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Territory and Subjectivity: the Philosophical Nomadism of Deleuze and Canetti

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Territory and Subjectivity: the Philosophical Nomadism of Deleuze and Canetti ISSN 1393-614X Minerva - An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 18 (2014): 1-26 ____________________________________________________ Territory and Subjectivity: the Philosophical Nomadism of Deleuze and Canetti Simone Aurora Abstract The paper’s purpose consists in pointing out the importance of the notion of “territory”, in its different accepted meanings, for the development of a theory and a practice of subjectivity both in deleuzean and canettian thought. Even though they start from very different perspectives and epistemic levels, they indeed produce similar philosophical effects, which strengthen their “common” view and the model of subjectivity they try to shape. More precisely, the paper focuses on the deleuzean triad of territorialisation, deterritorialisation, reterritorialisation, with regard to the role it plays in the forming of the subject and in connection with the fundamental deleuzean notion of difference; it furthermore concentrates on the characterization of the notion of territory in Canetti’s work, also in the light of the mentioned deleuzean categories and with reference to the crucial canettian concept of transformation. Finally, the paper analyses both the political consequences of the “nomadic subjectivity” Deleuze and Canetti deal with and the critical and problematic aspects it involves. 1. Introduction The philosophy of Gilles Deleuze can be defined, like most post-war French philosophy, in terms of a philosophy of difference. On the other hand, Elias Canetti’s thought can be considered as an extensive reflection on the concept of “transformation” [Verwandlung]. The aim of the present paper is to show that these two concepts, namely difference and transformation, display a close affinity and, accordingly, that the fundamental philosophical implications contained in the works of Deleuze (not forgetting the fundamental books written together with Félix Guattari) and Canetti also reveal a strong kinship, although the relationship between the two authors is rarely direct or firsthand. Thus, I believe that is not only possible but also productive to attempt to trace a “map” of this common philosophical ground and to expound the structure and the mode of operation of the theoretical device that Deleuze and Canetti autonomously contribute to developing. In a conversation with Catherine Backès-Clément, Deleuze and Guattari assert: 1 Simone Aurora ISSN 1393-614X Minerva - An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 18 (2014): 1-26 ____________________________________________________ We're looking for allies. We need allies. And we think these allies are already out there, that they've gone ahead without us, that there are lots of people who've had enough and are thinking, feeling, and working in similar directions: it's not a question of fashion but of a deeper "spirit of the age" informing converging projects in a wide range of fields (Deleuze 1995, 22/36).1 Elias Canetti plays the part of an ally within the “theatrum philosophicum” erected by Deleuze (and Guattari). This obviously does not mean that their different views can simply be flattened out. On the contrary, it means that converging projects, although independent, can strengthen a common philosophical and political move, namely that of a “philosophical nomadism”. With respect to this move, the semantics of territory plays a very important role both in the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and in the works of Elias Canetti. 2. Territory and Identity A territory is a space delimited by stable borders by fixed confines, at least when taken in its basic and common sense, which distinguish an inside from an outside and, in this way, set up at least two separated areas of reality: one inside the borders and one outside, this latter probably belonging to another territory. It is therefore a conceptual device which produces order, working as a function which organizes sets of elements otherwise indeterminate and confused: given a dominion of elements, of whatever kind they might be, and marking fixed limits which become the territory’s borders, a territory arranges these elements in a set “A”, which are placed into groups which share a common feature and, another set ¬A or B is distinguished when in contrast with the first set, this could be another territory or simply an unspecified and unorganized region of being. It is in this sense that a territory can be said to produce identity: every different territory marks a particular identity-set, labelling a well- defined group of elements.2 Basically, the logical structure of a territory therefore consists in marking borders using certain signs, which then form an inclusion-exclusion device and work according to a dialectic of recognition. This is true in the geopolitical sphere, where “territory” indicates a jurisdictional and administrative unity;3 in the embryological field, where “territory” defines a part of an embryo, which is composed of cells that stand out on the strength of their 2 Simone Aurora ISSN 1393-614X Minerva - An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 18 (2014): 1-26 ____________________________________________________ common properties, and finally even in ethological vocabulary, where “territory” indicates an area defended by individuals or groups of an animal species through the use of visual, chemical or acoustic signs.4 Yet, according to the views expressed by Deleuze and Guattari and Canetti, this logical-semiotic structure, namely the marking of boundaries using signs with the resulting production of an inclusion-exclusion mechanism, coincides with that of subjectivity. Subjectivity represents the first and principal form of territory.5 In the Abecedary, Deleuze claims that “territory is the domain of the having” and that it “has to do with property” (Deleuze 2004). The territory of a subject is namely represented by the region of being that it owns, by the domain over which it literally has power, and by the space inside the borders that define its identity. So, if we consider “territory” as a semiotic structure which delimits identities, and we accept that the basic and fundamental form of identity is represented by the subjective identity, we can claim that subjectivity is the outcome of the creation of a territory: it is the result of a territorial production. The first tendency connected with a territory is the resolution to maintain it, to defend its boundaries. The second tendency is, to expand those boundaries as soon as is possible.6 The concept of territory, and thus of subjectivity, is therefore logically traversed both by a conservative self-preventing movement and by an aggressive expansive instinct, which as we shall see, relate it to the phenomenon of power. In the opening lines of his 1960’s book, Crowds and Power, which he explicitly considers as his most important work, Canetti writes that: [T]here is nothing that man fears more than the touch of the unknown. He wants to see what is reaching towards him, and to be able to recognize or at least classify it. Man always tends to avoid physical contact with anything strange (Canetti 1981, 15/13) . Then, he further states that, in relation to this fear and tendency, “we are dealing here with a human propensity as deep-seated as it is alert and insidious; something which never leaves a man when he has once established the boundaries [Grenzen] of his personality” (Canetti 1981, 15/14 italics added). A few pages later, Canetti notices: “A man stands by himself on a secure 3 Simone Aurora ISSN 1393-614X Minerva - An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 18 (2014): 1-26 ____________________________________________________ and well defined spot, his every gesture asserting his right to keep others at a distance” (Canetti 1981, 17/16). He then adds, [a]ll life, so far as he knows it, is laid out in distances–the house in which he shuts himself and his property, the positions he holds, the rank he desires–all these serve to create distances, to confirm and extend them (Canetti 1981, 18/16). Twenty years later, in A Thousand Plateaus, written by Deleuze in “symbiosis” with Felix Guattari and considered by Deleuze himself as his most valuable work,7 the authors write, with an evident affinity with the analyses conducted by Canetti, that [t]he territory is first of all the critical distance between two beings of the same species: Mark your distance. What is mine is first of all my distance; I possess only distances. Don't anybody touch me, I growl if anyone enters my territory, I put up placards (Deleuze, Guattari 1987, 319-320/393) In this respect, they add, “it is a question of keeping at a distance the forces of chaos knocking at the door” (Deleuze, Guattari 1987, 320/393). 3. Territorial production and power effects The production of a subject, insofar as it coincides with the making of a territory, entails both a conservative self-prevention and an aggressive expansive tendency. This is due to the fact that the subjectification process logically and necessarily generates power-effects. In the perspectives expressed by Canetti and by the “philosophical pair” Deleuze and Guattari, the notion of power does not designate so much a fundamental notion of the modern political science but more a precise logical device. 8 As Philip Goodchild highlights, “[w]e may distinguish between two conceptions of power”, as far as Deleuze is concerned, namely “a power of autoproduction, in which a relation causes itself, and a power of antiproduction, in which productive relations are prevented from forming” (Goodchild 1996, 73). To be more precise, these two distinctions do not represent two different sides of the same concept; indeed, they designate two clearly and absolutely separate concepts. Unfortunately, the English term “power” translates both the French words “puissance” and “pouvoir”, which 4 Simone Aurora ISSN 1393-614X Minerva - An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 18 (2014): 1-26 ____________________________________________________ respectively correspond to the first (puissance) and second (pouvoir) meaning distinguished by Goodchild.9 However, in the following pages, the English word “power” will always be used as a translation for the French term “pouvoir”.
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