Slavoj Zizek Interview in The Guardian
A Links entry from Sunday, August 10, 2008Slavoj Zizek Interview in The Guardian
Some really great responses. (Via I cite.)
Mark Elliot Cullen
Best one was either…
Tell us a secret. Communism will win.
or
What makes you depressed? Seeing stupid people happy.
Jason
I feel like a lot of these answers are supposed to be taken in jest.
Zizek provides some responses that seem odd or out-of-character:
Regarding his supposed lack of sexual activity, or seeing the act as some sort of “masturbation” with another person (i.e. an act of inherent shame or embarrassment); how does one reconcile this with his Argentinean model wife Analia Hounie? Clearly his most “base instincts” are a factor, or at least alive and well, in his life.
Additionally, his comments regarding students being “stupid and boring” seems unusually crude. Having seen him speak, one of the greatest parts of his lecture was his pure, unabashed interaction with the crowd. Moreover, Zizek teaches classes himself (obviously)…I can’t imagine such comments not getting back to his students.
As for the rest, I thought that he was in his typically, hilarious/insightful form. I guess just those few comments rubbed me the wrong way.
orangemarmalade
fuck off
Bryan Klausmeyer
Jason: the answers aren’t necessarily sarcastic.
Regarding the “masturbation,” this is a ‘joke’ Zizek makes at certain points when he discusses the issue of love and sex. I won’t go into technical details, but he contends that what we call ‘sex’ is better worded as ‘mutual masturbation’ based on his analysis of the enigmatic Lacanian maxim that “there is no sexual relationship.” Hence, when he uses the word masturbation in this context, he simply means sex.
On the issue of his dislike of students, this is something he’s made fairly clear over the past decade. Zizek has never taught classes, he only gives lectures, which he also claims to dislike. He holds a senior lecturer position at the European Graduate School, but the way it’s setup means he doesn’t have to meet with students. In an interview with Zizek that I read, he explained the extreme lengths he goes to set it up so he doesn’t have to meet with students, such as giving them fake office locations, or saying they can talk with him after class but then scheduling no office hours. He also claims to dislike professors as well (even though he technically is one) — the documentary is called “Liebe dein Symptom wie dich selbsts.”
Anyhow, further investigation into Zizek’s claims suggests he isn’t joking.
Bryan Klausmeyer
bryklaus@umich.edu
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