Join us next week as we wander from Artaud toward Deleuze & Guattari’s discussion of his ideas in A Thousand Plateaus. We’ll mainly be discussing the chapter “November 28, 1947: How Do You Make Yourself a Body Without Organs?” — pg. 149 in the edition found HERE. Gluttons for punishment might also read through the later chapter “1227: Treatise on Nomadology — The War Machine”, which is quite lengthy but also quite relevant to anarchists – or so we are told by those in the know.
D&G’s writing can sometimes be bewildering. In order to get the most out of this book, it is suggested that you try not to get too hung up on their idiosyncratic argot or searching for readily-intelligible theses and instead allow the language to transport you while remaining aware of the ideas and impressions it evokes. But for those of us who are hopelessly strung out on hermeneutics, this critical introduction to the text provides glosses of each section which may prove helpful. You’re also encouraged to check out the youtube series “Deleuze for the Desperate”, which explores many of the important concepts deployed in Capitalism & Schizophrenia (the two volume project comprising A Thousand Plateaus and Anti-Oedipus).
Remember our reading of Barthes from a while back and, instead of privileging authorial intent, make the book your own!
“To confront the metaphysics I have created for myself, in accordance with the void I carry within me.”
Let’s get relational!
