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O Ano Em Que Sonhamos Perigosamente (2012)

by Slavoj Žižek(Favorite Author)

3.77 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Boitempo

review 1: This probably one of Slavoj's easier books to read. The focus is on the year 2011, with the Arab Spring, London Riots, Occupy Wall Street and other events that happened. Slavoj analyzes these events, what they might mean, and the good and the bad that came from them. His take is that, on a fundamental level the media did not understand why these were taking place or what their goals were. Some argued that they had no discernible goals while others argued that they should not go about it the way they were. Slavoj suggests that in the current environment there is no apparent answer to our problems except outrage and to create a vacuum in which something new can come out of. He contends that these events, while in many cases, didn't end with anything revolutionary are a sign ... moreof what is to come. But he also contends that we should not posit some Utopian future that is coming, Marx and others could only imagine a better version of what we already have, but Zizek suggests that what is coming and what we are really looking for is something that we cannot fully imagine. I'll end with a quote from the last page of the book:"All we can be certain of is that the existing system cannot reproduce itself indefinitely: whatever will come after will not be "our future". A new war in the Middle East or an economic chaos or an extraordinary environmental catastrophe can swiftly change the basic coordinates of our predicament. We should fully accept this openness, guiding ourselves on nothing more than ambiguous signs from the future."I definitely recommend this. It incorporates Zizek's philosophy, but in a form that is much easier to read.
review 2: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.but after zizek makes you laugh, or something, i can figure out that most of the things he's saying makes sense. he's one of the 'thinkers' who occasionally make an appearance in my academic papers, along with benjamin and jameson adn lyotard. aside from, yes yes, mentioning marx minsan. so, that could be somethinginteresting points relate to the following:1. the everyday functions of islamic art, in contra to the western paradigm (chapter 6: the arab winter, spring, summer and fall)2. why we need sociopaths, or: why do WE need to BE sociopaths and what are their roles in bringing about social change (chapter 9: beyond envy and resentment)3. capitalism's un-globalness in the realm of meaning, which I read as related to jameson's push for 'cognitive mapping.' (chapter five: welcome to the desert of post-ideology)4. and yes, the opening quotation of a persian expression: "war nam nihadan: murder somebody, bury his body, then grow flowers over the body to conceal it." (chapter 1)and a lot more.also: because of this book, i am now downloading this tv series called the wire and now that i am finish with this, will now set up a date with eagleton's the event of literature. less

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