Notes: Zizek. How to read Lacan.
Chapter: The perverse subject of politics: Lacan viewer of Mohammad Bouyeri
Keywords: perversion, politics, totalitarianism, responsibility, dirty job, Nazi, Others’s will, ethical, religious fundamentalism, letter, sadomasochistic, fear, truthfulness, Foucault, truth, lie, conceal, deception, appearance, feign, Zeuxis and Parrhasions, illusion, doctor’s plot.
Toshio Saeki
THE PERVERT
In this last chapter Zizek confront us with the perverse attitude of symbolic authorities and totalitarian politics-from fascism to stalinistic authoritarianism and explains how this perversion is identified into the subject which makes itself an instrument that follows the orders and the will of the big Other (where Other=God, Nation, Historical Necessity); a kind schizophrenic attitude driven by the formula: “I know well, but nevertheless…”; lack of coherence and dissociation of actions, feelings and rationalization. An example of this behavior is the Stalin-subject that claims that behind the cruel, dis-human action of murder lies the sense of duty and it becomes the instrument for he dark enjoyment of their God or leader. The same mechanism and behavior is noticed in the modern Greece, where the members of the fascist party , “Golden Dawn”, claim with conviction that theis (atrocious) political (re)actions are motivated by their sense of national duty! This is supposed to justified the conversion of “Enjoy” to “Punish”, both anyway ordered bz the big Other.
The flag and the country becomes the symbolization of the big Other:
“This is a battle for the flag, the country and for no other reason” (Ilias Kassiadis).
This perverse logic characterize also religion fundamentalism. Zizek uses as example the case of Mohammed Bouyeri, who murdered the Dutsch filmmaker Theo van Gogh (2004) and stabbed into his dead body a letter threatening Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The assassination becomes a public performance driven by Bouyeri’s political and religious convictions. In the letter, death is mentioned as the moment of the truth, the moment “at which every creature confronts its truth and is isolated from all its link”. His intention was to use the letter in order to challenge the “unbelieving extremist” (Hirsi Ali) to proof her truthfulness and at the same time to transmit her the fear of death: a fear induced by the confrontation with the omnipotent God, the divine big Other. This brings us to Lacan’s depiction of the pervert:” the pervert displaces division onto the Other” (p.110).
The only thing that can separate truth from lie is the readiness to die for your beliefs proving like that their truthfulness. But as Zizek writes, there is a falsity in pervert’s attitude, the fact that resides in his attachment on truth.
But where is the distinctive line between the lie and the truth? Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well gives an insight to the entanglement of truth and lie; a story, in which marriage (law), in order to be “asserted has to be consummated in the guise of an external marital affair” (p.113) . An affair that is not a sin but still a sinful act that involves a “cheating”. That is linked with Lacan’s paradox proposition: “There is no sexual relationship”- where Zizek will explain that the actual sex relationship has to be sustained bz the phantasmatic supplement.
The game of feigning to feign is related to Lacan’s appearance that occurs when we feign to be something that we are not, when we put this mask that conceals the Real behind creating a convincing illusion. An example is that of the painter Parrhasion who in competition with the painter Zeuxis who can paint the most convincing illusion, painted a curtain that symbolize the hidden truth. A strict parallel can be the fake pennis that a women wears, an action that represents of mimicry, an attempt to imitate something that reveals behind a hidden reality.
This bring us back to the concept of perversion, where Zizek add that the pervert contests that has a direct access to some figure of the big Other. (like the case of Osama bin Laden and President Bush who claim to be directed by the divine will).
The last reference of Zizek regards the case of Sophia Karpai as an example of opposition to Other’s will. Refusing to admit any guilty in relation to the “doctor’s plot), she contribute to be prevented another catastrophe in politics generally and to save the life of thousand of people. (http://ml-review.ca/aml/BLAND/DOCTORS_CASE_FINAL.htm)
This means that like for any rule there is an exception, also in Human history exists individuals able to resist in big Other and fight against its will.
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Additional material.
– Perversion is associated to sadomasochistic behavior.
[T]he S&M game is very interesting because it is a strategic relation, but it is always fluid. . . . Or, even when the roles are stabilized, you know very well that it is always a game. Either the rules are transgressed, or there is an agreement, either explicit or tacit, that makes them aware of certain boundaries. This strategic game as a source of bodily pleasure is very interesting. . . . It is an acting-out of power structures by a strategic game that is able to give sexual pleasure or bodily pleasure.
–Michel Foucault, Ethics: Subjectivity and Truth
ARTISTS
- Toshio Saeki (佐伯俊男) is an illustrator from Japan, famous for his paintings and drawing focusing on erotica, violence, and perversion. It has been suggested that his highly original erotic creations have been influential on some of Japan’s most well known contemporary artists including Aida Makoto and Takashi Murakami
- Vladimir Nabakov Lolita.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/books-and-arts/nabokov-the-art-the-perverse
- Martin O’ Brien
Martin O’Brien’s practice focuses on physical endurance and hardship
in relation to the fact he suffers from cystic fibrosi. He was artist in residence
at ]performance s p a c e[ London from January- June 2012 during which he realised the project ‘Regimes of Hardship’ consisting of three 12 hour performance installations, with the third a collaborative work with the legendary performance artist and dominatrix Sheree Rose.
martinobrienperformance.weebly.com
- BOB FLANAGAN.
- Mapplethorpe
By the mid-1970s, Mapplethorpe had acquired a medium format camera and began documenting New York’s gay S&M community.Mapplethorpe’s elegant prints representing portraits, nudes, flowers, and erotic and sadomasochistic subjects dominated photography in the late 20th century.
- Documentary
- Disney and perversion
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- Film: Secretary:Maggie Gyllenhaal stars as the title character in this black comedy/drama about a mentally fragile young woman who goes to work as a secretary. Her demanding boss (James Spader) crosses the line into downright sadism, and the two begin a strange relationship that fills a need for both of them. They agree to keep their relationship secret, but it begins to influence the rest of their lives. Directed by Steven Shainberg. Categories: Comedy, Drama, Romance. Year: 2002.
- Madonna: Open your heart
Perversion and animation
ZIZEK: The pervert”s guide in cinema
LINKS
http://www.lacan.com/covers.htm
http://www.lacan.com/usepervf.htm