Slavoj Žižek, The Sublime Object of Ideology

Kelsey Wood (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.07: French Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (University of Western Australia), Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Patrick ffrench (King's College London), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London), Siobhán McIlvanney (King's College London), Sinan Richards (King's College London), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Domains

Critical Theory
Ideology

Dates

First circulation or publication 1989

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

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Why has the work of Slavoj Žižek become so popular (and so controversial) in the two decades since his first publication in English,

The Sublime Object of Ideology

? Perhaps the primary reason is that his work has revived and virtually reinvented the theoretical orientations of an astonishing variety of disciplines and discourses, including philosophy, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, political science, aesthetics, literary theory, and even theology. In fact, Slavoj Žižek is generally recognized to be one of the most important thinkers in the world today, and his work is currently changing the very coordinates of intellectual life under late capitalism. But what is so bewitching and fascinating about Žižek's fusion of insights from G.W.F. Hegel, Karl Marx, Louis Althusser,…

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2681 words

Citation: Wood, Kelsey. "The Sublime Object of Ideology". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 April 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21632, accessed 22 November 2024.]