-
8/18/2019 Žižek, S. [2008]. 'The tyrant's bloody robe'.
Violence. Six marginal reflections
1/6
S lavoj Zizek
V IOLENCE
-
8/18/2019 Žižek, S. [2008]. 'The tyrant's bloody robe'.
Violence. Six marginal reflections
2/6
Th
e
r
e is an o
l
d
s
t
o
ry
abo
ut a worker
sus
pected of steal-
ing : every e vening,
a
s
h
e l
ea
ves
th
e
factory
t
h
e whee l-
barro
w h
e
ro
ll
s in front of him is care
full
y inspected.
The
guard
s can find no
thi
ng. is
a
lways empty. Fi-
na
ll
y,
th
e
p
e
nny drops : what th
e
worker is stea
li
ng are
th
e
whe e lbarrows the
ms e
l
ves
...
there is a
unif
y
in
g t
hesi
s that ru
n
s th
roug
h the
bric-
a-br
ac of
re
fl
e ctio
n
s
on v
i
o le nce that
fo l low
it is
th
a
t a
similar
paradox ho ld
s tru
e for viole
n
ce. At the
fo r
e f r
o
nt of
o
ur
m
in
d
s
,
t
h
e
ob
vious
signa
l
s
of
v
i
o
le
n
ce
a
r
e
acts of crime and terror,
civ
il unres t, in
ternatio
n
a
l
conflict. But we
shoul
d
le a
rn
t
o
ste
p
back,
to di
sentan
-
g
l
e
ours e l
ve
s
from
th
e
fa scin
a
tin
g lure of
t
hi
s
directly
v
isib l
e
"subjectiv
e
" vi
o
l
e
n
ce, vi
ol
e
n
ce performed by a
cle
arl
y
identi
fiab
l
e ag e
n
t. We need to pe
r
ce ive the
c
on-
tour
s of
t
h
e
bac
kground
w
hi
c
h
g e
n
erates
s
u
c
h
o
u
tburs
t
s
.
A step b
ac
k
enab
les us to i
denti
fy a violence that sus-
t
a
ins our v
e
ry
e
f fo
rts to f ight violence and to promote
to
l
e
ran
ce.
Thi
s
is th
e
s
tarting po
int,
per
ha
ps e
v
en
th
e ax
i
om
, o
f
the pres ent book: subj
e c
tive vio
l
ence
i
s jus
t th
e mos t vis-
i
b
l
e
p
o
r
tion
o
f
a
t
r
iumvir
a
te
that
al
s
o
includ
es
t
wo
ob
-
j
ec
ti
ve
kind
s of
v
io lence. First there
is
a "symbo
li
c"
v
io
l
e
nce
e
mbodied in l
a
ngu
a
ge
a
nd its forms,what H
e
id
e
-
gge
r would call "our hous
e
of being . " A s we sh
a
ll s
ee
la t
e
r,
this
v
i
o l
e
n
ce
i
s not
o n l
y at work in
t
he
o bv io us
n
d
ext
e
n
-
s i
ve
l
y
studi
e
d-ca
ses of
incitem
ent
an
d of
th
e re l
ation
s
of
THE
TYRANT S LOODY RO E
-
8/18/2019 Žižek, S. [2008]. 'The tyrant's bloody robe'.
Violence. Six marginal reflections
3/6
around 4
milli
on people died in
th
e D e
m
o cr
at
ic Repub-
li c of Congo as the result of
po
litical vi
ole nc
e
o
ve r
th
e
la s t decade. None of the usua l human
it
a
ri
an uproar
fo
l-
lowed, ju
s
t a couple
o
f re aders' le
tt
ers-a
s
if
s
o
m
e kind of
filte rin
g m
e chanis
m blocked
t
his new
s fro
m
achievin
g
it
s
full
im
pact in our symbolic space To put it cynica ll y,
picked
t
he wrong victim in the s
t
rug g le for hege-
mon
y
i
n
s
ufferin
g.
s
h
ou
l
d
ha
ve
s
tu
c
k
t
o
t
h
e
li
s
t of
us
u
a
l
sus
p
e c
t
s
: Mu
sli
m
wo
men
an
d
the
ir pl
ig h
t
,
or
the
families
o
f 9
/n
vi
ctim
s
a
nd how
th
ey
ha
v
e cope
d with
t
heir lo s s
e s
.
Th
e Congo
t
oday has ef fectiv
e l
y re
-
emerged
as a Conradean
"hear
t o
f
d
arkne
s s. " No
o
ne dares to
confro n
t it he
a
d
o
n. The death
o
f a West B ank Pal
e st
in-
ian
c
hil
d ,
not
t
o men
t
io n an
I
sr
ae
l i or
a
n
Amer
i
can,
is
me
d
iatica lly worth
thou
sand
s
of
t
ime s m
o
re
th
an t
h
e
d
e a
th of a n
ame
l
e
ss Con
gole se
.
Do we need
furthe
r
proof
that
t
he
hu
m
anitaria
n
s
e
nse
o
f u
r
gency is m
e
d
ia te
d
, indee
d
ove rd
ete
rm
in
ed,
by clear pol
it
ica l con
s
i
derat
i
o
ns
? A nd what are these
co
n
s id
er
a
ti
o
n
s
?
T
o
a
n
swe
r
this
,
we
n
eed
t
o
ste
p ba
c
k
an
d t
ak
e a
lo
ok
fro
m a
differe
nt po
s iti
on
W
h
e
n
t
he
U .S
.
media
re
proa
c
hed
t
he public in fo r
eig
n
countrie
s
fo
r
not di
sp
l
a
yi
n
g
enough
sy
mp
at
hy for the
vi ctim
s o
f
th
e
9/n
attacks, one wa
s
temp
t
ed to an
s we
r
t
hem in the
word
s Ro b
e spi
e
rr
e addre s s e
d to
t
h
o s e w
ho
co
mplained
about
th
e
i
nnoce
nt vi
ctims of re vo lu
t
i
on
ar
y
terror:
"S top
shak
ing
th
e tyrant's b
l
oody robe in my fa ce or I
will believe t
h
at y ou
w
i
s
h
t
o put Rome in c
ha
ins ."
In
stea
d
of co nfront
ing
v
i
o
lence direct
ly ,
the
pr
es-
e
nt
bo o
k casts s ix s i
de way
s gl
ance s
.
Th ere ar
e
re a
s
on
s
for
looki
ng at
th
e
probl
e
m of
v
i
o le
n
ce
a
w
r
t,
My
und
e
r
-
ly ing premise
i
s that there i
s s
o
m ething
i
nh
eren
tly
3
HE
TYR
A
NT S BLOODY RO E
social
d
ominati
o
n re produced in our hab
i
tua
l s
p
e e ch
fo rm
s
: there is a more
fund
amen
ta
l form of
v
io l
e
n
ce
s
till
that p
ert
ain
s
to l
angua
ge as suc
h,
to
it s
imp
o s
ition
of a
ce
rtain
uni
v
e rs e
of
meaning
S ec
ond, there is wha
t
I ca
ll
"sys
t
emic" violence
,
or
th
e o
ft
en
cat
ast
roph
ic co nse-
quences o
f
the smoo
th functionin
g o
f
our e conomic and
politica l sy s t ems .
The
catc
h
i
s
th
a
t
sub j
e
cti
ve and
obj
e c
tive
v
io
len
ce
cann
o
t
b
e
p
erce
ived from
th
e
sa
me
s ta n
dp
o int sub je cti
ve
violence
i
s experi
e
nced as
s
u
ch
again
s
t
t
h
e
b
ac
kground
of
a non-vio len
t
zero le ve l. is
s
een as a per
turb
a
t
io n o
f
th
e
"
n
o
rma l
,
" peace ful s
t
a
t
e o
f
th
in
gs. Ho
weve
r
,
ob je c-
t
ive v
io
l
e
nce
is
p
reci se l
y th
e vio
l
en
ce inh
eren
t to
this
"nor
ma
l" s ta
t
e of
th
i
ng
s. O
bj
ecti
v
e vio
len
ce is in
vi
s ible
sin
ce it su
s
tains
th
e
ve r
y zero-evel
standar
d ag ains
t
which we p
erce i
ve
so
meth
i
ng as
s
ubjecti
ve l
y
vio l
ent.
S
y
stemic
v
io lence is thus some
thin
g like the not
o
rious
"
d
ark m
atte
r" of
ph
y s
i
cs, the c
o
unte rpart to an all-oo-
v
i
s
ib
l
e sub
j
e ctive vio le nce may be
in
vi
sib l
e, but it has
t
o
b
e
tak
e
n
int
o
acc
ou
nt if
one
i
s to
m
a
ke
s
e
n
s
e
o
f w
h
a
t
o
th
erw
i
s
e s e e
m to be "irr
ational
" explos io
n
s
of s
ub
j
ec-
tive v
i
olence .
When the
me
dia bombard us with those
"hum
a
ni
-
t
a
ri
an cri
se s "
whi ch
s e e
m co
nst
a
ntl
y to pop up a ll over
the world,
one s
h
o
uld
a l
way
s b
ear in
min
d
t
ha
t a
p
artic-
ular
cri
s
i
s only exp
l
odes
in
to
m
edia v
i
sibility as the
r
e s
ult of a complex strugg le .
Properl
y huma
nit
arian
co
n
s
id erations as a rule play a
le
ss
impor
tan
t
role he
r
e
tha
n
cultura
l
id eo l
ogi
co-
poli
t
i
c
al
, a
nd
econom
i
c
con-
s
ide rations. The cove r
s
tory o
f
magaz
in
e on s
June 2006, fo r e xample
,
was "The Deadliest W ar in the
World." Thi
s
offe
r
ed de ta
il
ed doc
um
entation on how
2
-
8/18/2019 Žižek, S. [2008]. 'The tyrant's bloody robe'.
Violence. Six marginal reflections
4/6
Th e key
qu
e s
ti
on
, of cour
se
,
i
s
what kind of d
escri
p-
t
ion
i
s
i
nt
end
ed
h
ere? Sur
el
y
i
t
is n
ot
a re a li
s
t
ic d
e
s
crip
-
tion of
th
e s ituat
i
o
n
bu
t w
h
at W all ace
S t
e
v
ens ca
ll
ed
"d
e scriptio
n
w
i thout
p
l
ac e ,
"
w
hich is
wh
at i
s
prop
e
r
t
o
art.
Th
is
is
not
a
d
e s c
ription whi
c
h loca
te
s i
ts conte
nt in
a hi
s
t
orical
s
p
ace and
tim
e but a de
s c
rip tion which
c
re
at
es, as
the
b
a
ck
grou
n
d of
t
h
e phe
nom
e
n
a
it
de
s
c
ri
be
s
an
in
ex is
t
e
n
t (v irtua
l)
space of its o w
n
so
th
at what
ce eds .
Th
at i
s t
o
s
ay
, w
hen
A do
rno de clares
po
e
t
ry
impossib l
e (or,
r
ather, barbaric)
af te
r Ausc
h
w
it
z
thi
s
impos s ib ility is an e
n
a
blin
g impossibi
l
ity:
p
o e try is al-
way
s ,
by
def inition, "abou
t"
some thin
g
tha
t
ca
nnot be
addre s sed
di
rect
ly
, o
nl
y alluded to
On
e s
h
oul
d
n't be
afra
id to take
t
hi
s a
s
tep fu
rth
e r and refer
t
o the old say-
i
ng t
h
at m
u
sic
c
ome
s in
w
he
n
w or
ds fail.
Th
er
e
m
ay
we
ll
b
e
s
ome
t
rut
h
in
t
h
e co
mm
on w
i
s
d
o
m
th
a
t,
i
n a
k
in
d
ofhis
t
orica l premoni
tion
, t
he
mus ic
of
S c
hoe
n
berg
articula
t
ed the a
nx
ie ties and ni
gh
tmares of A
u
sc
h
witz
be fo
r
e th
e e ve
n
t took pl
ace
.
In
h
er memoirs,
Anna Akh
m
a
t
o va de s
cri
be
s
what
happened
t
o her when, at the he
i
ght of the S ta
lini
s
t
purge
s , s
h
e
was waiting in the
l
o
ng q
u
eue
in front o
f the
Len
in
grad prison to
l
earn about
h
er arrested son Lev:
One day s
o me b
ody in
t
he c
ro w
d i
de nt
i fied me .
S t
andin
g
be
h
ind me wa
s
a
y o u
ng woman , with lip s blu e fr om
th
e
cold
w
h
o ha
d ofc
ou
r
se
never
h
eard m e ca lled by name
b
e
fore
.
No
w
s
h
e
s
t
arte
d out of
th
e
torpor
co mm
o
n
t
o
u
s
a ll and
as
ked me in a whi s per
(everyo
ne whi spe red
the
r
e
)
"C a
n
you descr ibe thi
s?"
And
I s a
id,
"I
can
.
Th e
n
s
o me thing
lik
e a
s
m
il
e pa s
s
ed f l ee ti ng
l
y over what
h
a
d
once bee
n
he
r fa c
e
.
4
5
H
E TYR
AN
T S BLOO
D
Y RO E
m
y s
tify
in
g in
a direc
t con
fron
t
a
tion with
it
:
the o
ver-
p
ow
e
ring
horror
of v
i
o
le
nt
acts an
d empa
t
hy wi
t
h the
vi
ctim
s
ine
x
orab
l
y function a
s
a lure w
h
ich prevents
us
fr
om
thi
nki
ng.
A co
nceptua
l d
eve
l
o
p
-
ment of the
t
ypo logy
of
v
i
o lence mus t
b
y de f in
iti
on
i
gnor
e its tr
aumat
ic imp
act
Y et
there i
s
a
sen
se
in
w
hich a cold
ana
l
y s
i
s of
v
i
o
len
ce
some
how
reprodu
ces
an
d
p
a
rt
icipate
s
in
it
s
h
orror
A
di
s
ti
n
c
t
i
o
n needs
t
o
be
ma
de, as
we ll ,
between ( fa
ct
u
a
l
) t
ruth
a
nd
truthfu
l-
ness
w
h
at re nders a report of a raped woman (o r any
oth
er nar
r
a
tive
of
a
traum
a) trut
h
ful
i
s
it
s
ve r
y
f actual
unr
elia
bilit
y
it
s
c
onfu
s i
on i
ts incons is tency
.
th
e
victim were able to
report
on her painful
an
d humili-
ating expe
ri
ence in a cle ar manner, with all the data
arranged in a
consi
s
t
ent or
d
er
thi
s very
qualit
y
wo
uld
m
a
ke u
s s
u
sp
i
ci o
u
s
of
it s
t
ruth
. The probl
e
m
here
is
part
of
the so lution :
th
e
very
fa ctua
l d
e
fici
e nc
ies of
t
he
traum
ati
se
d sub
j
ect's report on he r
e x
perience bear
w
itn
ess to
th
e
truth
fu
ln
ess of h
e
r
report
s ince
t
hey
s
ig
n
a
l
th
a
t
th
e
r
e
por
t
ed
c
onten
t
"
co
nt
a
min
a
t
e
d
"
t
he
m
a
nn
e
r
of rep
o
rti
ng it.
Th e
s
a
m
e
ho
l
ds
,
of
co urs e
fo
r
the so -ca ll e
d
unreli
ability of the ve
rba
l
re
p
ort
s
of Ho
-
l
ocau
s
t surv
i
vors : the witness able to offer a clear nar-
rati
ve o
f
hi
s c
amp ex
per
i
en
ce
wo
uld di
s
q
ua
li
fy
hims e lf
by virtue of tha
t
cl
ari
ty .
'
The only appropria
t
e
approac
h
to my s
u
bj
e
ct
th
u
s se
em
s
to
be o
n
e
w
hic
h
permit
s
var
i-
ations on
v
i
o
lence
k
e
p
t a t a
d
ista
n
ce o
u
t of re s
p
ect to-
w ards its victim
s .
Adamo's famous
s a
y ing, it
s
e ems ne e ds correction:
it is not
poetr
y that is impos s ib le
af te
r
A u
s
ch w
itz but
rathe
r
Re
ali
s
ti
c
prose fails, wh
ere
th
e po e tic e vo -
ca tion of t
h
e
u
nbearable atmosphe re of a ca mp s
ue
-
-
8/18/2019 Žižek, S. [2008]. 'The tyrant's bloody robe'.
Violence. Six marginal reflections
5/6
-
8/18/2019 Žižek, S. [2008]. 'The tyrant's bloody robe'.
Violence. Six marginal reflections
6/6
An o b
s
cene third way out of
th
e
d
ile
mm
a wo
u
ld
h
ave
been to adv
i
se the
y
oung man to
t
e ll his mot
h
er that
he will j
o
in
t
he Re
s
istanc
e ,
a
n
d to te ll his
R
e s i
st
ance
friends that he will take care of his mother,
w
hile
, i
n re -
a
li
ty,
wi
t
h
dr
aw
ing
t
o a
s ecl
uded
p
lace a
n
d s t
udy
ing . . .
Th
ere is more
th
an c
h
eap cynici
s
m in
t
his advice.
bring s to mind a we ll-kno wn S ov
ie
t
j
oke about Lenin.
Und
e
r
s
ociali
s
m,
Le
nin
's
a
d
v
ice
t
o
yo
ung
p
e o
pl
e ,
hi
s
answer to what
t
hey shou
l
d do
,
was "Le
arn
,
l
earn
,
and
learn.
"
This was e voked at all t
im
es and displayed on all
sc
h
ool wall
s
. The joke goes:Marx, Eng e ls , a
n
d Lenin are
asked whethe r
th
ey would prefer to have a
w
ife or a m
i
s-
t
re s s
.
As expec
te
d
Ma
rx r
ath
er cons er
vative
in private
matter
s,
a
n
s
we
r
s
,
"
A w
ife
"
w
h
ile
En
g
els,
m
or
e
of a
o
pt
s for a m
i
stre s s . To everyone's surpr
i
se, L enin
say s ,
"I 'd like to have both
"
W
hy
?
I
s the
re
a
hidden
s tr
i
pe o
f
decadent be
hin
d h
is
auste re r
e
vo
l
u
-
t
io
n
ary image?
N
o-
h
e e
xp
l
a
in
s: "
So
th
at
I
can
t
ell my
wif
e
t
h
a t I am g o
in
g to my
mistres
s,
an
d
m
y mis
tr
e ss
that I have to be with my wife . . . " "
A
nd then,
w
ha t do
y ou
d
o?
"
"I go
t
o a
solit
a
ry
place to learn le a
rn
, and
learn "
Is t
hi
s
not
exa c
tly wha t Lenin did a
f t
er
th
e ca tastro-
ph
e of 1
9
1 4?
H
e wi
thd
rew
t
o a lonely place in S w itzer-
l
a
nd
,
w
her
e
h
e
"
l
earne
d
,
l
e a
rn
ed
,
a
n
d
l
e
arn
e
d
,
"
re a
di
n
g
Hegel's logic . And
t
his is what we
sho
uld do to
d
ay when
we find ourselves bom
barde
d w
i
th mediat
ic
images of
v
iolence . We need to "
learn
, learn, and le arn" what causes
th
is vio
l
ence.
8
