Hegel and Hitchcock’s Vertigo: On Reconciliation
This article reconstructs and evaluates a debate between Pippin and Žižek over the proper interpretation of Hitchcock’s Vertigo, in relation to Hegel’s concept of reconciliation. Both Pippin and Žižek agree that Vertigo exemplifies Hegelian reconciliation: Scottie exhibits Hegel’s reconciliatory “ne...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Edinburgh University Press
2022-06-01
|
| Series: | Film-Philosophy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/film.2022.0195 |
| _version_ | 1818468520238776320 |
|---|---|
| author | Dylan Shaul |
| author_facet | Dylan Shaul |
| author_sort | Dylan Shaul |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article reconstructs and evaluates a debate between Pippin and Žižek over the proper interpretation of Hitchcock’s Vertigo, in relation to Hegel’s concept of reconciliation. Both Pippin and Žižek agree that Vertigo exemplifies Hegelian reconciliation: Scottie exhibits Hegel’s reconciliatory “negation of negation” when he realizes that his lost love Madeleine had really been Judy all along, thereby losing his original loss. Yet Pippin and Žižek disagree on the precise significance of the concept of reconciliation both for the film and for the contemporary world. Žižek argues for a revolutionary reading of reconciliation in Vertigo: we learn from reconciliation that we must make a revolutionary break from the present world, in order to bring about a wholly new world. Pippin argues for a reformist reading of reconciliation in Vertigo: we learn from reconciliation that we must find the “traces of reason” latent in the present world, in order to gradually reform it for the better. Ultimately, I argue that Žižek’s reading offers the more authentically Hegelian approach to interpreting Hitchcock’s Vertigo. But if nothing else, the Pippin-Žižek debate demonstrates the profound intellectual fecundity of the intersections between film and philosophy for understanding our current historical moment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T21:13:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8bed12e33568442193a4a79e594ca769 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1466-4615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T21:13:25Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Edinburgh University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Film-Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj.art-8bed12e33568442193a4a79e594ca7692022-12-22T02:29:46ZengEdinburgh University PressFilm-Philosophy1466-46152022-06-0126219621810.3366/film.2022.0195Hegel and Hitchcock’s Vertigo: On ReconciliationDylan Shaul0University of TorontoThis article reconstructs and evaluates a debate between Pippin and Žižek over the proper interpretation of Hitchcock’s Vertigo, in relation to Hegel’s concept of reconciliation. Both Pippin and Žižek agree that Vertigo exemplifies Hegelian reconciliation: Scottie exhibits Hegel’s reconciliatory “negation of negation” when he realizes that his lost love Madeleine had really been Judy all along, thereby losing his original loss. Yet Pippin and Žižek disagree on the precise significance of the concept of reconciliation both for the film and for the contemporary world. Žižek argues for a revolutionary reading of reconciliation in Vertigo: we learn from reconciliation that we must make a revolutionary break from the present world, in order to bring about a wholly new world. Pippin argues for a reformist reading of reconciliation in Vertigo: we learn from reconciliation that we must find the “traces of reason” latent in the present world, in order to gradually reform it for the better. Ultimately, I argue that Žižek’s reading offers the more authentically Hegelian approach to interpreting Hitchcock’s Vertigo. But if nothing else, the Pippin-Žižek debate demonstrates the profound intellectual fecundity of the intersections between film and philosophy for understanding our current historical moment.https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/film.2022.0195G. W. F. HegelAlfred HitchcockVertigoreconciliationSlavoj ŽižekRobert B. Pippin |
| spellingShingle | Dylan Shaul Hegel and Hitchcock’s Vertigo: On Reconciliation Film-Philosophy G. W. F. Hegel Alfred Hitchcock Vertigo reconciliation Slavoj Žižek Robert B. Pippin |
| title | Hegel and Hitchcock’s Vertigo: On Reconciliation |
| title_full | Hegel and Hitchcock’s Vertigo: On Reconciliation |
| title_fullStr | Hegel and Hitchcock’s Vertigo: On Reconciliation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hegel and Hitchcock’s Vertigo: On Reconciliation |
| title_short | Hegel and Hitchcock’s Vertigo: On Reconciliation |
| title_sort | hegel and hitchcock s vertigo on reconciliation |
| topic | G. W. F. Hegel Alfred Hitchcock Vertigo reconciliation Slavoj Žižek Robert B. Pippin |
| url | https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/film.2022.0195 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dylanshaul hegelandhitchcocksvertigoonreconciliation |