In Franz Kafka’s The Giant Mole (from The Great Wall of China and other stories) the narrator discusses (with the reader) the phenomena of a giant mole sighting by a local school teacher. The school teacher, a humble and under appreciated member of the local community, has previously attempted to bring the existence of the mole to the attention of the public through a small pamphlet which describes the place, time and physical characteristics of the mole. However the scientific community, which the teacher was most interested in involving, is unconvinced of the legitimacy of the event and the pamphlet goes relatively unnoticed. As the story unfolds the narrator seems to become emotionally involved in the quest for recognition on the part of the school teacher and begins his own pseudo-scientific [re]account of the event. Despite the narrators elevation in the ‘academic’ world he is also met with derision and on top of that he seems to offend the integrity of the school teacher’s initial sighting. The story culminates when the school teacher and the narrator meet to discuss the intentions behind each pamphlet and the story ends in an open conversation. The reader is thus left to define the conditions of the mole themselves and to structure its meaning on the two incongruent and sometimes conflicting accounts given by the narrator and the teacher.
As with Zizek’s example of Robert Schumann’s Humoresque in They Moved to the Underground what is missing is exactly what structures the piece. It is the ‘absence’ (of the mole or melodic line) which causes one to [re]construct the ‘real’ mole and melodic line, which then stabilises the physical presence of the other characters and left-hand/right-hand piano lines. Zizek follows on to point out that the ‘modern subject emerges when its objectal counter part disappears.... the subject [correlates] with the ‘impossible-real’ who’s existence is purely ‘virtual’, ie. the modern subject is post-object a combination of differences and disruptions.
By the same token it is the ‘absence’ or ‘unspoken’ narrative in Laibach's music that overtly suggests the tense relations between Germany and Slovenia, while the coupling of their songs with music videos that recycle Third Reich, Communist, Nationalist, Modernist and Christian propaganda leaves the interpretation up to the viewer.
Towards the end of the article Zizek suggests that our post-modern, post-structuralist, world is incapable of assimilating practices like Laibach and other Eastern European reactionary groups without co-opting or neutralising them as reactive and thus weakening their position. In the case of Laibach their ‘position’ was propted by the schism caused after Slovenia gained its independence between 1989 -1992 and became an ex-socialist society struggling to merge into a new EU accepted society. Zizek suggests that the schism is one between community and a common-unity, between individuals as they exist and individuals as they appear. The disruption is a result of the displacement of the biological self from the ‘virtual’ (that which applies to record, statistics and law) self and a distortion of the appearance of things. To this distortion of appearance Zizek links the contemporary clash between the Arab and American civilisations and paraphrases Walter Benjamin’s idea ‘that every clash of civilisation is a clash of the underlying barbarianism’.
So to return to Laibach, the groups overt staging of oppressive regimes is a spectacle of the underlying essence of the regimes.
What is called for at the end of the article is another Laibach-like [re]action that will liberate us from the ‘semblance’ of these present clashes and illuminate the essence [of the action] which is hidden behind and obstructed by appearance.
As with Zizek’s example of Robert Schumann’s Humoresque in They Moved to the Underground what is missing is exactly what structures the piece. It is the ‘absence’ (of the mole or melodic line) which causes one to [re]construct the ‘real’ mole and melodic line, which then stabilises the physical presence of the other characters and left-hand/right-hand piano lines. Zizek follows on to point out that the ‘modern subject emerges when its objectal counter part disappears.... the subject [correlates] with the ‘impossible-real’ who’s existence is purely ‘virtual’, ie. the modern subject is post-object a combination of differences and disruptions.
By the same token it is the ‘absence’ or ‘unspoken’ narrative in Laibach's music that overtly suggests the tense relations between Germany and Slovenia, while the coupling of their songs with music videos that recycle Third Reich, Communist, Nationalist, Modernist and Christian propaganda leaves the interpretation up to the viewer.
Towards the end of the article Zizek suggests that our post-modern, post-structuralist, world is incapable of assimilating practices like Laibach and other Eastern European reactionary groups without co-opting or neutralising them as reactive and thus weakening their position. In the case of Laibach their ‘position’ was propted by the schism caused after Slovenia gained its independence between 1989 -1992 and became an ex-socialist society struggling to merge into a new EU accepted society. Zizek suggests that the schism is one between community and a common-unity, between individuals as they exist and individuals as they appear. The disruption is a result of the displacement of the biological self from the ‘virtual’ (that which applies to record, statistics and law) self and a distortion of the appearance of things. To this distortion of appearance Zizek links the contemporary clash between the Arab and American civilisations and paraphrases Walter Benjamin’s idea ‘that every clash of civilisation is a clash of the underlying barbarianism’.
So to return to Laibach, the groups overt staging of oppressive regimes is a spectacle of the underlying essence of the regimes.
What is called for at the end of the article is another Laibach-like [re]action that will liberate us from the ‘semblance’ of these present clashes and illuminate the essence [of the action] which is hidden behind and obstructed by appearance.
this post is massive step above. it has made my pre-lecture morning
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