Žižek’s “Frankenstein”: Modernity, Anti-Enlightenment Critique and Debates on the Left
In this article, I examine Slavoj Žižek’s Freudian-Hegelian interpretation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus (1818), and argue that Žižek’s critique of Shelley’s ambiguous and contradictory attitude toward the French Revolution and its regime of terror remains central to the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Catalan |
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Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Enrahonar: Quaderns de Filosofia |
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| Online Access: | https://revistes.uab.cat/enrahonar/article/view/1407 |
| _version_ | 1797760516709416960 |
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| author | Jamil Khader |
| author_facet | Jamil Khader |
| author_sort | Jamil Khader |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
In this article, I examine Slavoj Žižek’s Freudian-Hegelian interpretation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus (1818), and argue that Žižek’s critique of Shelley’s ambiguous and contradictory attitude toward the French Revolution and its regime of terror remains central to the debates about the revolutionary and Enlightenment ideals today. For Žižek, Shelley employs the family myth not only to obfuscate the social reality of the French Revolution, but also to subvert the bourgeois family from within, through its transgressive sexual politics. Although Shelley manages not simply to dismantle modernity, she expresses a radical commitment to a “pure Enlightenment subjectivity”. Nonetheless, Shelley fails to articulate the speculative identity of the Enlightenment and revolutionary terror. Žižek’s analysis of Shelley’s ambiguous position on emancipatory politics has major implications for his critique of Leftist debates about Muslim refugees in Europe and transgender sexuality. It is still urgent, Žižek correctly insists, to interrogate the ways in which identity politics and the human rights regime can be readily appropriated and commodified in late capitalism.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T18:59:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bebe9764155d416996ca98f389c51cc4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0211-402X 2014-881X |
| language | Catalan |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T18:59:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Enrahonar: Quaderns de Filosofia |
| spelling | doaj.art-bebe9764155d416996ca98f389c51cc42023-08-02T06:44:08ZcatUniversitat Autònoma de BarcelonaEnrahonar: Quaderns de Filosofia0211-402X2014-881X2022-11-0110.5565/rev/enrahonar.1407Žižek’s “Frankenstein”: Modernity, Anti-Enlightenment Critique and Debates on the LeftJamil Khader0Bethlehem University In this article, I examine Slavoj Žižek’s Freudian-Hegelian interpretation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus (1818), and argue that Žižek’s critique of Shelley’s ambiguous and contradictory attitude toward the French Revolution and its regime of terror remains central to the debates about the revolutionary and Enlightenment ideals today. For Žižek, Shelley employs the family myth not only to obfuscate the social reality of the French Revolution, but also to subvert the bourgeois family from within, through its transgressive sexual politics. Although Shelley manages not simply to dismantle modernity, she expresses a radical commitment to a “pure Enlightenment subjectivity”. Nonetheless, Shelley fails to articulate the speculative identity of the Enlightenment and revolutionary terror. Žižek’s analysis of Shelley’s ambiguous position on emancipatory politics has major implications for his critique of Leftist debates about Muslim refugees in Europe and transgender sexuality. It is still urgent, Žižek correctly insists, to interrogate the ways in which identity politics and the human rights regime can be readily appropriated and commodified in late capitalism. https://revistes.uab.cat/enrahonar/article/view/1407Mary Shelley’s Frankensteindialectic of enlightenmentfamily mythmonstrositymodernityFrench Revolution |
| spellingShingle | Jamil Khader Žižek’s “Frankenstein”: Modernity, Anti-Enlightenment Critique and Debates on the Left Enrahonar: Quaderns de Filosofia Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein dialectic of enlightenment family myth monstrosity modernity French Revolution |
| title | Žižek’s “Frankenstein”: Modernity, Anti-Enlightenment Critique and Debates on the Left |
| title_full | Žižek’s “Frankenstein”: Modernity, Anti-Enlightenment Critique and Debates on the Left |
| title_fullStr | Žižek’s “Frankenstein”: Modernity, Anti-Enlightenment Critique and Debates on the Left |
| title_full_unstemmed | Žižek’s “Frankenstein”: Modernity, Anti-Enlightenment Critique and Debates on the Left |
| title_short | Žižek’s “Frankenstein”: Modernity, Anti-Enlightenment Critique and Debates on the Left |
| title_sort | zizek s frankenstein modernity anti enlightenment critique and debates on the left |
| topic | Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein dialectic of enlightenment family myth monstrosity modernity French Revolution |
| url | https://revistes.uab.cat/enrahonar/article/view/1407 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jamilkhader zizeksfrankensteinmodernityantienlightenmentcritiqueanddebatesontheleft |