or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
33 used & new from £3.66
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Welcome to the Desert of the Real
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Welcome to the Desert of the Real (Paperback)

by Slavoj Zizek (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £5.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £3.01 (33%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Thursday, November 12? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
23 new from £3.66 10 used from £3.69
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback 3 used & new from £16.95

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Violence: Six sideways reflections (Big Ideas) by Slavoj Zizek

Welcome to the Desert of the Real + Violence: Six sideways reflections (Big Ideas)
Price For Both: £11.35

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Spirit of Terrorism

The Spirit of Terrorism

by Jean Baudrillard
£5.99
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

by Slavoj Zizek
4.5 out of 5 stars (2)  £5.47
Ground Zero

Ground Zero

by Paul Virilio
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £8.00
How to Read Lacan

How to Read Lacan

by Slavoj Zizek
3.8 out of 5 stars (5)  £4.99
Violence: Six sideways reflections (Big Ideas)

Violence: Six sideways reflections (Big Ideas)

by Slavoj Zizek
4.1 out of 5 stars (7)  £5.37
› Explore similar items

Product details

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   The Desert opens new browser window
store.ovi.com  -  Find the desert & other apps for your mobile! 
  
 

Product Description

Product Description

On September 11, the USA was given the opportunity to realize what kind of a world it was a part of. It might have taken this opportunity - but it did not; instead it opted to reassert its traditional ideological commitments: out with feelings of responsibility and guilt towards the impoverished Third World, we are the victims now! In the months following September 11, mainstream commentators bombarded us with histrionic claims that the event marked 'The End of the Age of Irony' or the conclusion to America's 'holiday from history'. Now, according to these pompous pundits, the time for playing games was over and the hour had struck to take sides in 'The War on Terrorism'. This temptation to choose one's camp is, Zizek argues, exactly the temptation to be resisted. For it is precisely when we are confronted with such apparently clear choices that the real alternatives to the situation are most obscured: in being asked to choose between 'democracy' and 'fundamentalism', is not the real problem one of democracy itself - as if the only alternative to 'fundamentalism' is the political system of liberal democracy? Welcome to the Desert of the Real takes a step back from the hype, hysteria and rhetoric, in order to problematise the options we are being offered. It proposes that global capitalism is fundamentalist and that America was complicit in the rise of Muslim fundamentalism. It points to our dreaming about the catastrophe in numerous disaster movies before it happened, and explores the irony that the tragedy has been used to legitimate torture. Last, but not least, Zizek analyses the fiasco of the predominant leftist response to the events.


About the Author

Slavoj Zizek is Senior Researcher at the Institute for Social Studies in Ljubljana. His books include The Sublime Object of Ideology, Everything you always wanted to know about Lacan (but were afraid to ask Hitchcock), The Plague of Fantasies, The Ticklish Subject and The Fragile Absolute.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)
(1)
(1)
See all 6 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Welcome to the Desert of the Real
61% buy the item featured on this page:
Welcome to the Desert of the Real 3.8 out of 5 stars (4)
£5.98
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
21% buy
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce 4.5 out of 5 stars (2)
£5.47
Violence: Six sideways reflections (Big Ideas)
9% buy
Violence: Six sideways reflections (Big Ideas) 4.1 out of 5 stars (7)
£5.37
Interrogating the Real
5% buy
Interrogating the Real 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£10.80
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars At last! Someone who isn't taken in, 28 Jan 2004
By ldxar1 "ldxar1" (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
There's been so much nonsense written about September 11th, it's refreshing to read something on the subject which is not dragged along in the emotional currents unleashed by the US state and its allies. Zizek portrays the attacks as an inadvertent wake-up call for the west to recognise that the world in which we live is awash with atrocities and that we don't live in an isolated sphere, innocent and separated from this world. He emphasises the eerie similarities between the attacks and imagery which has abounded in American cinema for some time, likening the attacks to Morpheus's announcement to Neo when he escapes from the illusory world in the original Matrix film: "welcome to the desert of the real".

A few words of warning are in order, however. Firstly, for all his criticisms, Zizek does not really have much to offer as an alternative to the present world order; he oscillates frustratingly between nihilism and reformism without ever making many serious suggestions about what we should do once we "wake up". Secondly, only a small portion of the book is actually about September 11th - although Zizek sticks to the subject of the book more closely than is usually the case. Thirdly, the Lacanian ontology underpinning his positions is not very tenable, especially when he tries to combine it with revolutionary posturing. If (as Lacan claimed) we're always necessarily in the desert of the Real, the subversive force of this revelation in terms of changing the world is largely lost. In any case, this is a worthwhile read and certainly far better than most of what I've come across about September 11th.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful and thought-provoking, and refreshingly original, analysis of the subject, 7 Jun 2009
By Pablo (Co. Down) - See all my reviews
Zizek's analyses and observations are delightfully refreshing and thought-provoking. This is evident from the beginning of this book when he neatly quotes both Kant and Chesterton to highlight the anti-democratic potential of the principle of freedom of thought: only our minds are allowed to be free! One of his basic ideas is that global capitalism is in itself fundamentalist and so-called Islamic "fundamentalism" is actually modernist as it is an Arab response to that same global capitalism. Zizek observes that it is the clash of economic interests which underpins the so-called "clash of civilisations": for or against terrorism being a false choice. One can simultaneously both condemn the WTC attacks and appreciate the socio-political causes of such extremism, and we should have "unconditional solidarity with all victims" irrespective of where in the world they might be. Zizek posits the crucial choice as between global capitalism and its "other", which he identifies with currents like the anti-globalisation movements.
Zizek is also a good critical discourse analyst. One of many examples of this is his critique of Spielberg's "The Land Before Time" in which he points out how the hegemonic liberal multiculturalist ideology is legitimised together with its inherent injustices, inequalities and cruelties. His critique of democracy as a fetish which seeks to disavow fundamental social antagonisms is great, and his comment that "every campaign against corruption ends up being co-opted by the extreme Right" rather interesting in current times! The creation of the "homo sucker" term to refer to our contemporary practice of both ridiculing and following ruling ideology, is wonderfully both irreverent and insightful. And Zizek also offers a perceptive and insightful analysis of the Israel-Palestine conflict and its relationship to the US war on terrorism against Osama bin Laden.
The problem for many potential readers however is that Zizek presupposes a grounding in psychoanalysis, plus acquaintanceship with Lacan, on the reader's part, and also a knowledge of philosophy, Hegel in particular, but also Nietzsche and Habermas, to name but a couple. OK, much of this is justified, as when, for example, he makes interesting observations by taking psychoanalytic theories (usually) applied to individual psychic life and applying them to group behaviours. But there is nonetheless the question of whether, if Zizek's ideal is a "new collectivity", and if he plans to play a role in it, he should not make more effort to be accessible. Be this as it may, I feel that the stimulating nature of his observations and analyses reward the reader's patience in this respect.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, 18 Sep 2007
"A reader's" paraphrase below is wrong, a little bitter and somewhat stupid. This is a very good introduction to the author, full of insight, witticism, analysis, and enjoyable digression. Whilst not necessarily agreeing with all of his conclusions, this has certainly taken to my mind to some new areas.

Highly recommended.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Zizek...
from the fictional state who sold his soul for rock 'n' roll.
To papraphrase massively "if it happened on TV, then it didn't happen".
Published on 24 Oct 2004

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject






















i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.