Q&A Slavoj Zizek, professor and writer - Interview by *Rosanna Greenstreet*<http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/rosannagreenstreet> - The Guardian <http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian>, - Saturday August 9 2008 - Article history<http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/09/slavoj.zizek#history-byline>
[image: Slavoj i ek] Slavoj Žižek. Photograph: Mykel Nicolaou/Rex Slavoj Zizek, 59, was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is a professor at the European Graduate School, international director of the Birkbeck Institute for Humanities in London and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana's institute of sociology. He has written more than 30 books on subjects as diverse as Hitchcock, Lenin and 9/11, and also presented the TV series The Pervert's Guide To Cinema. *When were you happiest? * A few times when I looked forward to a happy moment or remembered it - never when it was happening. *What is your greatest fear? * To awaken after death - that's why I want to be burned immediately. *What is your earliest memory?* My mother naked. Disgusting. *Which living person do you most admire, and why?* Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the twice-deposed president of Haiti. He is a model of what can be done for the people even in a desperate situation. *What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?* Indifference to the plights of others. *What is the trait you most deplore in others?* Their sleazy readiness to offer me help when I don't need or want it. *What was your most embarrassing moment?* Standing naked in front of a woman before making love. *Aside from a property, what's the most expensive thing you've bought? * The new German edition of the collected works of Hegel. *What is your most treasured possession?* See the previous answer. *What makes you depressed?* Seeing stupid people happy. *What do you most dislike about your appearance?* That it makes me appear the way I really am. *What is your most unappealing habit?* The ridiculously excessive tics of my hands while I talk. *What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?* A mask of myself on my face, so people would think I am not myself but someone pretending to be me. *What is your guiltiest pleasure?* Watching embarrassingly pathetic movies such as The Sound Of Music. *What do you owe your parents?* Nothing, I hope. I didn't spend a minute bemoaning their death. *To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?* To my sons, for not being a good enough father. *What does love feel like?* Like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite, a permanent state of emergency that ruins all small pleasures. *What or who is the love of your life?* Philosophy. I secretly think reality exists so we can speculate about it. *What is your favourite smell?* Nature in decay, like rotten trees. *Have you ever said 'I love you' and not meant it?* All the time. When I really love someone, I can only show it by making aggressive and bad-taste remarks. *Which living person do you most despise, and why?* Medical doctors who assist torturers. *What is the worst job you've done?* Teaching. I hate students, they are (as all people) mostly stupid and boring. *What has been your biggest disappointment?* What Alain Badiou calls the 'obscure disaster' of the 20th century: the catastrophic failure of communism. *If you could edit your past, what would you change?* My birth. I agree with Sophocles: the greatest luck is not to have been born - but, as the joke goes on, very few people succeed in it. *If you could go back in time, where would you go?* To Germany in the early 19th century, to follow a university course by Hegel. *How do you relax?* Listening again and again to Wagner. *How often do you have sex?* It depends what one means by sex. If it's the usual masturbation with a living partner, I try not to have it at all. *What is the closest you've come to death?* When I had a mild heart attack. I started to hate my body: it refused to do its duty to serve me blindly. *What single thing would improve the quality of your life?* To avoid senility. *What do you consider your greatest achievement?* The chapters where I develop what I think is a good interpretation of Hegel. *What is the most important lesson life has taught you?* That life is a stupid, meaningless thing that has nothing to teach you. *Tell us a secret.* Communism will win. -- James Michael --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
