensiero di Bifo, di Fisher e degli altri autori citati, e l'impressione è che questo tipo di filosofia, che personalmente mi ha lungo appassionato, sia intrappolata nell'hauntologia di cui tanto parla: un eterno presente, nessuno sviluppo. L'analisi di film e serie tv alla Zizek, della musica alla Fisher...questo libro rimanda l'idea di un cosplayer di questi autori. Sia chiaro: Sbordoni è bravo e fa un buon compitino. Bigino sul post capitalismo, 10/10.
Però, estendendo questo pensiero anche ad altri autori (Bifo), l'impressione è che più che immersi in un deserto del reale siamo impantanati in una palude del pensiero, il quale ha ben colto lo zeigst ma la cui funzione sembra dirsi conclusa. A meno che...