The Symbolic, the Sublime, and Slavoj Zizek's Theory of Film

by Flisfeder, Matthew

• ISBN13: 9780230341470
• ISBN10: 0230341470
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-10-30
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Slavoj zizek is one of the world's most important contemporary public intellectuals. Much of his popularity stems from his constant and recurring references to popular culture and cinema, as well as his own appearances in films such as The Pervert's Guide to Cinema and Examined Life. Although zizek refers to cinema in order to help explain difficult concepts in his theoretical writing, film scholars question whether zizek has his own theory of film. This book argues that zizek's writing on film radically reorients the scope of contemporary film studies. Returning to questions about ideology and subjectivity, Flisfeder argues that Slavoj zizek's theory of film aims to re-politicize film studies and film theory, bringing cinema into the fold of twenty-first century politics.

Author Biography

Matthew Flisfeder is a media and cultural theorist. His work has appeared in the Canadian Journal of Film Studies, Cultural Politics, the International Journal of Žižek Studies, and cineACTION. He has held teaching positions at OCAD University, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Ryerson University.

Table of Contents

"This is a wonderfully lucid and perceptive account of how the Žizekian approach to cinema provides the theoretical coordinates for our understanding of ideology. Via Žizek, Matthew Flisfeder makes a compelling case for a Lacanian reading of film which, once freed from old debates on spectatorship, has a chance to strike a formidable alliance with Marxism to invite us to rethink our world through the eyes of film." - Fabio Vighi, reader in Film and Critical Theory, Cardiff University

'Matthew Flisfeder's The Symbolic, The Sublime, and Slavoj Žižek's Theory of Film marks a decisive moment in film studies. It is the first book to take full account of Slavoj Žižek's significance for the analysis of film, and it does so in an exhaustive and insightful way. Though there now exist many recent books on Lacanian film theory and on Slavoj Žižek's thought, no books exist that explain Žižek's intervention in the domain of film studies. Not only does Flisfeder open new ground in this way, but he also creates a work that is accessible and theoretically sophisticated at the same time, much like Žižek's own thought. It will provide a point of entry into the implications of Žižek's philosophy on the analysis of cinema for all levels, from undergraduate students to professors of film studies. Flisfeder's book is a treasure for all.' - Todd McGowan, associate professor of Film Studies, University of Vermont