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Deleuze, History and Becoming DELEUZE, HISTORY AND BECOMING CRAIG LUNDY A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of History and Philosophy University of New South Wales 2010 ii COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed .............................................................................. Date .............................................................................. AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed .............................................................................. Date .............................................................................. iii iv ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date…………………………………………….............. v vi DELEUZE, HISTORY AND BECOMING CRAIG LUNDY A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of History and Philosophy University of New South Wales 2010 vii CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x ABBREVIATIONS xi INTRODUCTION 1 1. THE DEPTHS OF HISTORY: On the intensive nature of historical depth Introduction 13 Intensity 15 Depth 22 Opening towards the future 31 Conclusion 40 2. THE SURFACES OF HISTORY: On the dynamic nature of historical production Introduction 43 Surface becoming and static genesis (the logic of surfaces) 46 Developmental becoming and dynamic genesis (the history of surfaces) 52 The surface-as-between 62 Conclusion 69 3. WHAT LIES BETWEEN: On nomadology as a philosophy of history Introduction 72 The nomad and the State (setting the dualism) 75 The phylum (complexifying and breaking the dualism) 86 viii The reunion and reorientation of the between (pluralism=monism) 100 Conclusion 113 4. CAPTURE, CREATION AND CONTINGENCY: From prehistory to universal history Introduction 117 The prehistory of the State apparatus 119 The universalism of capitalism 130 The universal history of contingency 138 Conclusion 161 5. WHAT IS HISTORY IN WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?: On the nature and use of history in the definition of philosophy Introduction 165 Conceptual history 166 Planar history 173 Historical personae 184 Historiophilosophy 190 Conclusion 206 CONCLUSION 211 BIBLIOGRAPHY 221 ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The production of this thesis has been, without doubt, an absolute joy. For that I have several people to thank. Foremost of those is Paul Patton, whose guidance has always been of the highest calibre. His ability to consistently improve my work leaves me with an immense debt of gratitude. I have also been fortunate enough to have another great mentor and friend in Robin Durie. The time spent with him not only yielded much insight but provided me with an extraordinary amount of inspiration as well. Of the other individuals to have had a positive influence of my work, I would like to thank my many colleagues, whose companionship, feedback and own work was of immeasurable benefit to the development of my own. I am thankful in particular to: Mike Hale, Daniella Voss, Winnie Sung, Daniel McLoughlin, Robin Dunford, Simon Townsend and my fellow ‘writing group’ members. Tim Rayner’s wisdom has also been an invaluable resource for my work over many years now. My family – Robert, Susan, Derek and Dawn – are deserving of special mention for helping me achieve my goals. This project would have not begun let alone ended without their on-going encouragement and support. I am also appreciative for the support afforded me by Kylie Benton-Connell and my co-supervisor Simon Lumsden. Part of this thesis was pursued as a visiting researcher in the Politics Department at the University of Exeter. For that I must thank those in Exeter who made my stay so thoroughly enjoyable, as well as the External Research Grant and Postgraduate Student Support Schemes granted me by the University of New South Wales. My candidature has also been significantly assisted throughout from the receival of an Australian Postgraduate Award, for which I am very grateful. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank Stevie Voogt for the always well- measured advice and unwavering devotion that she so lovingly extended to me day after day. x ABBREVIATIONS The following texts authored (and co-authored) by Deleuze have been abbreviated: AO Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (co-authored with Félix Guattari), trans. Robert Hurley, Mark Seem, and Helen R. Lane (London and New York: Continuum, 1984 [1972]). ATP A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (co-authored with Félix Guattari), trans. Brian Massumi (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1989 [1980]). B Bergsonism, trans. Hugh Tomlinson and Barbara Habberjam (New York: Zone Books, 1991 [1966]). BCD “Bergson’s Conception of Difference”, in The New Bergson, trans. Melissa McMahon, ed. John Mullarkey (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1999 [1956]). D Dialogues (co-authored with Claire Parnet), trans. Barbara Habberjam and Hugh Tomlinson (London and New York: Continuum, 2002 [1977]). DI Desert Islands and Other Texts: 1953-1974, trans. Michael Taormina, ed. David Lapoujade (New York and Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2004 [2002]). DR Difference and Repetition, trans. Paul Patton (London: Athlone Press, 1994 [1968]). F Foucault, trans. Sean Hand (London and New York: Continuum, 1999 [1986]). LS The Logic of Sense, trans. Mark Lester with Charles Stivale, ed. Constantin V. Boundas (London: Continuum, 1990 [1969]). N Negotiations: 1972-1990, trans. Martin Joughin (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995 [1990]). NP Nietzsche and Philosophy, trans. Hugh Tomlinson (London and New York: Continuum, 1983 [1962]). TRM Two Regimes of Madness: Texts and Interviews 1975-1995, trans. Ames Hodges and Mike Taormina, ed. David Lapoujade (New York and Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2006). WP What is Philosophy? (co-authored with Félix Guattari), trans. Graham Burchell and Hugh Tomlinson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994 [1991]). xi xii INTRODUCTION This project is an investigation into Deleuze’s philosophy of history. As there is much that could be said on such a vast theme, the nature of this project will be open-ended and experimental rather than definitive and expository. Our objective, in other words, is not to construct a full Deleuzian philosophy of history per se, but rather to put forward some important and interesting ideas on what Deleuze has to offer the philosophy of history and what this philosophy of history might in turn have to offer Deleuzian scholarship. What will guide these various thoughts throughout is the intuition that Deleuze’s philosophy provides us with a novel and important notion of historical creativity – that is, a way of thinking about history as an ontological force of creativity. To associate Deleuze with a notion of historical creativity may at first appear to be a terrible mistake. This is because throughout his career he repeatedly derides history for its un- creative nature. As just one example, Deleuze says with Guattari that “Creations are like mutant abstract lines that have detached themselves from the task of representing a world, precisely because they assemble a new type of reality that history can only recontain or relocate in punctual systems” (ATP 296). Although Deleuze also admits that history is in a certain respect necessary for creation, there is no denying his ambivalence towards history. As he remarks in an interview with Antonio Negri: History isn’t experimental, it’s just the set of more or less negative preconditions that make it possible to experiment with something beyond history. Without history the experimentation would remain indeterminate, lacking any initial conditions, but experimentation isn’t historical. (N 170)1
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