Since the early 1970s,
film,
media, and
cultural theorists have appealed to
Lacanian psychoanalytic theory in
order to discern
processes of
subjectivization,
representation, and
ideological interpellation. However, beginning with the
work of theorists such as
Jacqueline Rose,
Joan Copjec, and
Slavoj Žižek, a new approach to
Lacan has been advanced, one which pays closer attention to
concepts such as
sexual difference, the ‘
objet petit a‘ (the
object-
cause of
desire),
fantasy, the
Real,
enjoyment, and the
drive. Žižek in
particular has advanced a
political-
philosophical re-
interpretation of Lacan that has spawned a
whole new wave of film, media, and cultural theory that shows a marked difference from an early Lacanian approach. The contributors in this book take up a specifically Žižekian approach to studies of
cinema and media, both old and new, raising questions
about power,
ideology,
sexual difference, and enjoyment. Including chapters written by key
figures in Žižekian film, media, and cultural theory such as Jodi
Dean, Todd McGowan,
Paul A. Taylor, and Fabio Vighi, it concludes with a response from Žižek himself.
