Chris Kraus and Sylvère Lotringer (editors)
2001
Semiotext(e)
421 pages
Semiotext(e) is an American publishing company founded by French expatriate, Sylvère Lotringer, with at least a thirty year history of producing interesting and high quality texts on a wide array of topics. Semiotext(e) began in the mid-to-late 1970s as a journal of cultural theory, however in the early 1980s the journal became a book publisher of radical political theory, avant-garde fiction, and postmodern philosophy. Semiotext(e) was also, in fact, one of the first publishers to bring translations of French cultural theory to American markets. Thinkers like Gilles Deleuze and Jean Baudrillard owe some of the credit for their ascendancy in North American scholarship to Semiotext(e).
Hatred of Capitalism, first published shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, contains a collection of brief texts that represent much of the eclectic publisher’s repertoire. The reader including writings on radical politics by European (see text by German RAF terrorist, Ulrike Meinhoff) and American activists (see Black Panther member, Assata Shakur) and brief works of cultural theory by thinkers such as Deleuze and Guattari, Michel Foucault, Baudrillard, Paul Virilio, and Jean-Francois Lyotard. Short pieces by a number of other writers are also present, including associate of filmmaker John Waters’, Cookie Mueller, the surrealist philosopher Georges Battaille, and the transgressive writers Kathy Acker and her literary godfather, William S Burroughs. These readings are collected into a number of sections grouped according to a vague literary theme.
The book was published following an agreement made between Semiotext(e) and MIT Press for the latter to distribute the books of the former. This agreement followed the dissolution of an alliance between Semiotext(e) and the Brooklyn NY based anarchist publisher Autonomedia, which produced a number of great books. Not represented in Hatred of Capitalism, then, are the books with titles that reference Semiotext(e) but were possibly published more a result of Autonomedia’s work - including the radio-themed Jim Flemming-edited volume, Radiotext(e). Also missing are any excerpts from the far reaching anthology, Semiotext(e) USA, which seemed to be a product of Lotringer’s contacts with French theorists and the Autonomedia contacts with American underground writers and mail artists. The status of these books with regards to the Semiotext(e) catalogue is unclear, but they contained some great material and it is unfortunate that they are not represented in Hatred of Capitalism. Meanwhile, other early anthologies, such as the book Polysexuality, edited by François Peraldi (a now deceased Canadian psychoanalyst), and the recently republished The German Issue, are heavily represented.
The bulk of Hatred of Capitalism is made up of the writings of reputable philosophers, writers, and radicals, whose current reknown (and certainly already by 2001) has extended well beyond the Semiotext(e) milieu. The presence of these writers make the reading of this volume worthwhile, especially since many pieces are culled from the very early, difficult to find Semiotext(e) journals of the late 1970s. It seems like some pieces are present simply so a particular theorist is represented, such as the Jean-François Lyotard piece titled ‘Energumen Capitalism’ which is largely an expression of approval for the work of Deleuze and Guattari. What I most appreciated about Hatred of Capitalism, however, were the pieces of creative writing, which were quite good, and which I previously ignored when browsing the company’s catalogue. Furthermore, some pieces are from books that I cannot find in the Semiotext(e) catalogue, and were likely never published, making Hatred of Capitalism the only source for certain materials.
This book is relevant as a survey of Semiotext(e)'s publishing history, but it also relevant for denoting how a book publisher can be a site for a number of divergent radical tendencies. Semiotext(e) has been, since the early 1980s, a preeminent book publisher with regards to a number of strains of countercultural activity. The company has consistently published strong and critical texts in the fields of fiction, philosophy, politics and art. Also Semiotext(e) has been a site of convergence for a radical academia and street activism and arts. Hatred of Capitalism allows a reader to glimpse these aspects of the publisher’s decades long mission.
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