How we look at the mesmerizing reality

Reality is mesmerizing. It captivates us with its complexity, its contradictions, and its elusive truths. Yet, how we look at reality—how we interpret, understand, and engage with it—determines whether we uncover its hidden structures or become trapped in its illusions. To truly see reality for what it is, we must often "look awry," taking oblique perspectives that disrupt the comforting certainties of dominant ideologies and simplistic narratives.

This post explores the idea of "looking awry", drawing on the insights of Antonio Gramsci, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, and Slavoj Žižek. Together, these thinkers help us distinguish between productive and problematic "awry gazes"—perspectives that either reveal deeper truths about reality or distort it further. By looking at examples from their work, we’ll see how different approaches to reality can mesmerize, liberate, or entrap us.

What Does It Mean to Look Awry?

To "look awry" is to adopt an unconventional perspective—to examine the world not head-on, but from an oblique angle. This approach can be highly productive, as it allows us to:

• Uncover hidden structures of power and meaning.

• Disrupt dominant narratives and ideologies.

• Reveal the contradictions and fantasies that sustain social systems.

At the same time, an "awry gaze" can be problematic when it becomes detached from material realities, practical struggles, or the lived experiences of people. The question, then, is how to "look awry" in a way that mesmerizes productively rather than misleadingly.

1. Antonio Gramsci: Grounded Perspectives on Power

Gramsci's contribution to understanding reality is rooted in historical materialism and his analysis of hegemony. For Gramsci, the way we look at reality is shaped by cultural and ideological forces that naturalize the dominance of ruling classes. The mesmerizing nature of "common sense"—the collection of beliefs that appear natural and inevitable—serves to maintain hegemony.

Gramsci’s Grounded Gaze

Gramsci did not "look awry" in a problematic sense. Instead, he advocated for a grounded perspective, emphasizing the need for organic intellectuals who emerge from within the working class and engage directly with material realities. For example:

• Productive Gaze: Gramsci’s analysis of the factory as a site of hegemony reveals how power operates not just through overt coercion but through the subtle, everyday consent of workers. By looking at the mundane realities of labor, he uncovered the cultural mechanisms that sustain capitalism.

Gramsci warns us against intellectuals who "look awry" in a detached sense—those who develop abstract theories disconnected from the struggles of real people. His work reminds us that a productive "awry gaze" must remain rooted in historical and material conditions.

2. Jacques Derrida: The Instability of Meaning

Derrida invites us to "look awry" at language itself. His concept of deconstruction reveals how meaning is never fixed but always deferred, slipping between signifiers in an endless play of différance. While this perspective can be mesmerizing and liberating, it has also been critiqued for its detachment from practical realities.

Derrida’s Productive Gaze

Derrida’s deconstruction is highly productive when used to challenge hegemonic ideas or expose the hidden assumptions in philosophical, political, and cultural systems. For instance:

• In his critique of justice, Derrida reveals how legal systems depend on unstable foundations. By "looking awry" at the language of justice, he shows how it is always haunted by exclusion and contradiction.

Potential Problematic Gaze

Foucault critiqued Derrida for being too focused on textuality, suggesting that this "awry gaze" risks becoming abstract and disconnected from material struggles. If the mesmerizing complexity of language distracts us from the realities of power and history, Derrida’s gaze can become problematic.

3. Michel Foucault: Power and the Microphysics of Reality

Foucault’s "awry gaze" focuses on the microphysics of power—the subtle, everyday mechanisms through which power operates. By shifting our perspective from traditional power (monarchs, governments) to disciplinary institutions (prisons, schools, hospitals), Foucault forces us to look at reality from an angle we often overlook.

Foucault’s Productive Gaze

Foucault’s work is an exemplary case of a productive "awry gaze":

• In Discipline and Punish, he examines the birth of the modern prison, showing how disciplinary power shapes bodies, behaviors, and subjectivities. By looking at mundane practices like surveillance and routines, Foucault uncovers the deep structures of modern power.

Avoiding Problematic Gaze

Unlike Derrida, Foucault’s gaze remains grounded in historical and institutional contexts. His focus on the material effects of power ensures that his "awry gaze" remains productive rather than abstract.

4. Jacques Lacan: The Real and the Limits of Language

Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory offers perhaps the most radical form of "looking awry." By examining the unconscious, Lacan shows how human reality is structured by the Symbolic order (language and culture) but constantly disrupted by the Real—the dimension of existence that resists symbolization.

Lacan’s Productive Gaze

Lacan’s concept of the Real forces us to confront the limits of language, ideology, and understanding. For example:

• The fantasy of wholeness: Lacan reveals how individuals and societies construct fantasies to obscure the gaps and contradictions in their realities. This is a productive way of "looking awry" because it exposes the ideological fantasies that sustain power structures.

Potential Problematic Gaze

Lacan’s abstract and opaque language can make his insights difficult to apply practically. While his gaze is theoretically rich, it risks becoming esoteric and detached from lived realities.

5. Slavoj Žižek: Looking Awry to Expose Ideology

Žižek explicitly adopts the idea of "looking awry" as a method for exposing ideology. Drawing on Lacan, Marx, and Hegel, Žižek shows how ideologies are sustained by fantasies that distort reality. For Žižek, the most important truths are often hidden in the oblique, the distorted, and the seemingly trivial.

Žižek’s Productive Gaze

Žižek’s "awry gaze" is highly productive in its ability to uncover the hidden logic of ideology. For example:

• In The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, Žižek analyzes popular films to reveal how they reinforce societal fantasies. By looking at culture from an oblique angle, he exposes the contradictions that sustain capitalist ideology.

Potential Problematic Gaze

Žižek’s tendency for provocation and abstraction can sometimes make his insights seem detached from actionable political strategies. His gaze mesmerizes, but it can also frustrate those looking for concrete solutions.

Conclusion: Learning to Look Awry

The act of "looking awry" can either mesmerize us productively or mislead us problematically. Thinkers like Gramsci, Derrida, Foucault, Lacan, and Žižek show us the power of adopting oblique perspectives to uncover hidden truths about reality. However, their approaches also remind us of the risks of detachment, abstraction, and esotericism.

To engage with reality in a way that mesmerizes productively:

• We must remain grounded, as Gramsci teaches, by connecting theory to material and historical realities.

• We must embrace instability, as Derrida shows, while avoiding the trap of abstraction.

• We must examine the microphysics of power, as Foucault does, by looking at the everyday mechanisms of control.

• We must confront the limits of understanding, as Lacan reveals, by exploring the unconscious and the Real.

• And, finally, we must challenge ideology, as Žižek reminds us, by embracing the distortions and fantasies that hide deeper truths.

By learning to look at reality from different angles—whether grounded, linguistic, institutional, or psychoanalytic—we can uncover the mesmerizing complexity of the world and begin to imagine new ways of understanding and transforming it.