When in 1989 Francis Fukuyama launched his thesis about the “end of history,” it rhymed perfectly with another fashionable suggestion about the “end of ideology.” This paper attempts to examine what ...could be called the ideology of the end, of which both of these trendy phrases partake. It looks particularly into the predominant modality both of these so-called “ends” display whereby the end is paired with its apparent opposite: repetition or continuation of what it is supposed to end. Taking its cue from a couple of comedic examples in film and literature (Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life and Italo Svevo’s Zeno’s Conscience), this essay attempts to make some philosophical and political points that could help us orientate today when thinking about ideology and its alleged end.
THE SECOND DEATH Zupančič, Alenka
Angelaki : journal of theoretical humanities,
01/2022, Letnik:
27, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
As much as humanity has always been driven by the idea of conquering death, it is also haunted by the impossibility of dying completely; that is, by a possible persistence and recurrence of something ...undead and indestructible that pertains to us; not necessarily as our ally, but rather as our enemy. This paper explores this strange non-coincidence of death (and life) with itself. Following various authors (Lacan, de Sade), it develops the thesis that the difference between the "real" (empirical) and the symbolic is not sufficient to explain this irreducible surplus of life, this undeadness, which is not the same as "symbolic life." Rather, it corresponds to a surplus of life that occurs as a by-product of the symbolic, but which is not itself symbolic or covered by it. Lacanian theory differs from the so-called "linguistic turn" in that it alerts us to the following paradox: language is not reducible (back) to language. It is because of language that another, additional non-linguistic Real exists in the universe.
The classic formula of disavowal given by Octave Mannoni, “I know well, but all the same,” undergoes interesting and far-reaching permutations in today’s social context. When it comes to dealing with ...and (not) responding to various crises, we usually point the finger at deniers and their “irrational” attitudes. However, far more common and socially problematic is the attitude that combines full recognition and denial in the same movement. Moreover, knowledge of a problem not only goes seamlessly with ignoring it but seems to make ignoring it possible in the first place. Saying that “we know well” often enables us to ignore the real of that knowledge. Disavowal thus takes a doubly perverse turn, which is the focus of the analysis in this article.
Sex in the Cut Zupančič, Alenka
Identities,
12/2020, Letnik:
17, Številka:
2-3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The talk will attempt to explore the nature of the division or cut implied, also etymologically, in the term “sex”. It will attempt to develop a concept of division that does not imply any ...pre-existing whole, but rather exists as a self-standing entity, endowed by a reality of its own. What if the division implied in “sex” is not simply that between two sexes (or more), but rather something that marks the unrest of sexuality itself? How could this be related to the contemporary feminist struggle, and what kind of concept of universality would it imply?
Ani Župančič je skoraj štiri desetletja spremljala delo svojega moža, pesnika Otona Župančiča. Spomine na njegove pripovedi iz mladosti, na Otonove vsakdanje navade, način dela, njegove službe, stike ...z založniki je zapisala, da ne bi šli z njo v pozabo. Med zapiski so tudi Opombe k III. knjigi Zbranega dela in še kaj. Dodala je nekaj opomb za naslednje knjige, »ker knjige tako počasi izhajajo in bo morda treba prej v eksil«,1 je napisala. Vedno je bila pripravljena na pogovor z raziskovalci moževe poezije in njegovega življenja. V poglavju Poizkus rekonstrukcije (Opombe k) je zapisala še nepoznano pesem Otona Župančiča, ki jo je poimenovala po prvem verzu druge kitice Sanjalo se mi je, da sem Triglav. Zanimalo me je, zakaj pesmi ni v ZD. Zato sem preverila vse razpoložljive vire: ZD, pesnikove rokopise (hrani jih NUK)2 in zapiske Ani Župančič, ki jih hranim.