Slavoj Žižek, "Applause"

The fundamental difference between the nature of Stalinist and Fascist 'totalitarianisms' is captured in a small but important detail:

When his public address is over and the crowd applauds him, the Fascist Leader states that he accepts that he is the subject of that applause (he sets his sights far away or salutes the people, etc.), while the Stalinist leader (for example, when the party's secretary general's report to congress is finished) stands up and joins in the applause.

This distinction indicates that the two rhetorical positions are fundamentally different: the Stalinist leader must stand up and join in the applause, because he is not the main subject of the applause, but the great Other in terms of History, which he humbly serves/mediates.

Since being the object-instrument of the pleasure of the Great Other – according to Lacan – is the character of the deviant economy, it can be said that the distinction here is between fascist paranoid and Stalinist heretic.

Notes:

From the Epidemic of Dreams

Turkish: Light Peace Fidaner