Scandalous Times: Contemporary Creativity and the Rise of State-Sanctioned Controversy

209 Pages·2020·4.333 MB·English

by  Alex Ling

Scandalous Times
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Scandalous Times
Contemporary Creativity and the Rise of
State-Sanctioned Controversy
Alex Ling
BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
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First published in Great Britain 2021
Copyright © Alex Ling, 2021
Alex Ling has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
For legal purposes the Acknowledgments on p. ix constitute
an extension of this copyright page.
Cover design by Charlotte Daniels
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ling, Alex, author.
Title: Scandalous times : contemporary creativity and the rise of state-sanctioned
controversy / Alex Ling.
Description: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020024884 (print) | LCCN 2020024885 (ebook) | ISBN 9781350068551
(hardback) | ISBN 9781350068544 (ebook) | ISBN 9781350068575 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Scandals. | Social norms. | Immorality.
Classification: LCC HM676 .L56 2021 (print) | LCC HM676 (ebook) | DDC 302.2/4–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024884
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024885
ISBN: HB: 978-1-3500-6855-1
PB: 978-1-3500-6856-8
ePDF: 978-1-3500-6854-4
eBook: 978-1-3500-6857-5
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The malice of a good thing is the barb that
makes it stick.
Richard Sheridan, The School for Scandal
vi
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Notes on a Scandal 1
Sovereign Public Subjects 3
Real Subjective Creation 7
Modus Operandi 10
Part 1 Scandals
1 The Big Reveal 17
Anagnorisis and Peripeteia 19
From Revelation to Dissimulation 21
Blurred Lines 25
Different Perspectives 28
2 Chaos and Novelty 31
Nothing Comes from Nothing 34
Creating Controversy 36
The Blind Man 38
A Convenient Truth 41
Part 2 Foundations
3 Grounds for Annulment 49
System Failure 50
Encircling the Real 52
Impossible Nonsense 55
The Scandal of Being 58
viii Cont ents
4 Making Sense of Everything 63
A Stumbling Block 66
The State of Things 69
The Mathematical Turn 71
On the New 73
Part 3 Creation
5 A Terrible Beauty 81
The Return of the Real 83
The Clamor of Being 85
Reflexivity, Revelation, Resonance 87
The Real of the Real 90
6 Wresting with the Impossible 93
The Fabrication of Truth 94
Overcoming the Impasse 96
The Subject of Scandal 99
A New Way of Thinking 103
Part 4 Controversy
7 Brave New World 107
The Other Big Brother 108
Mond’s Monde 110
To Overturn the World 112
A New Metaphor? 115
8 The Real Problem 121
A Neighborhood of Strangers 121
Are You Not Entertained? 124
Simulacra and Stimulation 128
Matters of Consequence 132
Notes 138
Bibliography 174
Index 189
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, an enormous debt of gratitude is owed to Suzie Daniells
and François Ladouceur, without whose constant support and generosity this
book would not exist. I also want to acknowledge the help and assistance I
have received from my colleagues at Western Sydney University, in particular
Anthony Uhlmann, Adam Daniel, and Lorraine Sim, together with colleagues
and friends from afar, notably Adam Bartlett, Barbara Creed, and Angus
Taylor. Lastly, eternal thanks go to Lucy Russell and Liza Thompson at
Bloomsbury Academic, for their professionalism, their support, and their
patience throughout the project.