Interrogating the Real

Table of Contents:
Preface by Slavoj Žižek 'The Thing Itself' Appears: Introducing the Work of Slavoj Žižek Part One: Lacanian Orientations 1. The Society for Theoretical Psychoanalysis in Yugoslavia 2. Why Lavan is Hegelian 3. The Most Sublime of Hysterics: Hegel with Lacan 4. Connections of the Freudian Field to Philosophy and Popular Culture 5. Lacan between Cultural Studies and Cognitivism Part Two: Philosophy Traversed by Psychoanalysis 6. The Limits of the Semiotic Approach to Psychoanalysis 7. A Hair of the Dog That Bit You 8. Hegel, Lacan, Deleuze: Three Strange Bedfellows 9. The Eclipse of Meaning: On Lacan and Deconstruction 10. The Parallax View Part Three: The Fantasy of Ideology 11. Between Symbolic Fiction and Fantasmic Spectre: Towards a Lacanian Theory of Ideology 12. Beyond Discourse Analysis 13. Re-visioning 'Lacanian' Social Criticism: The Law and its Obscene Double 14. Why is Wagner Worth Saving? 15. The Real of Sexual Difference Glossary

About the Author :
Slavoj Žižek is a Hegelian philosopher, a Lacanian psychoanalyst, and a Communist. He is International Director at the Birkbeck Institute for Humanities, University of London, UK, Visiting Professor at the New York University, USA, and Senior Researcher at the Department of Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Rex Butler is Professor of Art History at the School of Art, Design and Architecture, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. His previous publications include Jean Baudrillard: The Defence of the Real (1999). Scott Stephens is Researcher at the Centre for Theology and Politics, Brisbane, Australia.

Review :
 "The Giant of Ljubljana strikes again. In Interrogating the Real, the first volume of his collected writings. Slavoj Zizek proves that as a scholar he is as absurdly prolific as he is incorrigibly entertaining. Lauded by Terry Eagleton on the back cover of the book as "the most formidably brilliant exponent of psychoanalysis, indeed of cultural theory in general, to have emerged from Europe in some decades," Zizek is known for his fast and loose style and his penchant for fiddling with philosophy, psychoanalysis and cultural studies all in one fell swoop. Whether you love him or hate him, it is indisputable that Zizek has made quite a name for himself and has assumed the status of an academic rock star. Appropriately, then, Interrogating the Real stands as a sort of greatest hits album. The book is an assemblage of fifteen pieces, dating mainly from the 1980's and 1990's. Of varying length and form, the pieces range from transcriptions of interviews and lectures to reprinted journal articles or book chapters. Although most of the essays have already appeared elsewhere, some of them had not yet been translated into English or were only available in journals that are not readily accessible to most readers. It is thus useful tot have the pieces collected into one easy to access volume." Cristina Laurita, February 2007 , Janus Head, Summer/Fall Open issue 2006, 9.1. "A critically important acquisition for academic library philosophy collections and student reading lists, this first volume of Professor Zizek's work is divided into three principle sections: 'Lacanian Orientations'; 'Philosophy Traversed by Psychoanalysis'; and 'The Fantasy of Ideology'. Enhanced with a glossary, an index, and an 'Author's Afterword: Why Hegel is a Lacanian', "Interrogating the Real" showcases impeccable scholarship and clearly documents Professor Zizek as an original and insightful philosopher in his own right." - The Midwest Book Review "A...wiser approach for the uninitiated would be to go straight to Interrogating the Real. Advertised as the first volume in Zizek's collected works, this book is really a volume of selected essays. What distinguishes it from many of Zizek's other books that could also be described in that way, is that Butler and Stephens' superb collection of well chosen and carefully arranged pieces of writing provides an excellent introduction to Zizek's unwieldy oeuvre...a close reading of Interrogating the Real will show that a sustained engagement with Europe's anti-habermas while he is in his prime, can only enrich philosophy." -Roderick Nicholls, Philosophy in Review Reviewed in Common Knowledge, Volume 14, Issue 1. 'The most formidably brilliant exponent of psychoanalysis, indeed of cultural theory in general, to have emerged from Europe in some decades.' Terry Eagleton 'One of the most innovative and exciting contemporary thinkers of the left.' TLS