How to Read Lacan- Slavoj Zizek
Jacques Lacan is arguably one of the most contentious figures within the field of 20th century psychoanalysis. He also occupied what is, by today’s standards, a strange position in society: an academic celebrity. Throughout the 60s and 70s, Lacan taught seminars in Paris, Yale, MIT, and Columbia, conversed with popular writers and artists, and enjoyed a level of fame that is seldom seen by most contemporary academics. Lacan was not, however, a prolific writer; he wrote very little of his theory and what does exist (often via essays and lecture transcripts) is often dense, highly complex, and frustratingly obtuse.
Furthermore, he was criticized for his (mis)use of mathematical theory, eclectic use of sources, and for his “variable-length psychoanalytic session,” in which he charged patients alike, regardless if their sessions lasted an hour or only a few minutes (leading Noam Chomsky to label him a “total charlatan.”). Regardless, his lectures have deeply influenced contemporary psychoanalytic discourse and his theories still show up in many departments on university campuses, including linguistics, philosophy, and film theory. So, it makes a certain kind of sense that the one to review and summarize Lacan’s most influential thoughts would likewise be an academic celebrity. Here, I am talking about no one other than that infamous Marxist philosopher, Slavoj Zizek.
Zizek, undoubtedly, is well-qualified to give a summation of Lacan’s thought. Moving from his native Yugoslavia in the 1980s, Zizek earned his second doctorate at the University of Paris under Jacques-Alain Miller and François Regnault as he translated various works from Freud, Althusser, and Lacan. Zizek consistently employs Lacan’s work throughout his writings and is clearly well-versed in Lacanian theory. Even so, let’s be brutally honest: any attempt to succinctly summarize the works of Lacan seems, from the outset, to be a fraught enterprise. Yet, in his 2006 work, How To Read Lacan, Zizek seeks to help illuminate some of Lacan’s most dense and oft-misunderstood concepts. Arguing that it is far from being a dead-end discipline, Zizek makes the case for Lacanian psychoanalysis as a vibrant and much-needed corrective for our current socio-political crises.
Overview:
In the introduction, Zizek makes his method clear by writing, “Instead of explaining Lacan through his historical and theoretical context, How to Read Lacan will use Lacan himself to explain our social and libidinal predicament” (5, 6). This allows Zizek to ignore any aspect of a simple biography, and instead use Lacanian theory to examine a wide range of social and political, and cultural phenomena. What results is a tour de force of Lacanian theory through the unique viewpoint of Zizek. Through the seven chapters, Zizek elaborates on the following: Lacan’s concept of the Symbolic, Imaginary, and Real as well as the absence of the Big Other (Chapter One), interpassivity and the danger of pseudo-activity in our modern political climate (Chapter Two), the role of Fantasy as an answer to the enigma of the Other’s desire (Chapter Three), the objet petit a and organs without bodies (Chapter Four), jouissance and the ethical injunction of the Superego (Chapter Five), “God is unconscious” and the link between psychoanalysis and Judaism (Chapter Six), and the relationship between religious fundamentalism, politics, and violence (Chapter Seven).
Zizek, as usual, utilizes popular cinema and television to help illustrate Lacan’s thought. Zizek employs a wide range of cinema and literature, including Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, Ridley Scott’s Alien, Casablanca, and Dostoyevsky’s short story “Bobok”, to name only a few. While these examples can be found in many of Zizek’s other works, having these illustrations all in one place makes it much easier to grasp his understanding of Lacanian theory. Throughout these examples, we get an image of psychoanalysis that is quite distinct from what one might find in the clinic, as Zizek writes, “For Lacan, psychoanalysis at its most fundamental is not a theory and technique of treating psychic disturbances but a theory and practice that confronts individuals with the most radical dimension of human existence. It does not show an individual the way to accommodate him- or herself to the demands of social reality; instead it explains how something like ‘reality’ constitutes itself in the first place" (3). Finally, for those who want a more distilled version of Lacan’s biography, while this book does not touch on the details of his life, there are two helpful sections titled Chronology and Suggestions for Further Reading, both to be found between the Notes and Index at the end of the book.
Commendations:
As always, Zizek is especially adept at taking complex theory and applying it to popular culture. For many who are either new to philosophy or outside of the traditional realm of academia, Zizek answers an immensely important question for critical theory: It may be kind of interesting, but why should I care about any of this?” Zizek connects the abstract to the seemingly mundane, primarily through his observation in pop culture, and applies critical theory to our contemporary political and cultural moment. In this book, he does a fantastic job at showing us just how prescient Lacan’s work can be, and how we can utilize Lacanian thought to address our political and social ills.
Zizek finely balances deep philosophical musings with entertaining tangents and (sometimes crude) jokes, all of which illuminates his readings of Lacan’ theory. Zizek breaks down categories such as Lacan’s trinity of the Real, Symbolic, and Imaginary Orders, as well as the figure of the Big Other. In fact, the Big Other is a continuous thread that connects much of this work, and the reader is given many examples of how this superego injunction is often expressed in politics and cinema.
When I first began reading Lacan roughly four years ago, I must admit that I struggled with much of it. Yet, after reading the first few chapters of How to Read Lacan, I felt like I had a much better grasp of some of the basics of Lacan. This gave me the confidence to then re approach Lacan with a renewed sense of interest, although I must admit that much of Lacan is still rather dense and difficult to grasp even after all these years. Zizek’s effervescent and infectious style of writing is incredibly useful in breaking down the incredibly high barriers of entry that Lacanian theory and makes it applicable to a wide range of phenomena.
Critique:
Yet, despite all of Zizek’s erudite and entertaining prose, the book is not fundamentally a strict reading of Lacan. In fact, aside from a brief quotation at the beginning of each chapter, there’s very little direct reference to Lacan’s work. Instead, each quote serves as a springboard with which Zizek then descends into ever-increasing tangents and diffuse observations. In all honesty, it is more of a “Zizek Utilizes Lacan to Interpret a Piece of Popular Culture,” rather than a cut and dry primer of Lacan’s thought.
To be fair, this is stated at the outset of the work. In the forward, written by series editor Simon Critchley, he writes, “The books are not merely compilations of a thinker’s most famous passages, their ‘greatest hits,’ but rather they offer a series of clues or keys that will enable readers to go on and make discoveries of their own” (x). While on the one hand, this does give Zizek the intellectual freedom to elaborate ways in which Lacan’s thought is still relevant to our own cultural and political moment, it also tends to be very light on what Lacan himself actually wrote.
Furthermore, for those who are already familiar with Zizek’s work, there is very little here that will be new. A significant number of his examples that he utilizes in this work can be found in his other works, specifically The Parallax View and The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema/Ideology. These examples are all still wonderful and brilliant, and having them all in one place is certainly a delight, but while it may not be a “greatest hits of Lacan,” it still reads like a “greatest hits of Zizek.” There is no discernable structure used to try to make Lacan’s theories systematically coherent, but rather a piecemeal selection of Lacan’s work to serve as a uniting theme for each chapter (from which Zizek often strays). In the end, Zizek incorporates Lacan into his own readings of pop culture rather than explaining the fundamental principles of Lacanian thought. Instead,the reader must do the hard work and infer from Zizek’s readings what the kernel of Lacan could be within them. To be wholly fair, Zizek does state this from the outset, so the reader should not be surprised by his approach. For those looking for a deep and systematic analysis of Lacan’s work, however, this lack is definitely something to keep in mind.
Conclusion:
In short, this book is a wonderful summary of what Zizek finds valuable in Lacan. While it is not a detailed examination of Lacan’s core work or biography, it does do a great job in whetting the appetite of anyone who might be interested in Lacan, but find his work to be too dense for their taste. Accordingly, this serves as a great first book on Lacan, as long as one understands that this is not a systematic treatment of Lacan. In the end, the reader does get to see some of the basic concepts of Lacanian thought and theory, and while Zizek’s bombastic writing style and brilliance often causes him to divert from the main premise of each chapter, it is still a worthwhile read for anyone who might be interested in learning more about psychoanalysis. Furthermore, if you’ve never read Zizek, this also serves as a fantastic first dive into his work as well, as this is probably one of his most accessible books. It’s an uncommonly entertaining read within the field of critical theory, and as long as one takes its premise with a little grain of salt, then I think they will find real value in this book.