Polemics of Ressentiment Variations on Nietzsche

The rise of populism cynicism fanaticism and fundamentalism challenges us to reconsider the problem of <i>ressentiment</i>. Characterized by Nietzsche as the self-poisoning of the will through internalising trauma in the form of a postponed and imaginary revenge the concept of <i>ressentiment</i> is making a comeback in political<br/>discourse.<br/> <br/>Unlike resentment the feeling of injustice <i>ressentiment</i> is an intrinsically polemical notion. It implies a political drama in which there is no inherent good sense in its application and no universal criterion. Drawing on psychoanalysis political theory media theory and philosophy this book examines a wide variety of ideological contexts offering an examination of the divergent senses in which the concept of <i>ressentiment</i>is used today.