The British critic Terry Eagleton claims that Slavoj Žižek is “the most formidably brilliant exponent of psychoanalysis, indeed of cultural theory in general, to have emerged in Europe for some decades”. Assuming such formidable brilliance, why does Professor Žižek draw large audiences and pack auditoriums across whatever continent he visits? He consistently fills lecture halls and classrooms beyond their normal capacity, and this is remarkable, considering that a first encounter with Žižek's thinking generally disturbs or even offends. It is also noteworthy that, in spite of their provocative (and occasionally offensive) nature, Žižek's dozens of books and hundreds of articles are compulsively enjoyable to read. How has this Slovenian philosopher and Lacanian psychoanalyst become so popular (and so controversial) in the two decades since his first publications in English? Slavoj Žižek is widely regarded as...
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Citation: Wood, Kelsey. "Slavoj Žižek". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11757, accessed 09 June 2026.]
