Žižek debates Bernard-Henri Lévy at NYPL
anecdote · personal/autobiographical ·
retold in 3 talks
At the New York Public Library Žižek debated BHL on liberal tolerance vs. communism; their formulations were so abstract that BHL declared himself a communist, proving ideology works through abstraction.
As told 3
“When I described communism in such a way that Bernard-Henri Lévy agrees with it, then something is wrong.”
“even he said, okay, with a little bit of irony but nonetheless, "Oh, if this is communism then I am a communist," no.”
“Bernard-Henri Lévy, the great neoliberal, he told me, oh my God, if this is communism, I am a communist. This was a sign that something was wrong.”
What it carries
one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)
Its cast and sources
populated by
Gérard Pommier1Marcion of Sinope1Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge1Theodore Sturgeon1Bryan Ward-Perkins1Charles Freeman1Dietrich of Bern1Jacques Cousteau1
alongside works
Every retelling 3
At the New York Public Library Žižek debated BHL on liberal tolerance vs. communism; their formulations were so abstract that BHL declared himself a communist, proving ideology works through abstraction., illustrating background noise,ideology,liberal communist
Žižek and Bernard-Henri Lévy each made their respective cases, Lévy for liberal tolerance, Žižek for communism, in such abstract terms that both positions became indistinguishable; Lévy even said 'if this is communism, I am a communist,' proving both were deep in ideology., illustrating ideology,thick background noise,liberal tolerance
1:39 First as Tragedy, then as Farce – The Double Death of Neoliberalism and the Idea of Communism2009-11-25 · 59:47
At a public debate, both BHL and Žižek stated their positions (liberal tolerance vs. communism) in abstract terms and found they could not disagree; BHL said 'if this is communism, I am a communist.' Žižek reads this as a sign that both were deep in ideology, the background noise ensured real disagreement beneath surface agreement., illustrating background noise of ideology,ideology appearing as non-ideology