Jeremy Hacker
Journal Entry #2
April 12th, 2015
In Slavoj Zizek’s, Looking Awry, he claims, “The paradox of desire is that it posits retroactively its own cause, i.e., the object a is an object that can be perceived only by a gaze ‘distorted’ by desire, an object that does not exist for an ‘objective’ gaze.” (1) When looking at Swann’s love for Odette, we can see a similar desire arising which mimics this definition. In what was initially thought of as disgust, Swann has replaced with an artistic masterpiece which he transposed those early feelings into. In creating a want for Odette which was initially nowhere to be found, Swann has formulated this desire through a distorted view, one which eventually grows into a jealous, self-absorbed desire to conquest the Odette of his fantasies. In creating this desire, Swann comes to pass over glaringly obvious signs of which she does not share mutual affections. These desire glasses which Swann wears resembles one of the harsher facets of desire of which we’re all privy to. In lesser strengths, we’re subjected to desires of which we create realities that do not fit into an objective world or object. An easier way to think of this is that we become blind with passion and forget the things along the way in our quests for the end, golden goal. If we think about Swann’s formulation of this desire, I’m sure we can see similar aspects of behavior that resemble our own lives. We see something that makes us angry, cynical, or blasé about, but may find ourselves wrapped up with those feelings, and even sometimes wanting to reconstruct that object so as to fit harmoniously into our world. It is not necessarily a bad thing to desire, for desire is a good motivational tool and inspirational push. What we should be wary of, is entrenching ourselves into that obsessive, controlling behavior of which Swann takes on in his falsified love of Odette, in which he hasn’t fallen in love with the person, but with the desires he’s created.
Bibliography
1.) Zizek, Slavoj. Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan Through Popular Culture. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1992. Print.