Cultural Theory and Popular Culture

the result of getting too close to what we desire, thus threatening to eliminate ‘lack’
itself and end desire. This is further complicated by the retroactive nature of desire. As
yizek observes, ‘The paradox of desire is that it posits retroactively its own cause, i.e.
the objet a [object small other] is an object that can be perceived only by a gaze “distorted”
by desire, an object that does not exist for an “objective” gaze’ (339). In other
words, what I desire is organized by processes of fantasy which fix on an object and
generate a desire which appears to have drawn me to the object but which in fact did
not exist until I first fixed upon the object: what appears to be a forward movement is
always retroactive.
Further reading
Further reading 109
Storey, John (ed.), Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader, 4th edition, Harlow:
Pearson Education, 2009. This is the companion volume to this book. It contains
examples of most of the work discussed here. This book and the companion Reader
are supported by an interactive website (www.pearsoned.co.uk/storey). The website
has links to other useful sites and electronic resources.
Belsey, Catherine, Culture and the Real, London: Routledge, 2005. A very clear account
of Lacan and yizek.
Easthope, Antony, The Unconscious, London: Routledge, 1999. An excellent introduction
to psychoanalysis. Highly recommended.
Evans, Dylan, An Introductory Dictionary of Lacanian Psychoanalysis, London: Routledge,
1996. Indispensable for understanding Lacan.
Frosh, Stephen, Key Concepts in Psychoanalysis, London: British Library, 2002. An excellent
introduction.
Kay, Sarah, yiZek: A Critical Introduction, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2003. An excellent
introduction. I particularly like the way she acknowledges that sometimes she just
does not understand what yizek is saying.
Laplanche, J. and J.-B. Pontalis, The Language of Psychoanalysis, London: Karnac Books,
1988. A brilliant glossary of concepts.
Mitchell, Juliet, Psychoanalysis and Feminism, Harmondsworth: Pelican, 1974. A classic
and groundbreaking account of how feminism can use psychoanalysis to undermine
patriarchy. As she claims, ‘psychoanalysis is not a recommendation for a patriarchal
society, but an analysis of one.’
Myers, Tony, Slavoj YiZek, London: Routledge, 2003. A very accessible introduction to
yizek’s work.
Parker, Ian, Slavoj YiZek: A Critical Introduction, London: Pluto, 2004. Another very good
account of yizek’s work. The most critical of the recent introduction.
Wright, Elizabeth, Psychoanalytic Criticism, London: Methuen, 1984. A very good introduction
to psychoanalytic criticism.