The Balcony is a 1957 comedic play by Jean Genet, set in an unnamed city that is undergoing violent revolution. The play itself centers on the activity of an upmarket brothel that ends up embroiled in everything that is unfolding in the city. In this talk I will be using the brilliant 1961 cinematic adaptation of the play to explore the themes of fantasy, jouissance, the Big Other and the nature of revolution, alongside an exploration of what a truly emancipatory community might look like.
As preparation for the talk, I recommend you watch The Balcony by clicking here. The film itself is really very good, and should enhance your experience of the talk.
As always, it can also be watched live or later via Patreon. To access this - and all other - pyroseminars, you just need to be signed up to the Flame level, or above, on Patreon.
OTHER PYROSEMINARS INCLUDE:
Embracing the Absurd | Atheism isn’t Enough
Beyond Belief | Christianity and Ideology Critique
The Alien from Inner Space | Sin and Prometheus
On Love | The Unwanted Gift of Nothing
Embracing Failure | On Not Getting what you Want
The Tech of Pyrotheology | Transformance Art
The Tech of Pyrotheology | Decentering Practices
Freedom from Meaning | Drive, Grace, the Absurd
The Last Guru | On Fantasy and Transference
Escaping the Sitcom | On Brent and Gargoyles
Catching Light | Lewis and the Sublime
God After God | The Certainty of Doubt
Joined by Lack | The Ontic and the Metaphysical
Confronting the Holy | Whole or Hole
Losing the Lost Object | On Conversion
On Envy and Jealousy | Girard and Christology
Deranged Animal | Desire, Drive and The Thing
The Meaning in Life | Drive and the Transcendental
Alienation Times Two | Traversing the Fantasy
God Forsaking God | Conversion, Forgiveness, Joy
Who is No. 1 | Peterson, PC and the Unconscious
Is God Dead | The Event of Radical Theology
Mapping Pyrotheology | Returning to the Start
Problem or Symptom | The Zizek/Peterson Debate
The Self-Castration of God | Authority, Freedom, Kenosis
The Magic Trick of Christianity | Pledge, Turn and Prestige
Identical Wines | Salvation and Object a
A Contingent Gristle of the Real | Joker and Divine Violence
You Don’t Hate Mondays… | Class Antagonism in Marx
The Politics of Difference | Cultural Marxism or Cultural Capitalism