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mension.1Yet,thechoiceencounteredhereisonlytwofold:eitherthe
truthoftheblackalcoholic,ifitexists,hastobeexpressedinthe
languageofthestruggle(e.g.asdroppingoutofit),orhistruthwill
becomeinstalledasafascinatingenigmaticimageoftheirretriev-
ablesecretinthefamiliarpracticeofKexoticising”theother,that
is,projectingonhimone’sownimagesofenjoyment,thesubstance
inaccessibletothecolonialistsubject.Inthissense,themortallyill
Curren(theformeruniversitylecturer),whohasneverbeenabeliev-
er,projectsonVercueil(thealcoholic)herclearlyfantasmaticimage
ofhimasherguardianangelthatwillhelphertotheKotherside.”
Itisaverytellingimageinthecontextoftheliberalnovel:Curren
getsoffontranscendencebutonlyatsecondhand.Inotherwords,
onedisavowstranscendence(oneisaKpostmodernist”);theother,
however,seemstohaveaccesstosomethingsubstantialbeyondone’s
understanding;thereforebyreveringtheotheronereveresprecisely
the(emptybecauseinaccessible)imageofsuchtranscendence.Inef-
fect,oneultimatelyenjoysone’sownreverenceoftheother’stran-
scendencebymeansofwhichoneappearslikabletooneself,since
thisimagemakesoneKmore”thanonepositively(substantially)is.
Inotherwords,thisobject/image,whichis,properlyspeaking,noth-
ing(theimageofKsomethingmore/enigmaticintheother”),createsa
lackinus(thereissomethingintheotherIcannotcomprehend),yet
thislackinstantlyturnsintoasurplusintheliberaldiscourse(Ien-
joymyreverencefortheother’senigmaaswhatmakesmeproperly
Khuman”).Thecrucialpoint,however,isthatthesecretintheother
iswhatIinsertedintohiminthefirstplacetomakehiminterest-
ingformeinwaysthat,forexample,theinsurgentisnot–heis
treatedasamisguidedotherwhoratherthanwallowinginhissub-
stantialenigmahasbecomethoroughlyalienatedfromhissubstance
byadoptingthediscourseofthemaster(violence)andreturningit
tohim.2
Aclearexpositionofsuchobscenityofthediscourseoftheenigma
isprovidedbyCoetzeeinTheMasterofPetersburg,whichistellingly
takenoutofthecolonialspaceofethnicdifferenceandplacedwithin
theraciallyneutraldiscourseinwhichDostoevskyhastoconfront
histwoKsons,”Pavel(hisstepson)andNechaev(arevolutionarywho
identifieshimselfwithRaskolnikovbeforehisKfall”intoOrthodox
Christianity).Thistime,whatthestakesarebehindtheconfronta-
1
Ofcourse,Kpropagandist”truthsarenotbydefinitionexcludedfromthedis-
courseofthenovel,astheexampleofBrechtshows.
2
ThelogicofKsomethingenigmatic”intheotheris,ofcourse,thelogicof
Lacanianobjecta.
~11~
