The Mystical Foundations of the Narcotic
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Force of Habit: the Mystical Foundations of the Narcotic By Simon Peter Howell A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY of RHODES UNIVERSITY Supervisor: Prof. Leonhard Praeg Faculty of Humanities The Department of Political and International Studies Force of Habit: the Mystical Foundations of the Narcotic Abstract This thesis aims to investigate and deconstruct the relationship between the narcotic, its narrative, and western modernity. To reveal the relationship, this thesis argues that it is possible to understand the philosophical, political, cultural and ethical dimensions of western modernity through the ulterior lens of the narcotic. As such, this thesis investigates western modernity'S relationship to (a) cocaine as a specific narcotic, and (b) the concept of the narcotic with all its attendant connotations of addictions, illegitimacy, transgression, illegality, and so on. Accordingly, the thesis is both interpretive of the historical narrative of the narcotic of cocaine, and generative in its deconstruction of the relationship between western modernity and the concept of the narcotic. The deconstruction of this relationship ultimately reveals both prior narratives not as oppositional, but as supplementary. This has radical consequences for the manner in which we engage with narcotic use and the user - if the narcotic is supplement to the logic of western modernity, at each attempt to expel the use and user of the narcotic, rather then create difference, we self implicate ourselves in that expulsion and distance. To seek a new and more just means of dealing with the concept of the narcotic, and its use, therefore requires a new epistemological framework which can at once contemplate both narratives at the same time. To this end, the thesis suggests the use of critical complexity theory as one such methodological tool, if supplemented by the thoughts and strategies ofDerridian deconstruction and Foucauldian discourse analysis. Thank you to my Mother and Father for their unwavering support, and to Prof. Leonhard Praeg who went beyond the call of duty time and time again to help me. Without all of you, none of this would have been possible. The financial assistance of the Rhodes University Prestigious Scholarship is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the University or its donors. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION: MYSTICAL FOUNDATIONS ........................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................................1 Analytical Foundations...............................................................................................................................................2 THE PURPOSE AND DIRECTION OF THE STUDY............................................................................................................6 Literature Review....................................................................................................................................................... 10 Foucault’s Oeuvre....................................................................................................................................................... 12 Derrida’s Oeuvre......................................................................................................................................................... 16 Critical Complexity Theory..................................................................................................................................... 23 OUTLINE OF THE STUDY................................................................................................................................................ 25 CHAPTER 1: THE FREE TRADE............................................................................................................... 32 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................... 32 LEGITIMACY AND THE ECONOMY OF DOUBT............................................................................................................. 39 The Concept of the Free Trade.............................................................................................................................. 42 The Concept of the Economy of Doubt .............................................................................................................. 43 THE DECISION ................................................................................................................................................................. 49 The Pharmakon........................................................................................................................................................... 52 Habitués.......................................................................................................................................................................... 55 REPETITION AND ADDICTION....................................................................................................................................... 59 The Birth of the Victim............................................................................................................................................. 62 The Birth of the Fiend............................................................................................................................................... 63 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................................................... 69 CHAPTER 2: THE SACRIFICIAL INVENTION OF NARCOTIC MODERNITY ................................. 71 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................... 71 SACRIFICE AND THE PHARMAKON................................................................................................................................ 75 Sacrifice and the Scapegoat................................................................................................................................... 76 The Violence of Law................................................................................................................................................... 80 THE PHARMAKON AND PHARMAKOS.......................................................................................................................... 83 Exile and Return ......................................................................................................................................................... 85 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ORIGIN .................................................................................................................... 89 Procedural versus Substantive Rights............................................................................................................... 91 Race and Murder ........................................................................................................................................................ 94 NATIONALITY AND BRILLIANT CHANG.....................................................................................................................101 Gender Trouble......................................................................................................................................................... 102 Cocaine Girls and DORA 40b............................................................................................................................... 104 Brilliant Chang and Sacrificial Expulsion..................................................................................................... 108 CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................................................112 CHAPTER 3: NARCOTIC INSTRUMENTS ............................................................................................114 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................114 THE JAZZ VERNACULAR AND RATIONALITY ............................................................................................................122 Madness and the Cogito........................................................................................................................................ 129 The Pharmakon and the “Negro” ..................................................................................................................... 132 Jazz Doubles and Synchronic Exclusion......................................................................................................... 135 Bebop and the Pharmakon.................................................................................................................................. 136 SYNTHESISED IDENTITIES...........................................................................................................................................139 Hip and Square........................................................................................................................................................