Justin Clemens (born 22 April 1969) is an Australian

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

known for his work on

Alain Badiou Alain Badiou (; ; born 17 January 1937) is a French philosopher, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École normale supérieure (ENS) and founder of the faculty of Philosophy of the Université de Paris VIII with Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault ...

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...

, European philosophy, and contemporary Australian art and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. He is also a published

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Background

Clemens studied at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, gaining his PhD on "

Institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

nihilism Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that Existential nihilism, life is meaningless, that Moral nihilism, moral values are baseless, and ...

: the

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

of contemporary theory" in 1999. He then lectured in Psychoanalytic Studies at Deakin University, before moving to the School of Culture and Communication at the

in the late 2000s where he is Senior Lecturer. Clemens is

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

for the Australian magazine ''The Monthly''. He has a daughter.

Scholarly contributions

In his extensive published work, he writes on psychoanalysis, contemporary European philosophy, and

. Clemens has also published

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

and prose fiction. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2023.

Selected bibliography

;Translated books and articles * Badiou, Alain, "On a Contemporary Usage of Frege", trans. Justin Clemens and Sam Gillespie, ''UMBR(a)'', no. 1, 2000, pp. 99–115. *''Infinite Thought: Truth and the Return to Philosophy''. Translated and edited by Justin Clemens & Oliver Feltham, (London: Continuum, 2003): (paperback); (hardcover) ;Creative works *(poetry) ''The Mundiad''. (Melbourne: Black, Inc. Publishing, 2004) *(novella) ''Black River''. With collages by Helen Johnson, (Melbourne: re.press, 2007) *(poetry) ''Villain''. (Melbourne: Hunter Contemporary Australian Poets, 2009) * (illustrated short story) "Justine & Jacquie and their adventures on the other side (an excerpt)" with Jason Barker in '' Meanjin'' Winter 2023 (Melbourne University Press).Jason Barker and Justin Clemen
"Justine & Jacquie and their adventures on the other side (an excerpt)
, ''Meanjin'', Winter 2023. ;Authored books *''The Romanticism of Contemporary Theory: Institutions, Aesthetics, Nihilism.'' (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2003) *''Avoiding the Subject: Media, Culture and the Object''. (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2004) *''Psychoanalysis is an Antiphilosophy'' (Edinburgh
Edinburgh University Press
forthcoming May 2013) ;Co-authored books *''Lacan, Deleuze, Badiou''. A.J. Bartlett, Justin Clemens, Jon Roffe, (Edinburgh University Press, 2014) ;Edited collections and books * ''Jaques Lacan and the Other Side of Psychoanalysis: Reflections on Seminar XVII''. Clemens & R. Grigg (eds.), (Durham: Duke University Press, 2006). * ''The Praxis of Alain Badiou''. Paul Ashton, A. J. Bartlett, Justin Clemens (eds.), (Melbourne: re.press, 2006). *
The Work of Giorgio Agamben: Law, Literature, Life
'. Edited with Nicholas Heron and Alex Murray. (Edinburgh
Edinburgh University Press
hardback: 2008; paperback: 2011). *''Badiou: Key Concepts.'' Bartlett & Clemens (eds.), (London: Acumen, 2010). Contributions from various Badiou scholars and translators including, along with Clemens and Bartlett, Bruno Bosteels, Ray Brassier, Oliver Feltham, Z.L. Fraser, Sigi Jottkandt, Nina Power, and Alberto Toscano *''The Jacqueline Rose Reader.'' Edited by Clemens & Ben Naparstek (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011)

References

External links

Contributor's Index at ''The Monthly''
this page has nearly 2 dozen links to essays and articles by Clemens on a wide variety of topics covering politics, society, and culture
Manifesto of Virtual Art 2010
by Clemens, Adam Nash and Christopher Dodds
Breaking the silence on a great mind
In this essay first appearing in April 2010, Clemens discusses

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

and reviews the book ''Albert Camus: Elements of a Life'' by Robert Zaretsky
Dürer: Innsbruck 1495
a poem by Clemens appearing in '' Jacket'' (2009)
You Have the Right to Remain Silent
In this on-line essay from the journal ''Heat'', Clemens gives "a passionate analysis of torture and its relation to the freedom of speech"

includes some poems from an early Clemens publication
Lion Camel Child
Clemens' second collection of poetry available here complete in a

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