Wiley-Blackwell The Zizek Reader (Wiley Blackwell Readers)

The Zizek Reader - which includes a Foreword by Zizek and a new, previously unpublished essay on cyberspace - provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the flamboyant work of a figure who has been variously described as 'one of the most arresting, insightful and scandalous thinkers in recent memory' and 'the Giant of Ljubljana'. Collects work by one of the most arresting and scandalous thinkers of our time. Aids the reader to understand the often complex thinking of both Lacan and Zizek . Review "Zizek is, in fact, the most formidably brilliant exponent of psychoanalysis, indeed of cultural theory in general, to have emerged in Europe for some decades." Terry Eagleton, University of Oxford <!--end--> "The Zizek Reader is an excellent introduction to his thinking and contains the first systematic criticism of his work, in editorial introductions to each essay. In his own preface, Zizek makes his gambit explicit by his categorical rejection of the 'hegemonic trends' of today's academia." The Independent From the Publisher Blackwell PublishersThe Zizek Reader provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to this writer´s work. Zizek has an international reputation and has had a considerable influence on both scholars and students. Divided into three parts, Culture, Women and Philosophy, the Reader not only gives careful explications of the individual extracts within each section but also connects these extracts in a general introduction, mapping the shiftings of Zizek´s thought within the Lacanian framework. The essays on woman offer feminism ammunition from unexpected sources, within a reading of Lacan that goes counter to his ambiguous reception by feminists. The book includes a Foreword by Zizek and a new, previously unpublished essay on cyberspace. Contents : Part I: Culture: 1. The Undergrowth of Enjoyment. 2. The Obscene Object of Postmodernity . 3. The Spectre of Ideology. 4. Fantasy as a Political Category. 5. Is it Possible to Traverse the Fantasy in Cyberspace? Part II: Woman: 6. Otto Weininger, or ´Woman doesn´t Exist´. 7. Courtly Love, or Woman as Thing. 8. There is No Sexual Relationship. 9. Death and the Maiden. Part III: Philosophy: 10. Hegel´s "Logic of Essence" as a Theory of Ideology. 11. Schelling-in-Itself: The Orgasm of Forces. 12. A Hair of the Dog that Bit You. 13. Kant with (or against) Sade. 14. Of Cells and Selves. 15. Bibliography. Index. From the Inside Flap THE ŽIŽEK READEREdited by Elizabeth Wright and Edmond WrightThe Zizek Reader – which includes a Preface by Zizek and a new, previously unpublished essay on cyberspace – provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the flamboyant work of a figure who has been variously described as 'one of the most arresting, insightful and scandalous thinkers in recent memory', 'the Giant of Ljubljana… the best intellectual high since Anti-Oedipus'. His work is an extraordinary mix of Hegel and Hitchcock, Schelling and science fiction, Kant and courtly love, Stalin and Stephen King, all of which is strongly seasoned with Lacanian psychoanalysis. Divided into three parts – Culture, Woman and Philosophy – the Reader not only provides careful explications of the individual extracts within each section but also connects these extracts in a general introduction, mapping the shiftings of Zizek's thought within the Lacanian framework. The essays on woman offer feminism ammunition from unexpected sources, within a reading of Lacan that goes counter to his ambiguous reception by feminists. In fact, at this collection dazzlingly demonstrates, Zizek provides us with one of the most limpid and persuasive readings so far produced of Lacan's difficult thought. From the Back Cover THE ŽIŽEK READEREdited by Elizabeth Wright and Edmond WrightThe Zizek Reader – which includes a Preface by Zizek and a new, previously unpublished essay on cyberspace – provides a comprehensive and acces