Tuesday, October 31, 2006

A post on Derrida and Europe

Over at Long Sunday. It takes up many familiar themes and, further develops them.

Ticklishly, I have often had cause to wonder (in addition to whether he ever caught his own mistake in reading Hamlet - too closely?), if Derrida's particular conception of 'hauntology' (i.e., glibly, the death contained in images) might help to diagnose The Zizek's terror:

And yet, when asked if he is satisfied about the outcome of his latest media foray… 'I have not seen it', Zizek declares. 'I'm just terrified by myself on screen…' For someone who has already been the subject of several films, including last year's 'Zizek!', which tracked his freewheeling global itinerary, this is a perhaps surprising revelation. But, despite the fact that he appears in almost every frame, 'The Pervert's Guide…' held a particular appeal. 'It's not about me,' he claims. 'Me and Sophie, we have a focus outside ourselves. That makes it tolerable.'

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Which mistake in reading Hamlet? That the visor is up? He recognizes this, and discusses it at some length, on page 8 of the English edition. Or did you have something else in mind?

Matt Christie said...

Aha! I'll need to look again. I had thought he'd said the gaze was "visored". Thanks Michael.

Matt Christie said...

Ah yes, "for the helmet effect, it suffices that the visor be possible...even when it is raised, the visor remains an available resource and structure, solid and stable as armor...the supreme insignia of power: the power to see without being seen." (cf. Donner la mort)

Foolish me, for supposing Derrida of all people in his metaphorical travel had neglected the necessary CYA.