Zizek and His Contemporaries: On the Emergence of the Slovenian Lacan

In recent years, the popularity of the inimitable Slavoj Žižek has perhaps cast a shadow over the collective influence exerted by Slovenian intellectuals on modern day philosophy. Yet despite his image as an isolated genius, this timely book relocates Žižek as a thinker whose ideas are born of a specifically Slovenian context. Although only coming to international notice in the early 1990s, the Slovenian school needs to be understood as the culmination of a series of intellectual, artistic and political movements inextricably connected to the quest for the succession of Slovenia from Yugoslavia. These developments in thought must also be seen in the light of one of the giants of Continental philosophy: Jacques Lacan.

Featuring brand new interviews with three of its forerunners - Žižek, Mladen Dolar and Alenka Zupancic - this fascinating account details each philosopher's individual concerns, whilst shedding light on the complex genealogy and continuing development of the Slovenian Neo-Lacanian school. Rarely are we afforded such an opportunity to study the birth of a philosophy from a seminal moment in modern history.

New interviews with Slavoj Žižek and his contemporaries, accompanied by critical analysis of the wider Slovenian philosophical and cultural context that spawned their thought.

In recent years, the popularity of the inimitable Slavoj Žižek has perhaps cast a shadow over the collective influence exerted by Slovenian intellectuals on modern day philosophy. Yet despite his image as an isolated genius, this timely book relocates Žižek as a thinker whose ideas are born of a specifically Slovenian context. Although only coming to international notice in the early 1990s, the Slovenian school needs to be understood as the culmination of a series of intellectual, artistic and political movements inextricably connected to the quest for the succession of Slovenia from Yugoslavia. These developments in thought must also be seen in the light of one of the giants of Continental philosophy: Jacques Lacan. Featuring brand new interviews with three of its forerunners - Žižek, Mladen Dolar and Alenka Zupancic - this fascinating account details each philosopher's individual concerns, whilst shedding light on the complex genealogy and continuing development of the Slovenian Neo-Lacanian school. Rarely are we afforded such an opportunity to study the birth of a philosophy from a seminal moment in modern history.

Jones Irwin is Lecturer in Philosophy and Human Development in the Education Department at St Patrick 's College, Dublin City University, Ireland.

Helena Motoh is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Primorska, Slovenia.

Introduction: Slovenian Intellectual and Political Background to Neo-Lacanianism \ 1. Slavoj Žižek's The Sublime Object of Ideology as an Index of Arrival \ 2. Slavoj Žižek: Interview \ 3. Mladen Dolar and a Hegelian Lacan \ 4. Mladen Dolar: Interview \ 5. More Recent Developments: Alenka Zupancic et al \ 6. Alenka Zupancic: Interview \ 7. Conclusion \ Bibliography \ Index