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Intelligence Squared

An Evening with Slavoj Žižek

Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.21.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2017

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Radical philosopher, polymath, film star, cult icon, and author of over 30 books, Slavoj Žižek is one of the most controversial and leading contemporary public intellectuals, simultaneously acclaimed as the ‘Elvis of cultural theory’ and denounced as ‘the most dangerous philosopher in the West’. In this special lecture for Intelligence Squared from July 2011, Žižek argues that global capitalism is fast approaching its terminal crisis and that our collective responses to economic Armageddon correspond to the five stages of grief – ideological denial, explosions of anger, attempts at bargaining, followed by depression and finally acceptance of change. Referencing everything from Kafka, the "Hollywood Marxism" of Avatar, the Arab Spring and WikiLeaks, he presents a roadmap for finding a way beyond the madness. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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Thanks very much. I am very proud to be here but I'm proud because of one and very specific reason. I was just told

0:47.8

that this hall was once a church and now it's a kind of a cultural home for talks, concerts. My God, this is what

0:57.1

they were doing to churches in the late 20s and early 30s under Stalin, no, like you know, turning them into homes of culture where

1:06.1

they had concerts and so on.

1:08.1

So it's nice to be here in the truly Bolshevik part of London. Okay.

1:14.0

Let me begin with ideology today, the book that I'm supposed to present or rather somehow refer to living in the end times is basically an attempt

1:27.6

to practice again the old half forgotten art of critique of ideology.

1:35.0

First through a couple of examples,

1:38.0

I will simply try to convince you that ideology is well kicking alive and so on.

1:46.0

Let me start with an example which may even surprise you.

1:50.0

The two big Oscar winners of the last year.

1:55.0

One, British one, the King's Speech and the other one,

2:00.0

the Black Swan.

2:01.0

I cannot imagine almost a better example of ideology. Let me begin with the

2:08.6

King's speech. The problem of the to be King, the cause of his stuttering, if you saw the movie, is what, it's his inability to assume his symbolic funk.

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