Acts of enjoyment: rhetoric, Žižek, and the return of the subject

265 Pages·2007·9.234 MB·English

by  Rickert, Thomas Joseph;Žižek, Slavoj

Acts of Enjoyment
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Pittsburgh Series in Composition, Literacy, and Culture
Dave Bartholomae and Jean Ferguson Carr, Editors
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Acts of Enjoyment
Rhetoric, Žižek, and the Return of the Subject
Thomas Rickert
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university of pittsburgh press
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Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15260
Copyright © 2007, University of Pittsburgh Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Printed on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rickert, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph), 1964–
Acts of enjoyment : rhetoric, Žižek, and the return of the subject / Thomas Rickert.
p. cm. — (Pittsburgh series in composition, literacy, and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-10: 0-8229-4333-6 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8229-5962-3 (alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8229-4333-4 (alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8229-5962-5 (alk. paper)
1. Rhetoric— Study and teaching. I. Title.
P53.27.R53 2007
808.0071--dc22 2006039160
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This book is for my father,
Thomas Robert Rickert
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Prospective 1
1. On Belatedness and the Return of the Subject; or, The View
from What Will Have Been 8
2. Toward a Neo-Lacanian Theory of Discourse 33
3. In the Funhouse: Mirroring Subjects and Objects 67
4. Politica Phantasmagoria: Ideology in Cultural Studies Rhetorics 97
5. Breaking the Law: Resistance and the Problem of Limits 138
6. “Hands Up! You’re Free”: Pedagogy, Affect, and Transformation 160
Retrospective 199
Notes 215
Bibliography 229
Index 243
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
With so much discussion of “the Other” in this book, it is not surprising that
I should acknowledge so many of the people who have helped me along the
way. First, I would like to thank my mentor, Victor Vitanza, for his knowl-
edge, guidance, and friendship; without him, this book could not have been
written. I also wish to thank Luanne Frank and Hans Kellner, both of whom
inspired me greatly and serve as ideals for what a teacher and scholar can be.
Ben Agger, Collin Brooke, Jonikka Charlton, Lisa Coleman, John Muckel-
bauer, Jeff Rice, Dave Rieder, Geoffrey Sirc, Rajani Sudan, Pat Sullivan, and
Lynn Worsham all helped me work through important issues; their wisdom
and camaraderie sparked invaluable discussion and insight. Lynn deserves
special mention for publishing my first essay, a longer version of which ap-
pears here as chapter 6. Janet Alsup, Janet Atwill, Samantha Blackmon, Da-
vid Blakesley, Diane Davis, Jenny Edbauer, Byron Hawk, Dennis Lynch, and
Michael Salvo provided feedback on various parts of the manuscript. They are
brilliant people, and I am lucky to be able to count them as friends and col-
leagues. My graduate students in postmodernism and cultural studies classes
at Purdue helped me work through many of the ideas presented here. I am
grateful for their willingness to engage this material with me. Colin Charlton
edited the whole manuscript and gave impressive amounts of feedback—I
owe him so much more than the few bottles of Bordeaux I’ll throw at him. My
reviewers, Sharon Crowley and Michael Bernard-Donals, were very generous
and supportive, as was my editor, Jean Carr. These three deserve much more
than thanks. (And maybe Jean will take a chance on my next book, too.) Last,
and most important, I thank Jenny Bay, who withstood my often torturous
prose and read everything—more than once. That must be love! Her smart
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