The Puppet and the Dwarf: The Perverse Core of Christianity (Short Circuits)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.58 (863 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0262740257 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 196 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-05-01 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
He critically confronts both predominant versions of today's spirituality -- New Age gnosticism and deconstructionist-Levinasian Judaism -- and then tries to redeem the "materialist" kernel of Christianity. Slavoj iek has been called "an academic rock star" and "the wild man of theory"; his writing mixes astonishing erudition and references to pop culture in order to dissect current intellectual pieties. Since today even advocates of Enlightenment like Jurgen Habermas acknowledge that a religious vision is needed to ground our ethical and political stance in a "postsecular" age, this book -- with a stance that is clearly materialist and at the same time indebted to the core of the Christian legacy -- is certain to stir controversy.. In The Puppet and the Dwarf he offers a close reading of today's religious constellation from the viewpoint of Lacanian psychoanalysis. His reading of Christianity is explicitly political, discerning in the Pauline community of believers the first version of a revolutionary collective
(Jori Finkel Village Voice)Slavoj iek may have the strongest 'brand identity'of any cultural theorist now in the marketplace of ideas. With this book iek consolidates his reputation as the foremost intellectual gadfly of the postmodern cosmopolis. (Terry Eagleton TLS)iek rarely fails to entertain (Library Journal) . (Julian Baggini The Philosopher's Magazine)The Puppet and the Dwarf is iek's most compelling and passionate writing on Christianity to date. K. (Erik Davis Bookforum)Quite possibly the most enterta
He is the author of more than thirty books, including Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture, The Puppet and the Dwarf: The Perverse Core of Christianity, The Parallax View, and (with John Milbank) The Monstrosity of Christ: Paradox or Dialect, these four published by the MIT Press. . Slavoj iek is a philosopher and cultural critic
Christianity as the original atheism? You're either gonna read Zizek -- because you have to or because you just love this guy -- or you are not, regardless of any review. So I'll keep it brief: Yes, the rambling style can be distracting as well as entertaining when he gets it right.The book is not so much about Christianity as it is about what Zizek claims to be the very core of it, where there is another dimension. And in discussing the core as such, the book takes off as a reading of the symbolic structure (Lacanian) that made it possible for the transition from Judaic Law to Christian Love; and St. Paul's role in it. Jesus'. "One of Zizek's least compelling works" according to P. Gunderson. Zizek is a remarkable Lacanian cultural theorist, and his work deserves to be taken seriously; unfortunately, it is beginning to appear as if Zizek doesn't even take his own project seriously. How else can one explain the poor organization and endless series of digressions that constitute this book?Most of Zizek's earlier books (The Sublime Object of Ideology, Looking Awry, etc.) give strong accounts how how Lacanian psychoanalysis can be used to analyze contemporary culture; in these works Zizek is never at a loss to show how pop culture can illustrate difficult concepts. The end result w. What can one say about Zizek? Lost Lacanian Okay, so what can one say about Zizek?--at times brilliant, infuriating, outrageousyes, all of the above. If you are looking for the secrets that unfold time and space itself, then, this is not the book for you. But, if you are looking for a fantastic read of applied Lacanian theory on religion and other cultural arenas, then, by all means this book is worth the buy. It is almost getting trite to hear people complain about Zizek's style, analysis, originality, etcAfter all, he is only a man. Rather, to focus on the strengths of this book: it does a good job of introducing one to some inter