The argument of this dissertation is that a critical reading of the concept of "covenant" in early American writings is instrumental to understanding the paradoxes in the American political concepts of freedom and equality. Following Slavoj Zizek's theoretical approach to theology, I trace the covenant concept in early American literature from the theological expressions and disputes in Puritan Massachusetts through Jonathan Edwards's Freedom of Will and the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson, showing how the covenant theology of colonial New England dispersed into more "secular" forms of what may be called an American political theology. The first chapter provides an overview of recent attempts to integrate theology and theory, specifically comparing Jacques Derrida and Zizek to better understand the latter's theology of materialism which relies on as well as informs the Reformed Protestant covenantal dichotomy of grace and works. The second chapter establishes the complicated architecture of the covenant concept within seventeenth-century New England Reformed Protestantism, and uses church membership transcripts along with Ann Hutchinson court trial documents to demonstrate how this inherently unstable theology created unintended slippage between God's grace and mankind's works, resulting in a theological formulation remarkably open to Zizek's analysis of political ideology. The third chapter demonstrates how Jonathan Edwards, through his ingenious counter-argument in Freedom of Will, provides a theoretical foundation for an uneasy but necessary alignment of the covenants of works and grace, releasing the subjunctive potential of grace to operate through history as a predeterminer of meaning and, potentially, freedom. In the last chapter, I argue that Emerson finally converts the covenant from a politically conceptualized theological framework for radical grace into a personal institutionalization of grace itself. Stanley Cavell's exploration of Emerson's "constitution" in light of the covenant motif demonstrates the political (im)possibilities inherent in America's self-conceptions of personal liberty and civic equality. In the end, complexities inherent in the concept of the covenant, especially its creative failure to control the radical nature of "grace," are determinative factors in our contradictory American egalitarian ideals.

This thesis traces the ‘New Moment’ in Pauline reception in the writings of Alain Badiou, Terry Eagleton and Slavoj Žižek. It explores how the Pauline epistles are read and feature in their thought. An answer to the question, 'why Paul?' prompts reflection on what it is to read and understand the Apostle. An introduction sets out the writers of this ‘New Moment’ [Jacob Taubes, Giorgio Agamben, Stanislas Breton, as well as Badiou, Eagleton and Žižek] before isolating the figures of this study. The reception of this ‘moment’ by mainstream New Testament studies is considered, and with it the charge of ‘appropriation’. The concept of ‘appropriation’ is explored, and a definition arrived at, for the purpose of evaluating the readings we will go on to discover. As part of this notion of ‘appropriation’, the turn to Gadamer in recent New Testament study is surveyed. We suggest another potential hermeneutical approach that derives from Gadamer is possible. Thus, the object of this study is both an instance of, and means by which to critique the understanding of, New Testament Wirkungsgeschichte. Each of our thinkers is then considered in turn. The outline for each chapter is the same. A brief introduction to the figure with bibliographical background salient to his Pauline reading precedes some textual examples indicative of that reading. We then move to analyse the manner of that reading and certain conceptual problems which are revealed in the course of the engagement with Paul. The conclusion analyses the approaches, and reasons for turning, to Paul on the part of these thinkers. Salient differences between each thinker's reading are noted and the charge of appropriation is evaluated afresh. The implications of such readings for conventional biblical criticism are considered, and the success of an approach which explores a Gadamerean-inspired interest in reception in the manner adopted by this thesis is judged.

There is a consensus today that we have witnessed the end of postmodernism in both fiction and theory. Due to contemporary fiction’s break with postmodernism being recent, little research has been done to outline the parameters of what exactly this break entails and its relationship to theory and current socio-political issues. The aim of this thesis is to attempt to differentiate between postmodernist fiction and contemporary fiction that was produced from the late 90’s up to today, outline its main characteristics and suggest alternative ways theory may be used to critically analyse fiction. We will be looking at how Habermas’s, Agamben’s, Žižek’s and Badiou’s theories, as well as, a reconsideration of some of Derrida’s and Baudrillard’s theories, can help elucidate certain aspects of contemporary fiction and vice versa. Some of the novelists that will be considered in this discussion are Paul Auster, Don DeLillo, Douglas Coupland, J G Ballard, Julian Barnes, Jonathan Coe and Michel Houellebecq due to their close association with postmodernism and its aftermath. The thesis is divided thematically in five chapters. In the first chapter we will be discussing the impact of 9/11 on contemporary fiction in relation to Derrida’s, Habermas’s, Baudrillard’s and Žižek’s responses to the attacks. The second chapter is concerned with notions of reality and its representations in contemporary fiction. It will be discussed how they differ from Baudrillard’s conceptualisation of hyperreality during postmodernity in light of Badiou’s and Žižek’s theory mainly. The realist/antirealist debate will also be addressed. The third chapter is a consideration of notions of subjectivity in both contemporary theory and fiction and how they may be said to differ from playful, schizophrenic representations of the subject during postmodernity. The fourth chapter is concerned with the return of the political in both theory and fiction after the supposed apoliticality of the postmodern novel, which we will also be addressing. The final chapter is an investigation of the re-emergence of the religious in contemporary culture, including the novel, which proves that the death of meta-narratives may not have been that final after all.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:32:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Brendali Dias.pdf: 767771 bytes, checksum: b622b95065a7a3edb0725ebcd4372952 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-06-14 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This project aims to criticize the logic of the consumption capitalism in the contemporary society. Our criticism takes as its major premise the harmfulness of the way this logic is kept through the promise of completeness and foreclosure of object a. The research was developed as from the Lacanian psychoanalytic theory based on Slavoj i ek, which makes use of it to propose a critical social and political theory against the dictates of the logic of capital. i ek points out that the logic of capital keeps itself as from a proposal which takes the subject to consider that it is impossible to escape this logic and with that becomes conniving with it to face the consumption as the only way to calm his/her afflictions. As a result of this pursuit to calm his/her afflictions, the subject is seduced by the promise of completeness, facing the offers for objects/goods as a way to feel welcomed by social through them, consuming indiscriminately. Based on i ek s arguments, who uses as a base for his criticism the Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, we discuss the place of the subject in this logic, and his/her alternatives to escape from it. We put in doubt the consumerism in capitalism, raising the inquiry about why the subject places himself/herself in such a complacent way towards this logic. We reflect, yet, on the use made by the capitalist system of the technologies associated to science, which have been presented by the media as capable of generating in subject a completeness state, which is never found, leading the society to severe pathologies. These pathologies, faced as symptom by psychoanalysis, are pointed out as rebellion against this logic. The symptom, therefore, manifests itself as a way for the subject to show his/her dissatisfaction with the logic of capital, being also the chance for the subject to escape from it. Finally, we introduce i ek s proposal to bring a political position of the subject against the impossible of the logic of capital to enable alternatives which turn possible escaping from this logic, placing the need to risk the impossible beyond the imposed by the logic of capital / Este trabalho pretende fazer uma crítica à lógica do capitalismo de consumo da sociedade contemporânea. Nossa crítica toma como premissa principal a nocividade da forma de manutenção desta lógica pela promessa de completude e foraclusão do objeto a. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida a partir da teoria psicanalítica lacaniana à luz de Slavoj i ek, que dela se utiliza para propor uma teoria social e política crítica aos ditames da lógica do capital. i ek aponta que a lógica do capital se mantém a partir de uma proposta que leva o sujeito a considerar que há uma impossibilidade de escapar desta lógica e com isso torna-se conivente com ela ao encarar o consumo como única forma de aplacar suas angústias. Em conseqüência dessa busca de aplacar suas angústias, o sujeito é seduzido pela promessa de completude, encarando as ofertas de objetos/mercadorias como uma maneira de se sentir acolhido pelo social a partir delas, consumindo indiscriminadamente. A partir das colocações de i ek, que usa como base de sua crítica a teoria psicanalítica lacaniana, discutimos o lugar do sujeito nesta lógica, e suas alternativas para escapar dela. Problematizamos o consumismo no capitalismo, levantando um questionamento sobre o por quê de o sujeito se posicionar de maneira tão complacente diante dessa lógica. Refletimos, ainda, sobre o uso que o sistema capitalista faz das tecnologias aliadas à ciência, que têm sido apresentadas pela mídia como capazes de gerar um estado de completude, que nunca é encontrado, conduzindo a sociedade a graves patologias. Essas patologias, encaradas como sintoma pela psicanálise, são apontadas como revolta contra essa lógica. O sintoma, portanto, revelase como forma de o sujeito mostrar seu descontentamento com a lógica do capital, sendo também a chance de o sujeito escapar dela. Finalmente, apresentamos a proposta de i ek em fazer emergir um posicionamento político do sujeito contra o impossível da lógica do capital para possibilitar alternativas que permitam escapar desta lógica colocando a necessidade de se arriscar o impossível para além do imposto pela lógica do capital

This thesis examines the fragile perimeter that separates an illusory reality from the supposedly more authentic Real it conceals, which forms a key focus of Slavoj Žižek’s work, and in this thesis I offer a study of the relations between this aspect of Žižek’s work and film theory. In particular, this thesis is an elaboration on and interrogation of Žižek’s employment of the Lacanian notion of the Real in critiques of the inadequacy of 1970s and 1980s film theory and its widespread adoption of a Lacanian model of film-spectator relations. By way of illustration, I consider the microgenre of films released between the years 1998 to 2000 that includes the Matrix trilogy, David Fincher’s Fight Club, Peter Weir’s The Truman Show, and Alex Proyas’ Dark City, which are all similarly fascinated by the border between a fake reality and an ostensibly more genuine real. However, I also argue that this cycle of films does more than illustrate a fascination with that which is in excess of signification: this cycle of films equally participates in the reappraisal of this important phase of film theory. This thesis proceeds from a consideration of Žižek’s assertion that Lacanian psychoanalysis is missing from the dominant field of film theory. To assess this claim, I re-examine the era of political modernism. From this it becomes clear that what Žižek is noting is not the total absence of Lacanian psychoanalysis, but, rather, an absence of the version of Lacan to which he is drawn. This thesis considers aspects of the Real that contaminate the form and matter of these films, in addition to the thematic exploration of the shadowy world beyond reality. In pursuing this investigation, this thesis utilises the insights of the deconstructive work of Jacques Derrida, to consider the terms ‘form’, ‘content’ and ‘matter’. These words are ubiquitous in film studies, and I aim to explicate not their final meaning, but the way in which the Real interrupts the very stability of vocabulary used in film studies. I interrogate the concepts of gaze and voice as privileged instances of the way in which the Real can rupture the symbolic in narrative film. Without seeking to reject these aesthetic figures, through critical readings of key theories of embodiment, the grotesque and the abject (such as those of Marks, Shaviro, Sobchack, Bakhtin and Kristeva), I suggest how the body and its representation provides a more sustained motif where the Real leaves its trace in these films. This thesis proposes that it is above all through such representations that these films offer a response to the themes with which politically modernist film theory has been historically concerned. The Edge of the Construct films achieve this in their evocation of an intolerable namelessness at the centre of the human subject and the social world it inhabits. / Thesis(Ph.D.) -- School of Humanities, 2008

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This thesis re-examines Shakespeare’s creation of tragic character through the concept of ‘arrivals’. What arrives is not an ‘individual’ but what I call a ‘subject’, which is a diffused dramatic process of arriving, rather than a self-contained entity that arrives in a final form. Not all characters are ‘subjects’. A subject only arrives through dramatic ‘events’ that rupture the existing structures of the play-world and the play-text. The generators of these irruptions are found equally in the happenings of plot and in changes of poetic intensity and form. The ‘subject’ is thus a supra- individual irruption that configures new forms of language, structure, and action. Accordingly, I explain why scrupulous historicism’s need for nameable continuums is incommensurate to the irruptive quality of Shakespearean character. The concepts of ‘process’, ‘subject’ and ‘event’ are informed by a variety of thinkers, most notably the contemporary French philosopher Alain Badiou. Badiou develops an ‘evental’ model of subjectivity in which the subject emerges in fidelity to a ‘truth- event’, which breaks into a situation from its ‘void’. Also important is the process- orientated philosophy of Bergson and Whitehead, which stresses that an entity is not a stable substance but a process of becoming. The underlying connection between the philosophers I embrace – also including the likes of Žižek, Kierkegaard, Latour, Benjamin, and Christian thinkers such as Saint Paul and Luther – is that they establish a creative alternative to the deadlock between treating the subject as either a stable substance (humanism) or a decentred product of its place in the world (postmodernism). The subject is not a pre-existing entity but something that comes to be. It is not reducible to its cultural and linguistic circumstances but is precisely what exceeds those circumstances. Such an excessive creativity is what gives rise to Shakespeare’s subjects and, I argue, underpins the continuing force of his drama. But it also produces profound dangers. In Shakespeare, ‘events’ consistently expose subjects to uncertainty, catastrophe, and horror. And these dangers imperil both the subject and the relationship between Shakespeare and the affirmative philosophy of the event.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:18:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Anderson Schirmer.pdf: 890150 bytes, checksum: 1be1321cd1326f024ac474c371e5d85b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-05-10 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The São Paulo Gay, Lésbian, Bisexual, Transvestite and Transsexual LGBT Pride Parade, in a little less than 10 years in existence, has shown itself to be the largest expression of the Brazilian Homosexual Movement. The social image of the Gay Parade is expressed through the discourse for demands and the playful model of the celebration, which has divided public opinion and the militants. The demonstration aims to raise the visibility of the sexual identity which each category represents. In 1999 as Association was created to organize the event and to promote other same-sex inclusion policies within the framework of Politics of Identities. This dissertation aimed to characterize the discourse of the APOGLBT, articulating it with the theme of Politics of Identity and in addition, to undertake a critique of the Politics of Identity presenting a counterpoint through psychoanalysis. We will discuss how in the models of particular causes there is the risk to exclude the subject and how the taking of Identity with the political statute often reconstructs stereotypes (and new prejudices) and binds the Movement to the shackles of the agendas of the State and the Market. The theoretical reference used is Fredian-Lancanian, with recourse also to other psychoanalytical authors, mentioning Slavoj i ek in particular / A Parada do Orgulho de Gays, Lésbicas. Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais de São Paulo, em pouco mais de 10 anos de existência, mostra-se ser atualmente a maior expressão do Movimento Homossexual Brasileiro. A imagem social da Parada Gay é expressa entre o discurso reivindicatório e o modelo lúdico da celebração, o que tem dividido a opinião pública e os militantes. A manifestação busca dar visibilidade à identidade sexual que cada categoria representa. Em 1999 foi criada uma Associação para organizar o evento e promover outras políticas de homo-inclusão, dentro do arcabouço das Políticas de Identidades. Esta dissertação buscou caracterizar o discurso da APOGLBT, articulando-o com o tema das Políticas de Identidade e, além disto, fazer uma crítica às Políticas de Identidade apresentando um contraponto pela psicanálise. Discutiremos como nos modelos das causas particulares arrisca-se excluir o sujeito e como a tomada da Identidade com estatuto de política muitas vezes reconstrói estereótipos (e novos preconceitos) e enlaça o Movimento às amarras do agenciamento do Estado e do Mercado. O referencial teórico utilizado é Freudo-Lacaniano, recorrendo também a outros autores psicanalistas, com destaque para Slavoj i e

This study brings the insights of Slavoj Žižek’s Lacan-inspired approach to bear upon a series of influential 20th century plays and their engagement with what Lacan calls the Real. The plays to be explored share a focus on experiences, events or encounters which transcend, exceed, disrupt, and in some cases shatter characters’ normal, familiar realities. Examined through the lens of Žižek, these confrontations with the sublime and the fantastic reveal a crucial relation to the plays’ contemporary contexts, prompting us to “look awry” upon the dynamics of our own symbolically-regulated reality and the ever-changing and precarious nature of our relation to it. Similarly crucial is the relation of the Lacanian Real to our theatrical forms and modes of perception in the theatre. In staging “encounters with the Real,” these plays prompt us simultaneously to explore the ways in which the Real operates —and “appears” — in our own theatrical experience, ensnaring our gaze and the force of our desire. The study offers a Žižekian approach to works including Peter Shaffer’s Equus, John Mighton’s Possible Worlds, S. An-sky’s The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds, Caryl Churchill’s The Skriker, Tony Kushner’s The Illusion, and Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s Enigma Variations.