Slavoj Žižek examines the structural role of fantasy in mediating the gap between digital abstraction and social reality. He argues that fantasy is not a flight from the world but the very framework that makes reality consistent, operating through a dialectic of Lacanian psychoanalysis and Hegelian logic. The text analyzes how ideological structures function through "interpassivity," where an external object performs an emotional or intellectual task on behalf of the subject. Examples range from the architectural differences in European toilets to the psychological dynamics of cybersex and the Balkan conflict, illustrating how these fantasies regulate human enjoyment and sustain political power.
This book is intended for students of critical theory, psychoanalysis, and cultural studies who seek to understand the intersection of technology and subjectivity. Readers acquire a specific toolkit for identifying how digital interfaces and market relations obscure their own mechanisms through visual imagery. By the end, the reader understands how fetishism serves as a defense against the void of the Real and how the internet alters the traditional boundaries of the human ego and social interaction.
Deep, contemplative and open-ended; a demanding read.
Best for readers like The Literary Connoisseur. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1997
- Publisher
- Verso
- ISBN
- 9781859841938
- Language
- EN
