Opera's Second Death by Zizek Slavoj; Dolar Mladen; Ziezek Slavoj

Author:Zizek, Slavoj; Dolar, Mladen; Ziezek, Slavoj
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2026-04-13T00:00:00+00:00

The Disavowal

Tristan is not just an opera: Michael Tanner (1997) was right to point out that if one is to make sense of Tristan, one has to approach it not simply as a work of art but as an ontological statement about the last things, about the meaning of life. The problem here is not the standard postmodern quip about who, in our cynical post-ideological era, can still take seriously big metaphysical solutions such as the Wagnerian Liebestod but rather the opposite one, that is, today's ambiguous relationship toward belief (or firm convictions as such). Suffice it to mention two thoroughly different examples. Is it not deeply symptomatic how—in some European countries, at least—priests and right-wing populist politicians are among the most popular guests for roundtable TV debates? What makes them so fascinating is their very naive sticking to firm conditions; the fact that they dare to stick publicly and firmly to their convictions makes them such an easy target. The second example: Why do fans insist on watching a soccer match live, even if it is in front of the TV? Why is this never the same as watching it later? The only honest answer is to help their club, to magically influence the game (which is why, even if they are only in front of the TV screen, they hiss and shout in support of their side). Is this not confirmed by the opposite experience: Thirty years ago, when the public was still thrilled by heart transplants, plans for their live TV transmission were rejected on ethical grounds—why? Because the operation could fail and the patient could die—as if the public would somehow be partially responsible for that.14 The logic at work here is, of course, that of the fetishist disavowal, of “I know very well, but nonetheless,” which is operative everywhere in our daily lives (see Mannoni 1969). When we observe a magician in the circus or in a nightclub, we know very well that there is no real magic, that she is just performing a clever sleight-of-hand, but we are nonetheless deeply disappointed if we are able to see through it and discern how it was done—we want it to be perfect.15 And does something similar not hold for the movie aficionados dedicated to the art of discovering small inconsistencies or mistakes that ruin the illusion? The identification of such gaffes brings immeasurable pleasure, especially when they are found in great classics. Recall the most famous case from Hitchcock: In his North by Northwest, the kid in the restaurant covers his ears with his hand seconds before Eva-Marie Saint shoots at Cary Grant—obviously, he knew when the bang would occur from previous (and seemingly endless) repetitions of the same take, so he covered his ears in advance to avoid the unpleasant impact of the sound. The magic of such discoveries is that far from disturbing our pleasure and ruining our suspension of disbelief, they strengthen our transferential relationship to the master (in exactly the same way

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