Overview

Uncompromisingly radical, hypercerebral but also down to earth and irreverent, Slavoj Žižek is a philosopher whose thought is sometimes hard to plot a route through. Charting its innumerable hairpins and circuitous diversions, this cognitive map of Žižek country is a guide to its philosophical, psychoanalytic and political landscapes. Žižek’s prodigious output comprises a dense and layered critique of contemporary thought. Taking its lead from his web-like approach, Žižek Country is an A to Z of cross-referenced entries that covers the range of his preoccupations - from Terminator to the transcendental and Marx to the möbius strip. Each topic is explored both as a direct subject of Žižek’s focus and as a component of his broader philosophy. Every entry is fully referenced, pointing readers to the key points in his books and articles, as well as his many interviews, talks and panel discussions. Together, these ideas, threads, and repeated motifs give shape to a challenging, sometimes difficult philosophy that defies ready assimilation into academia and easy thinking.

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9781350468993

Table of Contents

Reviews

“A cartographic feat: this book captures the hodological logic — rereading, displacement, return — structuring Žižek’s universe. It does not reduce his complexity; rather, it traces the pathways connecting Hegel, Lacan and Marx to cinema, politics and ideology. In so doing, it transforms philosophy into a living instrument for deciphering our time and trains the reader in the art of thinking with Žižek”. * Monica del Pilar Uribe, Director of The Prisma newspaper *

“A cartographic feat: this book captures the hodological logic — rereading, displacement, return — structuring Žižek’s universe. It does not reduce his complexity; rather, it traces the pathways connecting Hegel, Lacan and Marx to cinema, politics and ideology. In so doing, it transforms philosophy into a living instrument for deciphering our time and trains the reader in the art of thinking with Žižek”. * Monica del Pilar Uribe, Director of The Prisma - The Multicultural Newspaper * This is the guide to Žižek we've been waiting for - one that doesn't merely summarize his ideas but teaches us how to inhabit them, tracing the hodological pathways through which Hegel, Lacan, and Marx converge into a genuinely speculative philosophy. Sheehan writes with a rare combination of scholarly precision and infectious enthusiasm, making even the most vertiginous Žižekean paradoxes feel not just navigable but exhilarating. An indispensable companion for anyone who suspects that the real adventure lies not in reading about Žižek but in reading Žižek himself. * Rafael Winkler, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa *

Author Information

Sean Sheehan is an independent scholar, having previously taught in the UK and abroad. His publications include The British Museum Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ancient Greece (2002), Socrates: Life and Times (2007), Žižek: A Guide for the Perplexed (Bloomsbury, 2012) and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King: A Reader’s Guide (Bloomsbury, 2012).

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