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    Calv lno ' s Des i r in g Machines :Ll t e r a tu r e and the Non-Hullan ln Deleul:e and Calvino

    Alan BourassaDept . of Coa pa r a t i ve L l ~ e r a t u r e McGill U n i v e r s i t y , Montrea lAugust , 1992

    A the s 1 s su b.. i t te d t 0 the Fa cu l t Y of Gradua teS u d 1 es andResearch in p a r t i a l fu l f l l a e n t of the r eq u i r eaen t s for th edegree of Mastera of Arts

    (c ) Alan Bourassa 1992

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    Alan Bouras sa8805686Thes i s : C al v i n o ' s D es l r i n g l :fachlnes: L l t e r a t u r e and th eNon-Ifuman ln Deleuze and Calv inoShor t ened T l t l e : C a l v i n o ' s D e s i r i n g M achi nes

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    RESUMECet t e t hse monte une rencont re e n t r e l ' o e u v re du

    phi losophe f r an ca i ! , Gi l l e s Deleuze e t l e s nouvel les del ' c r i v a i n i t a l i e n , l t . l lo Calv ino . Cet te rencontre a t commes u j e t , l a q u es t io n de l 'humaine e t l e non-humaine . Quel lesfo rces c o n s t i t u e n t l ' humaine? Quel le s agencements d 'e lementsco n s t i t u en t la l angue , la l i t t r a t u r e , l a s u b j e c t i v i t e ? Etq u ' e s t ce q u ' i l s i g n i f i e que ses forces viennen t du dehorsde l ' humaine en mlle temps q u ' e l l e s c ren t l ' humaine?Calv ino e s t frquemment accus de manquer de ch a l eu rhumaine . Je s u i s co .p l tement en accord . Calvino manque dec h a l e u r humaine parce q u ' I l permet les fo rces non-hul lainesde p n t r e r ses c r i t s , t !nvoyant- les au de la de l ' e . o t l o nco n v en t l o n e l l e , banale e t prefabr lque en une dil lenslon denouvel les i n t e n s i t s . Deleuze nous donnera une vocabula i rede concepts pour d i s c u t e r ces fo rces non-humaines e t l eu r sp o t e n t i a l i t s pour prendre l ' hu l la ine hors du so i e t vers unnouveau age nceme nt de pena es . pas s ions e t ac t lons

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    ABSTRACT

    This t h e s l s s t ages a meet ing between the work of Frenchph i lo sophe r Gi l l e s Deleuze and the shor t f i c t i o n o f I t a l i a nwrt t e r I t a l o Calv ino . This meeting has a s ! t s sub j e c t theques t Lon o f the human and th e non-human. Wha t fo rces make upthe human? What assemblages of elements make up l anguage,l t t e r a t u r e , sub j e c t l v i t y ? An d what does lt lIean t h a t t heseforces come from ou t s lde the human a t th e salle t i l le as t heyc rea t e the human? Calv ino is of ten accused of be ing anunel1lot lonal wr i t e r , t ack lng in human warmth. With t h i s lsgree comple te ly . Calv ino does l ack human wartath because heal low5 non-human fo rces ta pene t r a t e h is wr i t i ng , t ak lng Itbeyond conven t i ona l l z ed and banal p r e f ab r l c a t ed el lot ion i n t oa dimens ion of new i n t e n s i t i e s . Deleuze w i l l prov ide us wi tha vocabu la ry of concep t s wi th which to d l s cu s s t he senon-human forces and t h e l r po t e n t i a l fo r Moving th e humanou t of I t s e l f and l n to a new assemblage o f t hough t s ,pass ions and ac t Ions

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    Table of Contents

    Introduct ion ................................... 3

    r .hapter 1. Cal v i n o ' s Bodies . . . . . ..... . 71) The Body i s not a Charac te r . ............. 7

    il) Desi r ing Produc t ion . . . . 18iil) Language E x i s t s on the Same Plane a s Objects 24

    Iv ) Th e Phantasm and Incorporea l M a t e r i a l l t y 36

    Chapte r 2 . The Body 's Forces 48i ) Zero Degree : The Body without Organs 49

    il) Th e Dlagram and the St ra t a 63iil) Assemblages : Sub and Super Human 77

    iv ) M u l t lp l i c it y : The Law of the Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86v) The Molecu la r : Connect ion , Change,Composit ion 94

    v I) Beco . lng : Molecu les , Af fec t , andHutua1 Capture 100

    Conclusion 109

    Work.s CORsulted 114

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    Le pr tnc ipe g n r a l de Foucaul t e s t :tou te forme e s t un compos de r ap p o r t sde f o r c e s . Des forces t a n t donnes , onse demandera donc d 'abord avec q u e l l e sfo rces du dehors e l l e s e n t r e n t enr ap p o r t , en su i t e que l l e forme endc 0 u l e . Soi t des fo r ces dan s l' ho mme :fo rces dt imaginer , de se so u v en i r . deco n cev o i r . de v o u lo i r On objec t e raque de t e l l e s fo rces supposen t d j l 'homme; l ia is ce n ' e s t pas " r a i , commeforme.

    Deleuze Foucaul t

    F o u c a u l t ' s genera l p r in i c ip l e 11 t h a teve ry fo rm i s a compound of r e l a t ionsbetween f o r c e s . Given these fo rces ourfirst q u es t io n l s with what fo rces fromthe o u t s t d e they e n t e r in to a r e l a t i o n ,and then what form il c rea t ed as ar e s u l t . These ay be forces wlth ln man:the force to lagine , reaeber ,c onc e i ve , wish . and 90 on. One mlgh ta b j e c t t h a 9uch forces a l r ead ypresuppose man, but in te rs of formt h i s i8 n o t t r u e .Deleuze Foucaul t

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    Forma non ne avevo, c i a i non sapevod 'averne , oss ia non sapevo che s1potesse averne und. Grescevo un ;>0' dat u t t e le par t i , come vien viene ; se questo che chiamate simmetrla r a g g i a t ~ , vu01 di re che avevo sLmnetr la raggia ta ,ma pel' la ver l t non c t ho mal fa t toa t tenz ione dato che non avevo forlDd mlsent tvo dentro tu t te le forme pos s ib l l t ,e tu t t 1 t g es t 1 e 1 e s mo r f ie e 1 eposs i b i l i t di far rumori, anchesconven t len t l . Insomma, non avevo l l m t t ta i miel oens ie r ! , che pol non eranopens ie r i perch non avevo un cerve l lo incu i pensar l ! , e ogni ce l lu la pensava pel'conto suo tu t to i l pensabl le tu t to Lnuna vo l t a , non at t raverso Immagini, chenon ne avevamo a dispos iz lone di nessungenere , ma semplicemente in quel modo dis e n t i r a i I{ che non escludeva nessunmodo di s e n t i t s i U in un a l t ro modo.Calvino Le cosmicomiche

    Form? l d l d n ' t have any; t ha t i s , ld i dn ' t know l had one, or r a t h e r , 1d l dn ' t know you could have one. l grew110 r e 0rIe s s o n a 11 s I des a t r 8 nd 0 m; i ft h i s ls what you ca l l radia l symmetry, lsuppose 1 had radia l symmetry, but tot e l l you the t ru th l never pald anya t t en t ion to it s ince l had no form lcould fee l a l1 poss ib le forms in myself ,and a I l ac t Ions and expressions andp08s ib i l i t t e s of making noi se s , evenrude ones. In shor t , there ere nol i a i t a t i o n s to my thoughts, whichweren ' t thoughts , a f t e r a l1 , because lhad no brain ta th lnk them; every ce l lon i t s ovn thought every th lnkable thinga l l a t once, not through images, s inceve had no images of any kind a t ourdisposaI J bu t s iaply in ths tinde te ra ina te vay of feel ing onese l ft h e re . vhich did not prevent us fromfee l ing ourselves equal ly the re ln someo ther way l t a l o Calvino CosmicoaicB

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    In t roduc t ion

    There L9 a f e e l i ng t h a t ruixes ve r t ig inou '3 f e a r . , i th aklnd o f l 1mi t l esa f reedom. the f ee l ing t h d t can be e i t h e rfd l11ng or f l y i n g , when one beg ins to se e th e inhuman forcest h a t combine to c r e a t e what la most human ln ua:s u b J e c t l v i t y , l anguage , w r i t l n g .

    The term " inhuman" i t s e l f prov ides us wlth a c lue asto how pervas lve and eo t r enched the no t ion o f personhood orhumdnity ls . "Inhuman" , " a n im a l1s t i c " , " m a c h i n e l i k e " :wha teve r c h a l l e n g e s the dominance of th e human l s r e l ega tedto th I s dark r eg ion beyond the pale of s a f e t y andcOIDprehenslon. l n d e e d , when th e major1ty of human be lngs aref l gh t l ng for the r 1 g h t to be r ecogn lzed f u l l s u b j e c t s inthe c l e s s L c a l t r a d i t i o n , with l e ga l r e c o g n i t i o n and ana u t h o r i t a t l v e vo lce in pub l i c d i s c o u r s e , Lt would seem to bethe wora t p o s s i b l e s t r a t e g y to underl l l ine this g o a l . This l sthe first par adox i n what w i l l be a s e r i e s : the human andthe inhuman do oot e x c l u d e each o t h e r , though t hey are ln ar e l a t t o n s h l p where , a t d l f f e r e n t t i me s , one Is ~ 1 1 w a y s dOIDinant ( b u t neve r f t n a l l y wlns ) and the o t h e r ts dOlllinated( though never u l t t m a t e l y l o s e s ) .

    The p lace where the human and th e inhuman lIleet mos tI n t e n s e l y 18 the body : "The body" . T h i s 19 th e body t h a t hasbecollle a p o l i t l c a l terID, a s i t e of r e s t s t a n c e and

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    a p pro p r i a t i o n , a 10 e u s 0 f cha n g e . The rel s n n Il II C 1.11 ( S S li 1t h a t d 0 e s n 0 t in s 0 rn e wa y - u su a l l Y d ire "' t 1Y - h r l n g t n thebody: p o v e r t y , v i o l e n c e , sex is rn , r l c i l : ~ m . Soe l . l l c o n l r o l ,even knowledge itself as F o u c a u l t h e lS shown, bcg i ns with tht 'm a n i p u l a t i o n o f b o d i e s . By i g n o r i n g th e c ( ) m p l t ~ ) ( i t lee; o f thep h y s i c a l , we a i low th e c r e a t i o n Of.1 s e r i e s n f t r . tn ' lcenl i t 'n lfo rces - l a n g u a g e , I aw , m e d i c i n e , m o r a i i t y - t h a t a c l \tlltlllth e body from a b o v e , as lf I t wcre ,1 p,l '>slve r eeep t , l c l t ' .1ntla s i f t h e s e f o r c e s d id n o t c o n s t l t u t e b o d ie s t h e m s e l v e s . Il Il 1t h l s ls Il complex t e r m , " t h e b o d y " .

    T o u t e f o r c e e s t en r- ' ipporl r lvecd ' a u t r e s , s o l t pour o b i r , solt p o u rcommander . Ce q u i n e f i n i t un eorp . , C'ltce r a p p o r t e n t r e des forces domlnf l te ' l e tdes f o r c e s domineeq . Tout r r lppor l def o r c e s cor . s t l t Il e l i n en r p s : c h i ln l (1'1 e ,b i o l o g i q u e , s o c i a l , p o l l t 1 ' l u e . Deuxf o r c e s q II e Ica nq u e s , et,} ntin e ga l eH,c o n s t i t u e n t un c o r p s des q u ' e l l e se n t r e n l e Il r a p p 0 r t . ( }l i e s c t : ~ 4 5 )

    Ev e r y f o r c e 15 r e l a t e d to o t h e r s .Jnd I teither o b e y s o r comm"lnds. What def Lne'; ab 0 d Y i s th i s r e l a t ion sh I p be t wc end o m i n a n t and domina ted f o r c e s . Eve ryr e l a t i o n s h i p of fo rces c o n s t L t l l t ( ~ < ; ilbody -- w h e t h e r it l s chemic l l ,b i o l o g i c a l , s o c i a l , o r p o l i t i e a ! . Anytw o force ." be l ng 1Il1equal, c o n s l t t l l t l ' .1body 3 S soon as they e n t e r i n t o i lr e l a t ion shi p ( N ie t he 4 0 )

    It i s w i th t h t s cornplex: view of th e body t h a t we (',lnb e g i n o u r p r o j e c t . O ur first g o a l l s to ask how th e hodye n te r sin 0 writ n g . l n 0 r d e r t 0 dot h i s we mus t d e C (J JO P )

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    he body l:1tl) the forces tha t make l t up, then see how theseforces enter lnto the text , or crea te the texte OUt' secondgoal , ? R C e ve have a t least ln par t Ident l f led the complexof forces that cross from the body to wrlt lng or wrltlng tothe body, 19 ta begln to examine 9 0 l l e 0:: the IIay9 theseforces In te rac t vIth each other , according ta whats t r a t eg ie s . with what a f f ln l t i e s , what t rans la t Ions , vhatresul ts .

    Gil le Deleuze, alone and vi th FelIx Guat tar i , hasprovlded a wealth of concepts for pos lnl tbese questions.Our approach to Deleuze wil l be a pragmatle one, takinl vhatve need witbout concern for the " to ta l l ty " of Deleuzianthought . Deleuze ' s wrlt in have always proceeded bydlscont lnul ty . The Deleuzlan concept i . defined by l t s ranaeof pos91bl l l ty ra the r than a shal 'ply deflned aeanina. Wehave ranged over tbe worka of Gil l Deleuze and PellxGuattar i to f ind what can belp us speak of tbe body and i t sforces, and l t s InteractIon with l i t e r a t u r e . ThouaandPla teau . , The LOlic of Senae, P l i , Foucaul t , Miet.echeand Phllo.ophT, Kafka Tovard Minor Li te ra ture , andDlalolu.s have provided a wealth o f concepts f ro . which toasse.ble a workin. theory of bodies and forces .

    Thouah 1 aay be accused of panderlna to the kind ofunlf led subjec t lv i ty 1 t rylng to under . lne , 1 have chosento focus on the vork - - or ra ther the shor t works - - of onevr i t e r : I t a lo Calvino. Kany of Calvino ' . best known short

    s

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    vorks have experlmented vi th charac ter , subject lvl ty andperception (Co eomlca, Invis ible Cit ies , T-Zero, Under theJa,uar wbile otbers bave, a t l e a s t 8eem1n81y,eoncentrated on more t rad i t iona l charac ter lza t ions ands i tua t ions (Dl f f leu l t Loves, Marcovaldo, Palomar). Thesame forces , hovever, run through a I l of Calvino's shortvork. His exper iaents vl th percept ion, af fec t , tbe body inwri t in l , can be seen as much ln hls " rea l i s t i c " work, as lnhis more "eosaic" t a les . ln fact , read tOletber , his workssUl les t not ooly the profoundly non-human nature ofeonscloueness , but also the vay in vhich the cloaed cI rcu l tof hu.an consciouaness can open i t s e l f up to the outslde. Weare dolAI t h l s , open1nl Calvino to Deleuze, Deleuze toCalVino, to see what v i i i coae of the encounter

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    Chapter One:: Calvino 's Bodies--,

    The !ody i8 not a Charac te rWhat 18 more human than charac te r? ln l i f e i t def ines

    a person 's unlquenessj l i t e ra t u re it is the convent ion bywhlch we recognize ourse lves . Even the body can be subsumedby charac te r . A man does not 81mply have a face , he has acraggy face, a s l igh t ly jowly look t ha t sugges t s a sensuousnature , hard, tormented eyes. The body becomes a way ofs l g n i f y i n ~ (Lodeed embodying) c h a ra c t e r t r a i t ~ . ~ n d character - - in l i f e as in l i t e r a tu re - - i8 always d i f f i cu l tto develop. I t re l i es on t h ~ in te rac t ion of severa l l eve l s

    1of a f fec t . Charac te rs are " ~ o m p l e x " , three dimensional . They' l . \Ve :uemories. They have d l f f i c u l t , af'lloivalent re la t ionshipswith t he i r mellories. They have r e l a t i ons h ips , motiva t ions ,fears , d e s l r e ~ , a i l in de l i ca te balance . The bes t way toruin a charac te r (and ru in ing a charac te r , s ign i f i c a n t ly ,l1leans IUdklng her two di l lensional ) i s t a lIpset t h i s balance,t i e the charac te r to one a f fec t , one purpose. Yet th i s i sprecise ly what Calvino doe9 wlth number of h i s charac te rs ,espec ta l ly ~ r . Palomar and Qfwfq of Cosmieomics.

    Although he does possess ce r ta ina t t r i b u t e s , Palomar, as t8 usuat withCalvino ' s pro tagon is te , 19 no t a fu l lydeveloped charac te r . He is a gener ief igu re , not an ind iv idua l . In th i s way,

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    the author ensures tha t he remains amobile ~ b s e r v e r . ~ h o s e polntes) of v i e ~ l s not l lmited or determlned by theparameters of h is personal1ty (Van DerLinde 76) .Qfwfq R a r r ~ ~ L v e ~ c t a n t who Ideal1yembodies the funct ion of "perspec t ive onthe world" : [He] i s not even acharac te r , Qfwfq, is a volee, a point ofview. a human eye (or a ~ l n k ) projectedupon the r ea l i t y of a world which laever more r e f rac to ry towards words andimages (Cannon 54) .

    When a charac te r Is absnlved of the responslb i l i ty ofrepresent ing a hUllan be ing , vhen the reader does nol I l ls ls ton seeing h i . s e l f in the charac tec , t h ~ v l r t u a l i t l e sconta lned ln tho:\t c h ; ; t [ ' a ( ! t t ~ " ' : ' . '1 be se t f r ee . Both Palollarand Qfwfq are bodies in the universe who look (and. contraryto Cannon's desc r ip t ion , the ac t of looklng I s notnecessar i ly human). lt i s t he i r vis ion tha t def lnes thetn,thought ",lut t ' l d l . )bserve ofh:n seems s t range andIncomprehensible.

    Mi guardai in torno: non r lconoscevan ien te . Alber l , c t ' l s t a l l l , be s t l e , erbe ,tu t to era d lver so . Non solo ucce l l ipopolavano i rami . ma pesci (dico perd i r e ) con ga.be di ragno 0 (dic iamo)vernal con le penne. (" 'L'Origine deg l iucce i l l " !!. zero 25)

    1 looked around. 1 d idn ' t recognizeanyth ing . Trees . c rys t a l s , anima1s,grasses - - e v e r y t h l ~ g ~ a 8 d l f f e r e n t . Notonly dld b i rds inhab i t the branches , butso d ld fL911 ( a f t , ~ [ ' .. IGanner .r ' J p ' ~ - I k i n l ) vi th sp ide rs ' 1e ls or (you might say)worms with f ea thera . ("The Origln of theBlrds" .l!.!!.! .!..I!.c!. ~ h e Hunter 19)

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    La q c e l t l t ~ a t e l ev l s l o n e e geco nonavviene sempre senze l n c e r t e z z e j i dues p e t t a c o l ! hanno ognuno d e l l el n f o r m i l ~ l f ) 1 1 L ,Iri ,I-lr,,! ~ ' l e l ' a l t t ' o non d:la t e l e v L ~ l o n e sL muove pe r i c o n t i n e n t ir a c c r ) ~ l i H I , d a lmplll'31 lU1linosi chedescr ivono l a f a c e i a v i s i b i l e d e l l ecase ; il geco invece r a pp r e se n t a l ac o n c e l l t r . l . d . ' l l ~ i '11Iht1. l ' 19pe t t t}na s c os to , 11 rovesc!o d l c to c ~ e ",)"tr. l i l ! . ! v l s t a ("La panela deI seco"Palomar 58-59) .

    The cholcp. between t e l ev i s io n and Geckol a no t alwaY5 m ; l C l l ~ w t t ~ l l l J t i ) ' l ' ~ h , ~ ; 1 i_ 1 . : .)1; e-lch o f tbe two s p e c t a t c l e ahao; SOUle l ' lfOl"lUtLol' to o f f e r t : la t th eo t he r does no t provlde . The t e l e v l s l o nranges ovel' c o n t L ~ e n t s , gathel ' inglUlIlnous impulses t ha t cleo;C!ri.h, . i ; 'n" l ' J l h t e E;}ce ,)f t h i ngs j th e gecko , onthe oth , ' r lun-}. rel>re. ,e"ts 1.111l1}hllec onc e n t r a t i on and t ~ l t ! hlddell "Ld,!. tbeobverse of what i8 d i sp layed to the eye(The Gecko ' s Bel ly Mr. P a l o m a ~ 56-7)

    A l 0 b j e c t Ion b0 v e r s o n the t 1 P 1) E t h t 1) 1\ 3 I l e 1:' h .;

    Il f

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    u n p r o b l ema t l ca l l y human p r o j e c t , whereas , in f a c t ,unders tand lng I s a complex of ev en t s , phantasms r and fo rcest h a t comes from the o u t s i d e of th e human sphe re . Agaln, wew i l l have to w a l t to examine t h i s q u e s t i o n ln more d e t a l l .

    What remalns t hen Is th e body as a f f e c t , the body lnth e p r o c e s s o f a c t u a l i z l n g I t s p o t e n t i a l . As we w i l l see ,th e body i s b e s t seen as a process r a t h e r than an o b j e c t , av e rb r a t h e r t h an a noun.

    Q u ' e s t - c e que le corps? Nous ne led e f l n i s s o n s pas en d i s a n t qu'il e s t unchamp de f o r c e s , un mi l i e u n o u r r i c i e rque s e d i sp u t e une p l u r a l L t e de f o r ces .Car , en fait, Il n 'y a pas de "mi l i e u " ,pas de champ de fo rces ou de b a t a i l l e .I l n 'y a pas de q u a n t l t e de r e a l i t e ,t o u t e r e a l i t e e s t de ja q u a n t l t e def o r c e . Rien que des q u a n t l t e s de fo rce"en r e l a t I o n de t ens ion" le s unes avecle s a u t r e s ( N i e t z s c h e 4 5 ) .What l a t h e body? We do not d ef i n e I t bys a y i n g it la a f i e l d o f f o r c e s , an u t r i e n t medium fought over by ap 1 u r a l i t y o f f o r c e s . Fo r ln f a c t t h e r eI s no medium, no f i e ld o f f o r ces o rb a t t l e . There i s no q u a n t i t y o f r e a l l t y ,a I l r e a l i t y I s a l r ead y quan t i t y off o r c e . There a re noth lng bu t q u a n t i t i e sof f o r ce l n mutua l " r e l a t i o n s oft e n s i o n " (D e l e u z e , Nie tzsche 39-40)

    T h i s l s th e body. A b a t t l e v i t h no b a t t l e f i e l d , orr a t h e r a space t h a t only comes l o t o e x i s t e n c e wheo fo rcesen co u n t e r each o t h e r . The body of Qfvfq and o f Palomnr a rec h a r a c t e r i z e d ( i n th e two s t o r l e s above) by v i s I o n . I t iBe a s i e r to see t h e s e tv o f i g u r es as n o n -c h a ra c t e r s s lmply

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    b l ! c l ' J q e they are 80 a l i e n to our image of o u rse lv es . Qfwfql sac ) n"i t .:1 n t 1 Y e vol vin g be l n g who r e ta l n s ,. , .11 1 '. '3. H . ~ / L o I H

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    in t 0 f i e 8 h P l' i vat e T a ilia g ra , in" The Ad vell tu r e 0 f a Sol die r ..t r i e s t a seduce an a t t r a c t i v e vidol i n o t through l iords b u t bys u r r ep t i t i o u s 1 y toucbing b e r more an d more b o l d l y . Only thep r e t e x t of pure physlca lL ty , dl1/orced from i n t en t i o n Cdnsu s t I l i n Toma g ra s a g 8 l ' e s s 10 n

    Bleogna d i r e cbe TOllagra s ' e r a meS90 acapo r i ve r80 con t r a il sos tegno , c o s (che s i sarebbe anche potuto di re chedoc1Iisse: e ra ques t o , . ,iu che un a l i b ipel' s , un o f f r i r e a l l a s i 8nora , n e lcasa che l e aue i n . i s t e n z e non l ai nd i sponesse ro , il 1Iodo di nons en t i r a en e ln d i s ag io , sapendol1 g e s t laepa ra t l d a l l a cOBelenza, . f f i o r a n t lappena da uno s tagna d i sonno ( 7 ) .

    lt a u s t be said t ha t To_agra bad thrownh is head bac1c. a g a i n s t the s e a t , 1 0 one. i g h t a l s o had t hought tha t he liass l eep ina : t h i s vas n o t so .. uch an a l i b ifo r h i _ se l f as it was a way of of fe r ingthe lady , in th e ev en t tha t h isi n s i s t e n c e d i d n ' t i r r i t a t e h e r , a reasonta f ee l a e ease , knoving t h a t h lsac t ions v e re dlvorced froll h isconsc louaness , su r fac ing bare ly fro l l thedep ths of s leep ( 6 ) .

    I r o n i e s l l y , v h a t 11 ..ean t as a ploy in fac t r evea l s the. o r k i n a s of th e en co u n Ur fa r ..o re e f f e c t l v e l y than anys tudy o f cha rac t e r o r l Io t iva t ion . There are two bodiest o g e th e r , t h a i r a f f e c t s a re f ea r and des l re (which are uchbe t t e r d esc r ib ed as forces of th e body than co .p l ex el lo t ionsto be a n a l y s e d ) . Thei l ' en co u n te r i8 never o th e r than anencouneer of f l e sh aga !ns t f l e sh

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    In "The Adventure of a 8ather" the rea l iza t ion that shei s her body comes as a t e r r i fy ing s h ~ c k Signora I s o t t .8arbarino. Having l o s t the bottom half of her bathing su I twhile 9wimmlng, ghe I s suddenly 9uffused ln her ovn f lash.

    la pel le deI ni t ido ventre blanchegglavar ive la t r ice , t ra I l bruno deI petto edelle cosce, e n i l muovere d'un 'ondail navigare a mezz'ac1ua d'alghesemiso_erse confondevano 10 scuro e i lchiaro deI suo grembo. ta signorar iprese a nuotare in quel la sua ibr idamanle,a, tenendo 11 corpo plu balso chepoteva, ma, pur senza fermaral, sI

    voltava a guardare con la codadel l 'occhl0 dietro le spal le : e a oln ibraceLata tu t ta la blanca a_plezza del laaua persona ecco apparlva a l gIorno neicontornL plu r iconoaclbl1i e seg re t l . !le i ad affannara l , a cambiare modo esanso deI nuoto, e a l girava nel l ' acqua ,s 'oaservava in ogni incl lnazlone e ln08nl luce, ai contorceva au se s teasa ; ele_pre ques t 'of fens ivo nudo corpo levenlva dLetro. Era una fusa dal suocorpo, che le i stava tentando (21) .the skin of the pale reveal lng be l l ,I lea_ed, between the tan of the bosoaand the th l .h s , and nel ther the aot lonof a wave, nor the half-aunken d r i f t ofaeaveed could aerge the darknesa and thepa l lor of ber abdomen. The Slgnorareau.ed avim.ln8 in t ha t monarel vay ofhera , keeplns her body aa low as shecould, but never s topplnl , .he vouldturn to look out of the corner of hereye over her shoulder: s t every s t rokea l l the white breadtb of her personappeared ln the I l l h t of day, in l t smoat identI f iable and secret forma. Andshe did everythln8 to chanle the s ty leand direc t Ion of her aViaminl, sheturned in the vater , ahe obaervedherael f a t every anale and in everyl i . h t , ahe vri thed upon her le l f ; and

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    always t b l s offens ive naked body pursuedher . lt vas a f l i g h t from her own bodyt ha t she vas a t teap t iog (22-23) .

    Far f ro . being monotonous or t r i v i a l , concen t ra t lonon the body al10vs fo r a nev se t of fee l ings , a new re l a t ionof a f f e c t s . Tvo of Calv ino ' s most polgnant s t o r i e s ~ a k e a l a o e t no use of emot ional t e r a s , but s o ~ e h o w stIll aanageto crea te a poverfu1 e f f e c t by sbowing bodies in te rac t lngwith each other and v i t h t h e i r surroundiogs . ln "TheAdventure of a Travel1er" Calvino descr lbes in minute d e t a i la n i l h t Federico V spends s l e e p i n l on a t ra in on h ls vav toloae to see h is lover Cinzia U. Though lt . l g h t be arguedt h a t tbe t r a In r ide l t s e l f pales ln a l .n i f l eance eo.pared tothe ab sen t loved one. t b l s vould not take i , to account tbevalue , tb e pos i t ive and c rea t Ive d es l r e . e .bod ied in thet r a in r i d e , the fee1 in l of f a l l i n l as l eep , the d r i f t ln andout of coneclouenes Feder ico exper lences not exac t lyCinzla he rse1f , but s o . e t b i n l t b a t 11 presn t vben Clnzla I spresent , wbi1e l o i n l beyond the need fo r her preaence .Feder ico exper iences h is own body.

    Lo I t a to d i cos t r l z lone in eu t ora s en t i v a I l suocorpo. 1 1 i r i ch l a . av a pena ie r i dl 1 ib e r t f l s l c a ,d i mar . , d i n u d l t , dl nuoto, di co rse , e tu t toquesto cu1 . inava ne11 ' abbracc lo di Ci n z i a , ao.aad i t u t t o I l bene d e l l ' e a i s t e r e . B I f , neld o r . l v e s 1 i a , non dl s t insueva neanche plu i d l s ag lp re s e n t i d a l bene va .heS l i a to , aveva t u t to a untempo, s i cros lo1ava ln un maleasere chepresupponeva e q u a . l conteneva in s ognlp08s1bi le beneasere (54)

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    The cons t r ic ted condi t Ion of b is body tha t he nowfe l t evoked thoughts of physlcal freedom, the sea ,nakedness, swlmmlng, runnlng, and a l l th i sc u l ~ l n a t e d ln the embracing of Clnzia , the sum ofthe good exis tence. And there , balf -a leeping, hecould no longer dis t lngu lsh present discoGfortsfrod the yearned fo r good; he had everythlng atonce; be writhed in an uneasiness t ha t presupposedand ~ l r t u a l l y contalned every possible well belng(61) .

    At the end of the t a le , when Federico ar r ives in lomeand ls about to pbone Cinzia he real izes "cbe non sarebberlU8clto a dir le nul la dl quel che era s t a t a per lu i quel lanotte , che 81a sent iva svani re , come 08ni per fe t ta not ted'amore, a l dirompere crudele dei giorni M (58) ["he wouldnever ~ a n 3 g e to t e l l her anythlng of the s ignif ieanee oftha t nlght , whleh he now sensed was fading, l ike everyperCeet nlght of love, a t tbe crue l explosion of day" (66) ] .Again, to eounter the Inevi table objec t ions , Feder ico ' .pleasure Is not s iaply the mental pleasure of an t ic ipa t ion .l t l s t ied to h is body, i t s absorpt ion in de ta i l , i t s s t a t e sof eonaciousness and uneonsciousness , and the a inutesensat ions that croIs h is skin .

    ln "The Adventure of a Harr ied Couple" ve see the sa .ea t ten t ion to 8Gall de ta i l s in the eatalo .uing of the morningand evening ac t iv l t i e s of a couple who work two di f fe ren tsh l f t s and rarely see each other . On f i l a one could a l . o s tim31ine the ent i re 8tory takinl place without worda, onlythe 1anluale of bodiea. The story culmina tes with a phys ica ll e s tu re tha t neede no deeper explanat ion

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    E l id e andava a l e t t o , spegneva l a luce .Dal l a p ro p r i a p a r t e , c o r t i c a t a ,s t r i s c l a v a un piede verso Il pos to d isuo mari to , per ce rca re 11 ca lo re d il u i , ma agni v o l t a s ' acco rg ev a c h e dovedorl1llva l e i e r a pl ca ldo , segno cheanche Arturo aveva dormlto li, e neprovava una grande t en e rezza (90) .

    E l id e went to bed , turned o f f the l i g h t .From her own h a l f . ly ing t he re . shewould s l i d e oue foot towards herbusband ' s p l ace . looking fo r h is warmth.b u t eacb t i l le sbe rea l i zed lt was warmerwhere sb e s l e p t , I l s ign t h a t Ar turo hads l e pt t b e re t o o , and she would f ee 1 ag r e a t t en d e rn es s ( 102 ) .

    In ano tber c o l l e c t i o n , Marcovaldo , Calv ino demonst ra tesho w even a more d e t aU ed eh a rae t e r ean be a body. D e t a i l ,eomplexi ty and c lose observa t ion do not always andn ecessa r i !y lIake fo r a t r a d i t i o n a ! t h r ee dimens iona lcha rae te r . The t b ree d imen s io n a l i t y o f a "wei l dravn"cha rae te r i a much more a mat t e r of s p ec i f i e organ iza t lon ofa f f e c t s r a th e r than a lIore d e t a i l ed o r complete one .Marcovaldo. ln tbe pica resque t r a d i t i o n , 18 a c h a ra c t e rwhose deptbs we never need to exp lo re . His needs, d es i r e s ,mo t iva t ions a re a lmos t aimed a t s a t l s fy i n g p h y s i ca lap p e t l t e s . We know noth ina of b is h l s t o ry , r e l a t i v e ly littleof h i s fal l i ly l i f e . His adventures a re of t en d l f f i c u l t to ac l L 4 - - t a ~ _o.f--pe ....... - &. -psyellGl-ogle-al ao t i J.oo. 8. .

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    r e ~ d ln terms of per sona l or ps yc ho log i e a l m ot i va t i on . Hel ives ln h is mil ieu and adap t s h i m se l f to it. He i s more a8ur fdce t ha t connec t s to the outsLde than a depth t h a t canbe e ~ p l o r e d .

    What do these bodies have ln common? I f they a re notch a rac t e r s does i t mark a f a i l u r e of au t h o r i a l s k i ! l ? Ordoes a focus on the body al low fo r new a f f e c t s in wr i t l ng?We have seen t ha t bod i e s , 8 S such , a re never seen lnI s o l a t l o n (un l lke the l so !a t ed consc lousness of th e s e l f conta lned c h a r a c t e r ) . What bodies do 18 connec t , e l t h e r too t h e r bodIes (Tomagra and the wldow), "animaIs (Mr. Palomarand th e Gecko), machines ( t h e pho t og r a phe r ' s camera andFed er i co ' s t r a i n ) . Perhaps t h l s shou ld be r ep h rased . Thebody, a s a t h i ng , does n o t connect to othe r t h i n g s . Ratherth e pr1nc lp le of th e body. what b r in g s i t i n to b e in " i s thevery a c t of connec t1ng . These c onne c t i ons do not d i 9 t 1ngu l shbetween or ga n i c and no-orgen le , conere te and a b s t r a c t . Thebody, a s we have seen , 19 where f o r c e s meet . The t endency toc onne c t , the a f fL n I ty of one fo rce fo r a no t he r , l s d e s l r e .lt ia d e s i r e t h a t ~ a k e s th e body complex , t h a t makes ltbreak th e bounds of c h a r a c t e r and move towards the non-humano f the world , and th e non-human with!n the human.

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    Deslr lng Product ion

    Desir ing product ion is the f i r s t force ~ h i c h wi l l beglnto expand the body beyond l t s l imi t s . lt la what connectsthe forces of the body with the forces outalde of lt.

    Desire ls product ion, or "desir ing product lon" ,claim Deleuze and Guat tar l , not acquis l t lon or1ack. Desire Is coextensive wi th natura l andsoc ia l ac t lv l ty , an unbound, free f loa t lng energywhich Freud cal1ed Libido and Nietzsche cal ledwil l to power. Desire 15 essen t la l ly unconsclous,and hence uore la ted to negat lon ( there l s no "no"in the unconscious) , Ind i f fe ren t to personall den t l t l e s or body images (cen t ra l to Lacan'eimaglnary order) and independent of l ingu is t l cexpress ion or In te rpre ta t ion Pure mul t l p l l c l t y ," l r reduc ib l e to aoy so r t of un i t y", pre-personal ,pre - ind iv idua l , des i re I s "not In terna l to asubjec t , an)' more than lt tends towarJ dn objec t :lt i5 s t r i c t l y immanent to a plane which it doesnot preex i s t , to a plane t ha t ~ U 9 t be const ruc ted ,in which par t i c1es are emi t t ed , f luxes areconjoined" (Bogue, 89) .

    Desire l s the product ion of s lngu la r s t a t e s ofin tens i ty by the repu1sion-a t t rac t lon ofl Imi t a t ive bodIes without organs (governed bydeterminis t ic whole a t t r ac to r s ) dnd nonl imiat lvebodies without organs (governed by chance-r lddenf r ac t a l a t t r a c to r s ) On the human leve1, i t lsnever a s t r i c t l y persona l a f f a i r , but a tens ionbetwen sub and superpersonal t ~ n d e n c i e s t ha ti n t e r s ec t in the person as empty category (Massuml82).

    Desire 18 a term eas11y m1sunderstood. Jacques Lacan,by basing des l re ln 1ack, created a model Ln which even theMost product ive and heterogeneous proce8s of des t r ingproduct ion ls t ied back to absence , a l o s t objec t , a primaIrepress 10n.

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    ----

    Calvlno's collectIon of short fLction (or prose poetry)Invis ible Cit lea , br l n l ' the Issue of d e s l r ~ into aharpfocus; I t a190 reveala sOlle of the fundallental1119IJnderstandlnia that can cOlle about when dealr .d laconcelved on a nelat lve 1I0del. Two Calvino c r i t l c l , ' l avlaRavzzol1 and Francelco de Martini , ne,at lvize det l re byt y in l I t to the lIother f l lure and dlvorcin , it f ro . rea l i ty .

    Queste c l t t dei des lder lo lono bel le donnel r raglunl lb i l l , pro i . tz lon l car tolraf lche a lf l in l l . di en i , a i l r r i so l t i e fantas ia dlseduzlone (Ravazlol i 193).Coal le "cl t t" calvini .ne It i l lolano unr icch is . l ao , co lo ra t i l a i .o zodiaco dl fantaalllaolo perch, lnv l s lb l l l , non aono le c l t t i d . l l area l t l .a qualle del sOlno, dei de . id . r lo , dal laaellorla (De Martini 172).

    To keep des l r . froll rea l i ty , in fact to oppose l t torea l l ty , la a vay of kaeplns I t froll fu l f i l l i n l it. ovnpar t icu la r way of beln Par froll beln . oppo d to r . a l i t y ,"des i r produce. rea l i ty , both ln the econoaic . en .e oflabor-power ahapln, the aa te r la l vorld and in the cOlnl t iv .aense of p.ychlc drives ahapln, the phenollenal world"(Holland 20). Ther. la an "Es nt i a l tl. betveenatorytel l1na and dealra . In Calvino ' . work rapea ted l , .a a dealre played out th at tca l ly aa the aotiva drive of thecont inuai unfoldina and re lenerat lna of the narrat ive"(Harr is 75) . This ta not a dealra that I I e en t ia l ly aaearch for a 10lt objecte I t l , not rapr ented by

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    Rava.zol i 'a "bel le donne l rragiungibil1" (beaut l ful ,unat t . lnable women). In fac t , tbe klnd of deslre describedby Deleuze 11 bet te r exellp11fled ln Calvino's story"Mit08is" froll!!! .! . and The Hunter. "Mitosll" desl!rlbes thesp11tt lna of a l !el l , and the 1I0ment of dlscontinulty thatleads f ro . one l l fe to two. Here, too, I t la des 1re tha tcreates the t ran . for l la t ion , but a deslre far dl f fe ren t frollthe Lacanian lIodl11 of desire based in 1aek. As inCos. icoaicl , it l s Qfwfq who speakl:

    Su questo atato dl dealder l0 lIealio essere plupreci81: al ver i f lea uno sta to di desider l0 quandoda uno ata to dl soddl . faz lone al passa a ~ f t O statod l cre8cente aoddl . fa l ione e qulndi , subi to dopo,a uno s ta to dl in80ddifaeente loddlsfazlone cloed l dealder io . Non vero che 10 I ta to dl deslderl081 ve r I f lch i q uando lIanca qualeoaa: se qua 1 c 08

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    a s t a t e of lIountina sa t i s f a c t l o n and then ,i .medla te ly t h e re a f t e r , to a s t a t e ofd i sa a t l s fy l n a s a t i s f a c t l on , nallely, of d e s l ~ e . l tl s n ' t t rue t h a t the s t a t e of des i re t akes p lacevhen sOllethlna i. l I i ss lna ; i f sOllethlna 11IIi s st na, t 0 0 bad , Y u do W 1 t ho u t 1 t , and lfsOl le thlnl l s Ind l lpens lb le , ln d o l n l v i t h o u t ityou do wl thout 80lle v i ta l func t 100, and the r e f oreyou proceed rapld1y tovard c e r t a i n e x t i n c t i o n . 1. e a n t h a t froll a s iap1e s t a t e o f lack nothlna canbe born, not h l n l lood and n o t h l n . bad, on1y ot he rl acks Inc lud ln l f lna l ly th e lack of 1 i f e , acond i t i on no to r lous ly ne i the r lood nor bad. But as t a t e of 1ack pure and .1l1ple doesn ' t e x l s t , asf a r a . 1 knov, in na ture : the s t a t e of lack lsalways exper lenced ln co n t r a i t v i th a pr .v loues t a t e of l a t i s f a c t i o n , and I t l s f r o . t h i s s t a t eo f sa t i s f a c t i o n t ha t every th ina vhlch can . r o w ,. r o v s . And lt i s n ' t t rue t h a t a e ta te o f des i repre luppose . neces la r l1y a des l red sOllethin. ; thede . l r ed so .e th ina onl y bealns to e x i l t when t h e ul e a I t a t e of de l i re (66) .

    Qfvfq -- in t h i s I n ca r n . t i o n a slna1e c e l l u l a r oraanisai e speakln . of the IIOllents t ha t w i l l precede hi. o"n

    dea th , th . d l scon t inu l t iy of h l s b e in . as it sp 1 l t s In to tvonev be in . s . In f a c t , d e . i r e ' . connec t lon . , i t s a f f1n l ty forconJugat lon. of ten 1eads to a kind of de s t ruc t ion of th ebody, the c ro l s l n a of a t h re lho ld t h a t can be ca l l ed dea th .

    In Calv ino ' . s t o ry Under the J a .u a r Sun" f r o . theco l lec t ion o f the s aa . na .e , t b i s de . l r e t akes th e fo ra ofcann iba l i sm. A couple t r av e l to Mexico where tbe exper lenceof Spanish and lndian cui81ne 18 t rans fo r l led in to a sen .ua lIn t e rp lay t h a t c u l . i n a t e . not only in a lIutual consu .p t lon ,bu t in the c r o s s i n l of 1ines betveen hUllan be i n . and food

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    Sot to la pergola d i pa l l i a d 'un r i a to ran te ln r i vaa un f tul le , dove Oliv ia I l 'aveya a t te8o , i n08 t r lden t ! presero a muovefst len taaente con par I r i tmoe 1 n o s t r l 8guard! sI f iasa rono l ' uno n e l l ' a l t r ocon un ' ln t ens l t d i se rpen t l . Serpent ll e d e s l . a t l ne l lo spaslt10 d ' l ngh i o t t l r c l avicenda, c :olc1ent l d 'easere cl nos t ra vo l t ai n l h i o t t i r c l dal se rpente che t u t t i c l dlge r l sce ea ll1i1a Ince . santeente nel processo d ' lndes t ionee d i , t lone de 1 canni ba 11 SilO U nive r u l e cbei . p ron ta d i s o l n l rappor to alloroso e annuUa 1conf in l t r a n o s t r i c o r p i e la sopa de f r i j01l !8 . 10hua c Inanlo a la ve faCfU za na, le enchi lada s(56-57) .

    Under the thatched arbor of a r es t au ran t on ar lyerbank, where Oliv la had walted for Ile, ourt ee th belan to lIove slow11, wlth equal rbythll , andour eye . atared in to each o t b e r ' , wlth tb el n t en t s i t y of se r p e n t s ' - - . e rpe n t s concentra tedln the ecs ta .y o f swal lowln , each other ln tu rn , ve were aware, in o u r tu rn , of be in l swal lovedby the un iver . a l cann iba l i t b a t leave l l t s1 .p r in t 011 every a .orous r e la t ionsb ip and erasesthe l ine between our bodies and lopa de f r i j o l e a ,huachinanao a l a yera crUlana , and enehl lada ,(29) lt il only f r o . the po in t o f vi .v of the hu."n tha t

    c a n n l b a l i l a an o u t r a l e . lt e f f e c t l ye l y breaches thedl v id ina I lne be tveen the hUllan and the non-hu.an.

    T h i . cU.cont inul ty c h a r l e t e r l . t l c of des i r . 1 . not an i h l l i a t l c des t ruc t ion , b u t al".y. the c ro l s l n l of ath re lho ld f r o . one t e .po ra ry fo ra to ano the r . lt 1 . a l " .Y I ,t he re lore , in l e r y i c . of a pos i t ive pro j e c t .

    II I InYls ib l l C i t l Calvino rel l indl us t h l t "Le e t t tAcoae 1 sogni sono cons t ru i t e di d e s i d e r l e d l paure , anchel e 11 f i l o d e l loro dl . cor lo s e . r e t o , le loro re ,o l ea .au rde , le pr o .pe t t l v . i n l . nnevo l1 , e o , n l C O I . Ile na.conde

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    u n ' a l t r a " (50) [ " C i t l e s , l i k e dreams, a re made of de9l resand fl!l1rs, even I f the thread of t h e t r discourse 19 se c re t ,t h e i r ru l e s a re absurd , t h e l r perspec t ives d e c e l t fu l , &ndev e ry tb ln g concea l s somethlng e18e . " (36) ] . This la thedes t re t h a t bul l da , tha t unfolds a f i e ld of o b jec t s , f luxes ,r e l a t t o n s h lp . and a f f e c t s - - cons t ruc t ive d es i r e . Whendes tre l s ne la t ive , founded on a l o s t o b j ec t , l t can onlyc rea t e .. cI ty l ike Zobelde, Q c i t y b u i l t by aen who hadshared th e saae dreall of chas ln l 3 b e a u t i f u l naked wOllanthrough th e s t r e e t s of an u n k n ~ w n c i ty unt i1 she f i n a l l yeluded thel l . The c i ty they b u l l t when they calle tOle ther v asdes l lned to block of f each route o f escape should th e chasee v e r occur ag a in . A. a r e s u l t , Zobeide Is turned i n to al i a n t t r a p . Nela t lv e d es i r e , becQuse It cannot go beyoDI itsobsess lve lo s t ob jec t , a lvays t u rns i n to such a t r a p , ul lyand i l lpos91ble to escape .

    But in vha t way can t h i s d es i r e be sa id to be inhuman?We began v i th a body tha t oppo d i t s e l f to the t h r e ed iaen l l o n a l l t y of cha rae te r by deco .pos i n l in to fo rce s . T h .des i r e of t h i s body, or th e d es i r e in which t h i , body U n d .i t s e l f l r . e d , II co.posed of fo rces

    l a fo rce n ' e a t j a l la i s au s i n g u l i e r , il lu ia p p a r t i e n t e s sen t i e l1e nt d ' t r e en r appor t avecd ' au t r e s fo rce s , s i bien que toute force e s t d j en r ap p o r t avec d ' a u t r e s fo rces , s i bien que t ou teforce ea t de ja r appor t , c ' e s t - - d i r e pouvoir : l aforce n 'a pas d ' a u t r e o b je t n i s u j e t que l a fore ( ' oucau1 t 77) .

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    fo rce 18 never s lngu la r but es s en t ! a l l y ex i s t sin r e l a t i o n v i th o t b e r fo rces , such tha t any forcel a a l ready a r e l a t i o n , t h a t i5 to say power: forceb as no other sub jec t or objec t tban force(Fo u cau l t 7 0 ) .

    Fo rces , t hen , are by d e f ln i t l o n non-human-- except forone. That i a the p a r t i cu l a r a.a1gam of edlca l , s c l e n t i f l c ,p o l i t i c a l and l l n l u ! s t l c fo rces ve bave come to des ignatethe hu_an. This p a r t i c u l a r c o . b l n a t l o n . in spLte of aIL themeenanlslls in place to mainta in Lt, i s uns tab le , t e .porar ) ' ,and on the ver le of d e c o . p o s i n l ' When l t deco.poses ltsfo rces wl l l a l a in be f reed to en te r ne", co .b lna t lons ( v i t hmaebines , with d ru l s , v I t h o t b e r a f f e c t s and p ercep t io n st h a t w l l l au b v er t the whole idea of hu_an . o t i v a t i o n ) .

    In Ca lv ino , these forces a c t on the microscople l ev e l a ,in the lnescapa b le cod in la of l e n e t i c s ("Melos1." in Ti . e!!! Hunt . r ) , and on l e v e l . fa r above the sca le of thei n d i v i d u a l consc lou lnes . , a . ln I n v i . i ~ ~ ~ C i t i e . where eventhe " .an made" a t ru c t u re of Kubla Khan ' . empire r e s l s t s auni fy ina "human" I n t e r p r e t a t i o n .

    Lanlua ,e I x i a t l ! ! ! ! Plane a. Ob jec t l

    The as tu t e r ead e r r e . a in s unconvlnced. Yes, there L8 avor ld of th e non-hu.an .u r roundlna the buman. Yes, t be re a renon-hu.an fo rces t ha t penet ra te the human. But no,l i t e r a t u r e 1 . n ot one of these non-hu.an fo rces . In f a c t ,

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    he opposi t e argument can ea8i1y be made: l l t e r a tu r e l a thehuman .H t iv l t y par ex ce l l en ce , an d th e f i c t i o n of I t a l oCalvIno only re ln fo rces th i s idea . Calv ino uses wri t ing toimpose order on th e di sorde red non-human univerae . Languagean d l i t e r a t u r e appropr ia te the non-humant take I t to ahigher plane . Humanity i s dis t lngu lahed by i t s use of a igns .

    This ta a convinc ing argulaent , but one t h a t i9 based ons shaky aKiom: t h a t language i s a t ranscenden t plane t h a tca,l speak of the world while belng, a t soae l e v e l , reaoved

    froID lt: the world Is caught up in th e h ig h e r r e a l i t y o f thes ign; the p h y s i ca l can be represen ted by language whlch i lsome how of a di f fe ren t na ture _ Language 1 . acco rded aIpec ia l p r lv i l ege by belng p1aced above th e physica1 i ty ofthe world .

    This la the cOllllon sense . fa . l11! l r vlev of language andvr 1t lng; the viev tha t l a ys reasonab ly . tha t 1 t doesn ' t. a t t e r what language speak l of -- h l s t o r y . phy . l c s , l ove ,bodies , s tocks and bonds . g es - - It 11 still a lvayslanguage, a lvays the salle th ina_

    It f l i e a in th e face of cOII.on senae to sa y tha tlanguag . i .. ao . e t h l n g e l a e , t h a t t he re i a so .e lIIorei l lpor tant co o n ec t lo n betveen language and what I t . p eak a o f .And ye t , in AUltin ' !J theory of the pe r fo r_ a t l v e andl l iocu t ionary asp ec t s of language , ve see a lIodel oflanguage not baled on speaklng of th1n lS , but ln e f f . c t l n lchanges ln th e s t a t e l of things_ Language b eco .e s doina and

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    not stmply say i n g . Apal't from th e l1Iore obvious exallples ofperformative and i 110cu t ionary ac t s (a judge t ransformlng aperson in to a conv ic t by pronouncing him g u l l t y , or a personswearing an o a t h by speaking a prescr ibed s e t of lIords) Ilecan see tha t s ign8 always and necessa ' t ly a c t . A slgn a c t sby be ing a physl. :a1 body (a 80norous body o r a w r i t t en one)t ha t connects to ano ther body

    le8 8ignea t r a v a i l l e n t l e s choses e l1es -.... s.en mlle teapa que le8 choses s ' t e n d e n t ou sed ip lo i en t A t raver8 l e s 81gnes. Un agencel lentd ' i n o n c i a t i o o ne par le pas "des" ch o ses , sall1p a r l e l aeae l e s I t a t s de choses ou l e s ta t s deconten.---s-r-bien qu 'un .al le x , une l Ie .e pa r t i cu le ,fonc t ionnera comllle co rp s qui ag i t e t s u b i t , oub i e n co mDe sIg n e q u 1 f a i t a e t e , quI fa i t 110 td 'o r d r e , au lv an t la fo rae oa il e s t p r i s (Mi11e8Pla teaux 110)

    s l l n a a re a t wOl'k in th ings thel lselves jus t ast h inas exteod i n to or a re deployed t h rou lh s18n8.An al lseab1age o f enuncia t ion does not speak "o f "t h i n a s ; it .peakll on th e s a . e l ev e l aa s tatel l oft h inas and a t a t e s of co n ten t . So t h a t t he sase x,the aase p a r t i c l e , lIay funct ion e i t h e r as a bodyt ha tac t. and und e ra 0 e sac i 0 08 0 l ' a s a a l l nc o n a t i t u t l n l an ac t o r o rder word. dependlng onwhich fo ra i t l a t aken up by (P l a t eau s 87) .

    The verba l s ian a180 has th e power. "Iccordin8 toDeleuze, to ca l1 up a fundallenta11y non-d i scurs 1ve orde r :the o rd e r of tb e v i a ib l e . This i s the ro le of des c r lp t Ion .To deacr ibe 1. to draw th e connect ion between what la sa idand what 18 seen

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    le s desc r ip t ions delSlnl!l l t .::lutant de tableauxqui fo n t s u r g i r le I r e f l e t l , l e s c l a t s , l e ss c in t i l l emen t s , v i s i b i l i t s v a r i a b l e s suivant: l e sheures e t l e s sa i so n s , e t quI l e s d i s t r i b u en t dansun t re -1u l l l a re , un rasse l lb le l lent de tou te la1 uraUre don t Faul kner a l e sec r e t (Fau1kne r , lep lu 9 g rand e "1 u1111 n 1s te" d e la 1 i t t r a t ure)(Foucau l t 87-88)

    the desc r ip t 10ns conju re up a hos t of s ceneswhich c rea te re f l ec t i ons . f l a shes , sh i l l .e r i n a . ,vl s1b l l i t 1 . . a vary1nl accord1nl to the t i l le and th eaea lon . "hic i l d i s t r i b u t e the d es c r ip t i o n s in al i l h t - b e i n l . a reunion o f a11 th e l i a h t to whichFaulkner ho lds th e s ec r e t (Fau lkner , l i t e r a t u r e ' .grea t ' l u I l1n1a t ' ) (Foucau l t 8 1 ) .

    The word "co n j u re s up" the v i s l b l e , hooks Into aprope t ty o f the vllf .b l e in 0 rder to I l ; !ov i t to en t e r in tothe verbal order . A work where d e c r l p t l o n is p a ra .o u n tconnects to a p o t e n t l a l of the via lb1e t h a t l a not lt l fvi s ib l e ( t h i s I s the source of the a t ranae exper ience ofr ead in l a wel l -descr lbed s to ry and " Iee l n a" the scene) .

    In h is s to ry HA Si ln in Space" f r o . Co l c o a i e . thereis l i t t l e d i s t i n c t i o n betveen the vorld and the a i , n a t ha tcons t i tu te l t . F o r the perenn la l Qfvfq " o g l e t t o d e l l aapeeu1az lon . el la cOllqul . ta deI 1I0ndo d e i aean1, de l 1I0ndoco se lno a , . l u t i n a . l o n e di s . a n i , 0, lIe,110 aneora , lapros r es l l va acq u l s i l l o n e d e l se , n l a dei loro codic ti n t e rp re t a t i v i " (D i Fe l i ce 128) . Sea rch ln l fo r the firlt. i a n , the s i l n he hi tase l f taade ln orde r to e s t a b U s h a p o l n tof re fe rence in an inde ter ta lna te aa laxy , Qfvfq f inda hi l lael f

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    eventually unable to di .Ut \guish h ls original sign froll a l lthe others that have cropped up ln the unlverse:

    una conerezione calcllrea su l basa l to , una crestalo l leva ta dal vento sul la sabbia rappresa deldeser to , la dl spos1z 10ne degl1 occh i ne 1le p tUiledei pavone (plan pIano I l vlvere t ra 1 segni avevaportato a vedere cOlle aegnl le tnnu ..erevo11 coaeche priaa atavano l{ senza legnare al t ro che lapropr l . preeet\za, le aveva t rasformate nel segnod i se s t e l se e som.ate a l l a se r ie dei segni fe t t lapposta da chI voleva fare un segno), le I t r l a tu redei fuoeo contro una parete dl roccia sc l s to la , laquat t rocentovent l le t tealaa scanalatura - - un po'd i sbieco - - del la corn1ce dei frontone d'unmau;oleo, una sequenza dl I t r l a tu re su un videodur nte una te .pe l ta lIagnetlca ( la serIe dl legnlli o l t ip l lcava nel la aer ie dei segni dt segnl, d lae ln l r t pe tu t l Innullerevol1 vol te sempre ulua11 eaempre in qualche .odo dl f fe ren t i perch a l segnofa t to appoata I l lommava il leaRo capl ta to I l percaeo), la gamba male lnch ioa t ra ta del la le t te ra Rche in una copia d'un 110rnale del la eeral' ncoQ trava con u na s cor la f l1alle ntosa del lacar t s , una t r a le ot tocento. l la acros tature dl unauro Incatra .a to in un' intercapedlne dei docks dlMelbourne, l a curva d'una s t a t i s t l c ~ , un frenatasu l l ' a a fa l t o , un cro.osolla (50) .A calcerous concretion on ba la l t , a creet ralledby the vind OG the c10tted aand of the deser t , thearranle nt of the eye. ln a peacock'a t a i l( I radua11, . l iv lna smonl sIgna had led UI to leeai lne in countleaa th in ls that , before. verethere , . a rk1nl nothinl but the l r own prelence:t he , had b.en tranafor d lnto the s l lna ofthe .ee lve . and had been added to the ser iea of. i l n l . ade on purpole by those who aeant to ~ 8 k e . i IOI ) , the f l re-a t re .k l agalnst a wall of. ch l l t oa . rock, the four-hundred-and-twenty. eveoth Iroove, sl1,ht1y crooked - - of the cornleeof a t oab ' . pedi .ent , a aequence of s t reaks on av ldeo d url t \ ' a thundera to rl l (t he se r lea of sIgnava . l Iul t lpl ied ln the aeriea of s lgns of slana. of. i l n s rep ted count les i tles always the aa.e andalways so.ehov di f fe ren t b e c ~ u 3 e to the purpole1y

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    made sign you had to add the s ign tha t hadhappened there by chance), the badly Inked t a l l ofthe l e t t e r R ln an evening newspaper joined to athready imperfection in the paper, one aaong thee ight hundred thousand f laklngs oC a tarred wallin the Melbourna docks, the curve of a graph, askld mark on asphal t , a chrom090me (38-39)The heterogenelty of th i s Lis t , the lack of dis t inc t ion

    between natura l and a r t i f l c i a l s igna, g ives an importantInsight into the physical nature of the s lgn . Language l s ,of course, complete1y caught up ln the proceas of signing,but language do es not come clole to exhaust ing the potent ia lof the s ign .

    A voodworker who s e t l out ta ~ ~ k e a table doea notpick Jus t any plece of wood. Sbe cho08es the r lgh tplece fo r the appl ica t ion. When ahe works i t ahedoes not Ind lscr l . ina te ly plow in to i t wlth theplane. She la conacioua of the ara ln and i sdirec ted by I t . She reada i t and In te rpre t s I t .What she reads are 81gna. Signa are qual i t i es(colour , texture , durabi l i ty and so on) . Andqua l i t i e . are auch .ore tha t s l .p1y lol1ca1proper t i ._ or sen_e percept ions . They enve10p apatent l a I - - the capacl ty to be affected or toaubmit to a force and the capaci ty ta af fec t ,or ta re leaae a force (Ma.sual 10) .There 1 . 11 t t l e aenae ln Ina la t ing on a dlat inct ion

    betveen the 11n lu i . t i c 8ign (whlch ve deco.pose Into theaore faml11ar te r ' 81nlf ie r 'and ' s l gn l f t e d ' ) and a aigntha t can be read tn a grain of wood, a f l tgh t of crawl, or apatch of d i r t . The on1y difference i s the vay in which theyare used. The slgn aus t always have 90ae so r t of body, aphyalcal bein l , and aus t be t ied to 80aethinl e1ae. A

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    ce r t a I n i n s e c t ' s a f f l n i t y fo r a spec i f i e f10ver t i e s thei n s ee t and th e f tower t .>gether , lIaking each one a slgn ofthe o th e r ' s potl '!nt!a1_. To use one of De1euze ' s iIlore popularexamples , we cannot speak of the o rch ld without speaklng ofthe wasp which i s p a r t of l t s r e p r ~ d u c t l v e sys tem. When wespeak of language, we do l lot use the word ' p o t e n t ! a l ' , butthe word 'mean lng ' : "A th lng has as many lIleanlng9 as t h ~ r e a re fo rces capab le of se i z lng I t " (:ofasauml 1 0 ) . Toi n t e r p r e t , t h en , 19 to r e l e a s e p o t e n t ! a l ! enveloped ln aword (Masaumi 11) .

    This 111lplle9 wbat l a commonly bel leved to be a c rackpotnot ion : tha t there 15 soae d i r e c t co n n ec t io n between th eword and what it speaks o f . This ls a d i r e c t a f f r o n t to thet r an s cen d en t a l i s t v!ew. If the s ign l a i l phY91cal body(whlch , 11ke all b ~ d l e s , il an enveloplllent o f fo rces ) t ha tr e l a t e s to o tb e r p h y s l c a l bodIes , then language is no longerp08 ses . ed of t he power 0 f God. the power t() af fec t the wo r ldw!thout being a f fee t ed by It. The t r an scen d en t p o s i t i o n ,a f t e r a l l , b ases it.elf on a tenuous assumpt lon , thei n ca rn a t i o n o f a nOD-phyaical force ( language) in a physlca lbody ( the wo r ld ) . lt li a very an e i en t dt l e . . Il a wlth theterllls on1y s l i g h t l y chanled l e . How does th e s p i r i t u a la f f e c t the p h y s i ca l ?

    But there a re _any exal lples of l anguage used not a s .1. p i r i t u a l ( t r a n l c e n d e n t ) fo rce . but a s a p h y s l ca l bodyi n t e r ac t i n g on the same plane as o t h e r bodIes . Cer ta ln ly ln

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    the ~ , 1 8 e of pornography, there 19 an a t t emp t to t u r n the9 tgn (whether a vl sua l image, 3 voiee on the te lephone, o r award ln

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    quel les mult i p l i c i t s il i n t r o d u i t et 'utdl1l0rphosela s ienne (Mi l le Pla teaux 1 0 ) .

    There l s no d l f f e r ence b e t ~ e e n what 11 book t a tksabout and how l t is made. Ttterefore a book a190bas no o b jec t e As an assemblage , a book h as oolyi t s e l f , in connec t lon wi th o t b e r a s s e m b l a g e ~ andin r e l a t i o ' l to o t h e r bodies wi tbou t organs . Wewi l l never ask what a book lIleans, i lS s lgn l f i ed o rs i g n i f i e r ; we ~ l l 1 not ask fo r anythlng tounders tand in !t. We w l l l ask what lt funet ionswith , in connec t ion with what o ther th lng9 lt doesor does not t r ansmi t t n t e n s i t l e s , in which o therTf tu l t lp l ic l t ies I t s own a re l n se r t ed andlIetall lorphosed (P la teaus 4 ) .

    Slgns , t ben , (as c o l l e c t i o n s of fo r ce and po ten t l a l )combine with o t b e r s igns . As Calvino sbows, t he se $lgns donot cOllbine accord lng to f ixed prede te rined lawa. The onlyt h i n g guiding th e cOlllbination of s lgns i a t h e i r a f f t n i t y fo rone ano ther (lt ia a l ways lIlore d i f f i c u l t t o ma ln ta in theconnec t ion between tw o s ign8 tha t have low a f f i n i t y fo r eacho t h e r ) . The , :ol lbinat ton of s i ln8 i a l u ided l a rge ly bychance and e x p e r i a e n t a t i o n , as ln the c i t y of Hypa t ta lnI n v i s i b l e C i t i e s . When Polo a r r i v e s ln Hypat ia he iaconfused by the a l e a t o r y l I ix ture o f sLgns : , u i c i d e s in thep o o l where he expected to s e e b a t h i n l women, tb e c e n t r a lh a l l of tb e palace f111ed wi th conv ic t s in ch a in s . ln o rd e rto f ind a phi losopher to ex p la in t h i s puzz le he must go to I lc h i l d r e n ' s garden .

    I l f11080fo sedeva sul p ra to . Dil8e : - 1 segn lforllano una l i n l u a . aa non q u e l l a che c red i d iconoscere -. Capi i che dovevo l ibe ra r l l l da l l e

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    immaglnl che fIn qui m'avevano annunciato le coaeche cereavo : 8 0 1 0 a l i a r a s a r e l r iuac l toIn tandere I l I1ngu388io d i l paz ia .Ora bas ta che senta n i t r i r e 1 c a va l l i e 9ch loecarele f rua te e ail mi prende una t replddztoneamorosa: a Ipazia devi e n t r a re nel1e acuderie enel . a n e l l l per vedere t e be l le donne che montanoln s e l l a con 1 . cosce nude e 1 l a . b a l i ~ u t polpaee t , e appena s ' avv ie lna un I lovane a t r . n l e r o1 0 rovesclano au aueeht d l f teno 0 dt se la tu ra a1 0 preaono con l 9dldl cap ezzo t t .E quando I l io animo non chiede a1t ro al imento es t imolo che la aus i ca , 8 0 che va cerea ta n e ic l a l t e r i : 1 auonator t s i nascondono oelle tombe:da una fosaa a l l ' a l t r a 8 i rispondono t r i 1 l i dif l a u t t , accordi d 'a rpe (53-54) .

    The phi losopher vas aea ted on the lavn. He a . id" s i l n s form a languRse, but not the one you th inkyou know." 1 hsd rea l i aed 1 had to f ryse l ff r o . the i whieh ln the p . s t had announced toae the t h i n . s 1 sou lh t : only then would 1 succeedin undera tand in l the 1an ,ua le of Hyp. t i a . Nov 1h.ve only to hear the n e i l h l n a of hor lea and 1 se ized wlth amorous t r e p i d . t l o a : ln Hypatia youwould have to 10 to the s t a b l e s and r ld in , r ina sto see the beaut i fu! voaen who mount the s a dd l . ,t h l lha naked, a re .v . s on t he i r ca lv e s , aad a8 800n.s a youn. fo re l lne r approaches , they f l i n l hlm onthe p i l . s of ha y or . awdus t and pre s . t he i r fir.nlpples a l a ins t h i Aad when . y s p i r i t wanta nos t i . u lu s or nour i sh .ent save uaic , 1 know I t i sto be 80uaht in the c e . e t a r i e s : the . ua i e i a n . h id ein the t o .ba : f r o . arave to arave f lu te trilla,harp chords an.wer ODe ano the r (40-41).

    This t eco .b lna t ion of s ians , the j u x t a p o s l t i o n of s i l n st ha t s e e . to have little a f f i o i t y fo r each o tber (hors . s and. e x u a l i t y , araveyard . and musicians) demonl t ra tes bowaeanio . l a the connect ion betwen s iana envelopina apo te n t i a l . The pa r t i cu1a r co .b in a t i o n s t h a t make up any. pe c t f l e h l s t o r i c a l fo raa t ion a1ways seem na tu ra l .

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    i nev i t ab le and unchangeable to those l iv ing within tha tformat ion. There 18 always the poss lb i l i ty fo r breakdown andr eco .b ina t ion i f the force of abs t rac t ion i s not too s t rong .I f s igns are seen as abst rac t , i f they do not in terac t withthe physica1, pol i t i ca1 world , they remain s t a t i c . lt isJus t t h l s universa l abs t ract ion t ha t Calvino subver ts ln h iss tory of love, language, and cannlba1ism "Under the JaguarSun". It ia a canniba1ism tha t avoids abs t ract ion byturning th e word i t s e l f in to a body.

    Quand e l l e es t pres igni f ian te , l 'anthropophagie aprecisement ce sens : manger le nom On evl te ra depenser que c ' e s t par ignorance, par refoulpment ouforc lus ion du s ign i f i a n t qu 'une t e l l e sel l iot iquefonct ionne. Elle e s t au con t ra i r e animee du lourdpressent i_ent de ce qui va venir el le eqt touten t i e re des t inee par sa segl lentar i te meme e t sapolyvocie a e.pecher ce qui lIenace deja:l ' abs t r ac t i on un lversa l l san te . l ' e rec t ion dus i gn i f i an t , l ' un i fo rmisa t ion forl le l le e tsubs tan t ie l l e de l ' enonc ia t ion . la c i rcu lar i t e desenonces. avec l eu r s cor re l a t s , appareI l d ' E ta t ,i n s t a l l a t i on du despote , cas te de pre t res , bouce . i s sa i r e , e t c . Et chaque fo is qu'on mange unmort. on peut d i re : encore un que l 'E t a t n 'aurapas (Mil le Plateaux 148) .

    The lIeaning of cannibal i sm ln a pres lgnl fy lngregiae is prec ise ly t h i s : eat ing the name I tshould not be thought t ha t a semlot ic of th l s kindfunc t ions by ignorance, repress ion . or foreclo8ureof the s ign i f i e r . On the cont ra ry . i t i s anlmatedby a keen present iment of what Is to come l t Iswho11y dest ined by i t s very segmentar l ty andpolyvoca l i ty ta aver t the a l ready-present th rea t :un iver sa l i z ing abs t rac t ion , e rec t lon of thes i g n i f i e r , c i rcu la r i ty of s ta te l len ts , and the i rc o r r e l a t e s , the s t a t e apparatus . the lnBtatementof the despot , the pr i e s t l y cas te , the scapegoa t ,

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    e tc . Rvery tlme they eat a de ad man, t ~ e y can ssy:one more the s ta te won't ae t (Plateaus 118) .I l plat to che c l avevano servl to sI chiaavagordl tas pel l tzcadas con ~ a n t e c a , let teralmente"paffute l le pizzlcate al burro". 10 . ' i ssedes laavoa dlvorare ln osnl polpet ta tu t ta la fraaranzad 'OlIvia at t raverso una mastlcazlone volut tuosa,una v ~ . p i r e . c a estrazione di succhi v i ta l I , _a. ' accoraevo che ln quello che doveva essere unrapporto tra t re t e r . l n l . io-polpet ta-Ollv ia .s ' ln le r iva un quarto t e r . :ne che assuaeva un r u o t ~ doatnante: I l nome de l le po lpe t te . Era I l noae"Iordl tas pel l izcadas con _anteca" che 10 lustavosopratut to e alslmilavo e t po.sedevo (Gialuaro54) .

    The dllh was ealled aordl taa pel l iacadas COD. an teca - - l i t e r a l l , . "pluap a i r l l ptnched withbut ter" . 1 concentratad on devourina, vith everyaeatbal l , the whole fragrance of Olivia - - throulhvoluptuous mastIcation, a vaspire extract ion ofv i ta l ju ieea . Iu t 1 realized tha t in are la t lonlhlp that should have been a .onl th r te ras - - . ~ , . e a tba l l , Oli ' i a - - a fourth tera hadIntruded. alaumina a dosinant ro le ; the na.e ofthe meatbs1ls. 1t was the naae "Iordi taspel l lzcadas con aanteea" t ha t 1 was espec la l l ,lavourlnl and a l s t . l l a t lna and possesaina (26-27).

    To es t the nas . , then, la vat of conf l ra in l th .physlcal l ty of s lanl , and a way of turnina the huaan in tothe non-husan (the huaan body becoaea food and the 811nbecosea a physlcal body to be conluaed) . I t 11 not that thenar ra tor ' . "atrophied sense of t a l t e forces h i . to fa l l backon words (Cannon 96)" i t i l tha t he has turned the word lntosoethinl t ha t can be experienced throulh the seDle oftaste

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    Far flam b e in l e x c l u a t ~ e l y human, s tgns a re exact1yvbat ao beyond the hu .an , vork lng both on Bcales flr b ~ t o w ( c h r o m o 9 0 ~ e s . 3enes) and fa r above (empires , e c o ~ y s t e ~ s . l a i a x i e s ) the hu .an s ca l e . Si lns are combined, t iedtoge the r , and when they reach a s tab le formation they seemno t only to h a ~ e alvays ex is ted , but to have an i n f in l t efu ture ahead of thea . I f algns are p o t e n t ! a l s , then nothlnla t t e s t s more to t h e i r non-humanlty than the d l f f l c u l t y hu .ancon8ciou8ness ha8 ln 1 n t e rp re t l n l them. Not on1y thed i f f l c u l t p o ten t i a l enveloped ln as t rophys ica i bodies andaubatomic pa r t i c l e a , but even (o r espec la1 ly ) the s i l n s andpo ten t i a l s enveloped in the Most hu.an format lona:l i t e r a t u r e , h la to r y , s o c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s . As our hl s to rypro l re s sa s tbe re ~ r a more and more po ten t l a l s b e l n lr e a l l . a d , . o r e and aore bodies combinina Bt the l e ~ e l ofa f f e c t v i t h othe ra and a more and more Inbuman vor ld t ha tcan be e i t h e r t b r e a t e n i n l o r l i be ra t lng the human forat h a t nov i n h ab i t s it.

    The Phanta and In c o rp o re . l K a t e r i a l i t y

    Keaninl l s still a d i f f i c u l t propos i t i on . I f it has todo v i th the way t h a t bodies i n t e r a c t (human bodies and s i ansa s bodies ) vbere does the aeanlna res lde? We a re used tal o c a t l n l . e a n l n l in the r e a l . of ab s t r ac t i o n , the plane oft r anscendence t b a t ve have d i l cu saed . T ~ i s cranscendent

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    plane has several charac ter ls t lc8 apart from I t s separat ionf r o ~ bodies: l t is a plane of organizat ion (organs are onevay of topologlz1ng a body, but Rot the only vay) , I t isalvays seen as havlng 90me area ter s tab i l l ty than the bodiesl t orgQnlzea ( the "lavs of the universe" seen naively 8Slega l1s t te edic ta of God), and l t i8 proclalmed to be of ahigher, deeper, or more authentLc rea l l ty than the physlcalvor ld .

    The phaRtasm, described in Deleuze ' . !!! LOlle Sen shares only one charac te r l . t i c v i th th is transcendent plane:l t i8 not corporeal .

    l t i. th is e ~ p a n d l n a do.aln of ln tanaib le obJectsthat . u s t be intearated into our thouaht: ve ~ u s t ar t ieu la te a phil0.ophy of the phanta tha tcannot be reduced to a primordial f . e t throu,h thel n t e r ~ e d l a r y of perceptloD or an i aa le , but tha tar i ses betveen su r face . , vhere I t assu.es meanlnl,and ln the reversa i tha t cau.es every In te r lor topaas ta the out . ide and every exter lor ta thelnaide ln . hor t . ln vhat Deleuze vould perhapsDot al lov us to ca l i it. "incorporeal. a t e r i a l l t y" Ph.nta must be al loved tofunctloD a t the l l . i t s of bodies; a l a ln . t bodies,because the y s t i ck to bodi .s and protrude froathem, but a l .o because they toueh the . , eut the . ,break them Into sect ions, re l ional lae the . , andaul t lp ly the i r aurfaces; and equal ly outs lde ofbodies, because they function betveen bodlesaccord in , to lavs of proximlty, tors ion , andvariable distance Phantasms do not extendorsanl s into an laaainary domaln; theytopolol ize the . a t e r i a l l t y of the body. Theyahould be cODsequently freed from theres t r ic t ions ve impose upon them. freed from thedi le as of t ruth and falaehood and of be ln l andnon-belnl they . u s t be a l 1 o ~ e d to conduct the i rdance, tn ac t out tbei r mime, 8 S "extra-beinss"("Theatrua" 169-70).

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    Ce qui es t au-de1a de l ' a c t i f e t du pass l f . cen 'e s t pas le pronolnal. mals r ~ i u l t a t - r su l t a t d 'ac t ions e t de passions , l ' e f f e t desur face ou l 'vneent. 1ui apparat t dans tephantasme, c ' e s t le lIouveraent pal' lequel le 1101. ' ouvre la sur face et l l b ~ r e le s 8 1 ~ g u l a r l t ~ 8 acosmT.11IJe9, t .personnel les e t pr- indIv iduel lesqu ' i l emprlsonnai t . A la l e t t r e , lt leC) LicheCOlllle des spores, e t c la te dans ce dtIHt.\ge(Lolique 249).That ~ h i c h l s beyond the act ive a 1 the passlve lanot the pronominal, but the resu l t - - the resul tof act ions and passions, the surface e f f l h ~ t 'H ' theevent. What appears ln the phantaslIl Is theaoveaent by which the ego opens i t s e l f to thesur face and l ibe ra te l the a-cosmlc, imperaonal,and pre-individual s in lu le r i t l e s whlch l t hadimprisoned. lt l i t e ra l ly releases the . l l k e CJporesand burs ts

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    the t ~ Q fa rces us to r eco n s ld e r th e dLvls lons betweenr e a l l t y and i l l u s io n , and a1so l ead s us te) under s tand .-1C li usa 11 t Y th a t l Il Il r) t t "rHl t Cl f the cau se a nd e f f e c t ch i 1 n a weobserve ln the p h y s i ca l wor ld .

    LOlique du .!..!..!!.!. causes Ut; ta r e f l e c t on I1l l l t terst h a t phl10sophy h as nea lec ted fo r lIany cen t u r i ea :the et lent (ass l l11la ted ln a concep t , froll whlch vevalnly a t te l lp ted t a e l t t rac t l t ln the fo r . of afac t , v e r 1 f y l n , a p ro p o s i t i o n , of a c t u a lexper ience , a lIoda11ty o f the s u b j e c t , ofco n e re t en ees , the e p i r l e a l co n ten t o f h i s t o ry ) ;and th e phantasl l ( reduced ln th e nalle of r e a l i t yand s l tua t ed a t th e ex t reml ty , tbe p a t h o 1 o s 1 c dpole , o f a nor l la t lve sequence : percep t lon- i l l a l e a e l l o ry - i l l u s l o n . ) ("Theatrul l 1 3 0 ) .

    L et us l l la l !ne a st l tched cau'J",1 ttt: as bodiesc o l U d e , II i1\, le , and a u f f e r , they crea t e even ts ont h e l r s u r f a c e s , ev en t s t h a t a re wl thou t t h l c k n e s s ,.. l x tu re or pasa lol l ; for t h i s reaaon , they can nol o n l e r be cau ses . They f o r . , amonl themselves ,. n o t h e r klnd of l u ccess l o n whose l i n k s d e r i v e frol1la quas l -phys lca of l n co rp o rea l s - - ln ah o r t , t r O l lmeuphys lca ( "T h ea t ru . " 173) .A . omen t to l e t o ur b e a r i n l a : Wben b o d L e ~ co l 1 i d e and

    l n t e r a c t , they f o r . ev en ta . Eventa a re t h e r e s u l t a o f theseI n t e r ac t i o n s . The phantas l l ah a re l t h e c h a ra c t e r l a t l c s of th eev en t , except t h a t l t l a aaso c i a t ed vi th f a l s l t y or i l l u s i o nvbereas et lents a re aeen as speakln8 of f a c t s , t r l J ths . Thep h an taa . d o e l bave an e f f e c t on tbe body, lt exteada lt andchanses th e way it 11 topo los ized , so t h a t the d i f f e r e a c e

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    between the r e a l and the i l l u s i o n l s not c l e a r . Phantassopen up the ego to tbe Impersonal fo rces con ta lned withinit. Events can be expressed bes t by an dc t i on ( a s opposedto a s t a t e of being) and l i n s u i s t i c a l l y are best expressedby th e i n f in i t i ve ( t h e even t of d ea th , for example i sexpressed by the i n f i n i t i v e " to die" -- death is not astateof be i ns or n o n -b e in s , bu t an e f f e c t t ha t I s produeed byb o d ie s ) . In desc r i b i ng phan tas . s , Foucau l t speaks of"ext remely t h in membranes, which detaeh themselves f r o . theaur faces of ob jec t a and proeeed to impose co lo rs andcon t our s deep v i t h i n our eyea ( f l o a t i n s eplderm, v i sua li d o l l ) ; phantasms c rea t ed by f ea r or des l re (c loud s o d s , theadorable l ace of th e beloved, ' . i s e r a b l e hope t r anspor t ed byth e v in d ' ) " (169) . Aa ve see , then , t he phan t a s . iaexpreased b e t t e r by nouns and ad j ec t i v e s . The i n f i n i t i v et h a t repea ta itlelf ln coun t l eaa foraa il th e natu re o f thee v e n t . The comina t o a e t h e r of these even ts ln a aeea lng lys t ab l e fora i a aore the nature of th e phantaam. This ImpliesRot only a tie be tveen th e ev en t and the p h ~ n t a s a , but aa u t u a l i n t e rdependence ( e s p ec l a l l y when ve r e c a l l Foueau l t ' ai n junc t ion Rot to e o n l i d e r th e phan t a s . s i . p l y th e u n r ea l ) .

    This a l s o a l l o v i ua to apeak of the i n t e r ac t i o n o f manyd i f f e r e n t kinds of bodies ( i f we remember t h a t a body i aproduced by a meet ina of f o r cea ) . Human bodies and word

    t bodi ea , for example , form even ta and phantaams as they aee t .40

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    And th l s meetlng releases the potent ia l contalned ln thehuman.

    Calvlno Is the I r ea t technlclan of the phantasme InInvis ible Cit les we see the Interac t lon betveen tvophantass. Polo 's and Khan's (and because phantasms andevents fora the i r ovn syste, ve can speak of anin te rac t ion, a successlon between them). Phantasas, asFoucault has sa id , a re aade of desires and fears . Polo saysthe same of c l t l e s (36) . ln fact Polo and Khan are under theavay of two dl f fe ren t phantaams both connected to the c l t leaof the empIre. For Khan the cruc ta l eleaent of the emptre ials cohesiveness, I ts ab i l l ty to hold toaether . He s .a rcbesfor the secre t law or rule that wit l shov "Un dl ano cos isot t i le da IfuIILre a l aorso del le t e r . l t i " (14) (" apattern 8 0 subt le I t could escape the t e r a t t e ' . Inawlna"( lO)J . For Polo, on the other hand. the arranaemenc of thec l t t e s in to a coherent pat tern ta le important tban thecol lect ion of narratable elementa that reveal des lre . I t lathe d1fference betveen what Laurence Breiner cal la Emplreand Eaporiua (568) . Inv i . lb le Cl t le l e.bodles tvo dl f fe ren tphanta One t. foraed of the se t of a i l the c i t l e s plusMarco Polo who flnda h l . ae l f always ln the mlddle of the urrounded by tha i r deta l ta and Im.ersed ln the dealre t ha tcharacterlzea and sustalna each c i ty . The other la for .ed ofthe se t of al1 the c l t l e s plua Khan who l aa l lne l them f roa adis tance and searches for the law that v l l l a l lov hlm to

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    underltand thei r re la t ion, or for the system tha t wi l l allowh i . to generate c i t i e s by an act of thought . The changlng ofone t e r . - - Polo or Khan - - changes the event, makes I tdl f fe ren t ln each case. For Khan the in f in i t ive that ~ 0 8 t conveys b is experience i l " ta f ind"; for Polo l t i l "talose", one ' s . e_or ies . one 's des i res , onesal f . The phantaa,as ve have seen i l bet te r expressed through a noun (nounsare a I l i l l u s ions , of course, deco_posing as they do Intore la t ions between forces . verbs) . Khan i_a81nes hls empireas a perfec t crys ta l l ine en t i ty . Tbe deaire tha t Khan deniessurfaces ln th ls phantas ln fac t . "the crys ta l" is thename of a phantas. tha t is seen _ore than once ln Calvino'swork.

    In the s tory "Crystals f ro . Ti.e and !h! Hunter Qfvfqi s present when the f l r s t crys ta l s begin ta emerge f ro . the. o l t en f le ry plane t in i t s ear ly fora. For hia , theformation of tbe crys ta l i s a aoaent of t rue creatIon lnvhich h is desire is ful ly Inves ted.

    Adesso avete capl to : se io aao l 'o rd ine , noncoae per t an t l a l t r i il segno d'un cara t te resot to sso a una discipl ina ln te r io re . a unarepressione de , l l l s t i n t l . In ae 1 f ldea d 'un aondoas .o lu ta . en te re lo l . re , s ia .e t r ieo , aetodleo,s 'a . soc ia a questo primo iapeto e r igogl io del lanatura, a l l a tensione amorosa, a quel lo che voldite l ' e r o s , aentre t u t t e le a l t re vostrel a . a , l n i . quel le che seconda vol a.sociano lapass10ne e il disordine . l 'amore e i l t raboccare odato - - f luae fuoeo vort ice vulcano - - . per mesono 1 r ieord l de! nul la e del l ' inappetenza edella noia (39-40)

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    Nov you can unders tand ~ e : i f 1 love orde r , tt '.not - - as v i th so many others -- the ark of acharac te r sub jec ted to inner d i s c i p l i n e , arepress ion o f the i n s t i nc t s . l n me th e ides of anabso lu te ly r e a u l a r v o r l d , symmetr ical andmethodical , i s assoc ia t ed v i t h t h a t firlt impulseand burgeonlna of n a t u r e , t h a t amorous t ens ion -what you c a l I eros - - whi le a1 l the r e s t o f yourlmases , those t h a t a c c ~ ~ d i n l to you asaoc ia t epassIon v i th di so rde r , love v i t h i n t e . p e ra t eoverf low - - r i v e r f i re wh i r lp o o i voicano -- fo r mea re memoriea of noth ina and l i s t l e s s n e s . andboredo . (3 1 ) .

    Qfvfq , l ike Khan, dreams of a per fec t ly s y . s e t r i c a lc r y s t a l t h a t w i l l enco .pass not only the empIre , but thee n t l r e Barth .

    Deleuze h a . said t b a t tb e phanta f r e e . up tbeapersona l forces conta ined ln the eao. The Cry s t a l 1 . ape r fec t exasp le of t h l s . lt d e . o n s t r a t e s the ex ten t to vbiebvhat 18 thou lh t o f a . a d i s t i n c t l y hu.an t r a i t . the des i r eto f lnd o rd e r , 1 . , in f ac t , an e .bod iment of a fo rce tha tp reex i s t s the hu .an .

    In Marcovaldo, t o o , ve see t h ~ fo r .a t ion o f an even tand a se r i e s of pbanta Tbe rit y , fo r Calv ino , t. o f t ensa tura ted vi th d e s i r and fea r s t h a t produce phanta The8 u b t i t l e o f Marcovaldo i s Sea8on. the Ala in theeven t i8 ch a rac t e r i zed by th e p a r t i c u l a r a r r a n a e . e n t ofbodIes , ac t i o n . and p a . s io n s . Unlike I n v i s ib l e C l t l . s , thei n f i n i t i v e i s no t " to f i n d ' o r " to 108e" , but " to eacap e" .Marcoyaldo i nves t s d e . l r e in the u n c h a r a e t e r l . t i c d e t a i l s o fc i ty l i f e , thus c r ea t i n a a a e r i e . of phantasms t ba t I n t e r a e tv i th each other fo r . i n a h is l i f e ( . een a . pure even t )

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    Aveva questo Marcovaldo un occhio poco adat to al lavi ta di c i t t : c a r t e l l l , semaforl , vetr lne ,Insegne lumlnoBe, manifes t l , per s tud la t l chefossero a colpire l ' a t t enz lone , mai fermavano IIsuo sguardo che pareva scorrere sul le sabble deideser to . lnvece, una fogl la che lngtal l lage su unramo, una pluma che s i lmpigliasBe ad una t egola ,non 8 li Bfuggivano mai: non c 'e ra tafano sut dorsod 'un cava l lo , pertugio dl ta r lo ln una tavola ,buccla d l f lco ~ p l a c c i c a t a sul marclaplede cheMarcovaldo non notasse , e non facesse oggetto dLraglonamentu, acoprendo 1 mutamentl del l as tag lone , 1 des ider l deI suo animo, e le mlserledel l a sua es i s tenza (7) .This Marcoyaldo possessed an eye 111 su l ted toc i ty l i f e : bl i lboa rds , t r a f f l c - I l g h t s , ahopwindows, neon s i l n s , pos te r s , no matter howca re fu l ly deYlaed ta catch the a t t en t Ion , neverarres ted b is gaze, vhlch a l l h t have been runningover the deser t sands. lns tead , be vould nevera i s s a l eaf yel lowlnl an a brancb, a fea thert rapped by a roof - t i l e ; there vas no horsef ly on aborse ' s back, no vora-hole ln a plank, or f lg-peelsquashed on the sldewalk tha t Marcovaldo dld notreaark and ponder over , dlscovering the changes ofaeason, the yearnings of h is hear t , and the woesof b is exis tence (1) .

    Alvays, Marcovaldo i a escaping: by t rylng to sleep on apark bench inatead of ln b is crovded rooa, by t rying to aakea nev ci ty by dia l ina tunnels tbroulh a snowstora that bascovered the s t r e e t . , by ge t t l n l IOBt and f ind in l b iase l f onan in te rcont inenta l f l i , b t , or by deyotlRa blmself to thecare of a potted plant . Ris l i f e l s a ser i es of phantasmabui l t around tbe t e ra " to escape" (lt Bhould Rot be aBsumedtha t there i. a a rea t dlf ference between the event-yerb andpbantasm-noun, s ince , as mentloned above, tbe Roun ia onlytbe temporary concentra t ion of a nu.ber of yerba)

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    Even rir . Palomar , vhose life c o n s i s t s ln t ry i n g to f indan e l u s i v e , r a t l o n a l or de r in th e u n l v ~ I " ' i I ! , i s strougglingv i th the phanta811. Under th e svay of h i s e m p i r i c is tphi losophy , he be l i eves t h a t he can , fo r example , observe avave as it comes in to shoroe. This vave I s a phantaslI -- ther e s u l t of an i n t en se desiroe (and empir ie l sm i s as i n t e n s e ad es l r e as th e most p as s io n a t e l ove ) coupled with th ei n t e r a c t i o n o f bod ies (human body and body o f v a t e r ) .

    The phant3s11 and the e ve n t tend to r e l e a s e th e humanfroo lts humani ty . Because they " t o p o l o l i ze the body" t heya l l o v it to move beyond I t s e l f . As ve see in C a l v i n o ' , work ,t he se phantasms /events span the r e a l ( t h e fo rmat ion ofc r y s t a l s ) , t he un r e a l (b u i ld in g a new c i t y o u t of snov) andphenoenpn t h a t are ln between ( P a l o m a r ' . vave t h a t e x i s t s ,y e t does not e x i s t ) . and, i nde e d . aubver t th e veryd i s t l n c t i o n be tveen r e a l and u n r e a l . The inhuman fo rcesr e l eased by these phantasms /events a re of s e v e r a l d i f f e r e n ts o r t s : e sc a pe . c r y s t a l l i z a t l o n . s e a r c h . l o s t n e s s . see lng_Thoulh t hese have aIl to some e x t e n t co n t r lb u ted to thec re a t i o n of th e human fo ra . t h e i r p o t e n t i a l s 10 f a r beyondth e huaan. They embody a r e l a t i o n s h i p between f o r c e s t h a tcan be humant but can a180 e a s i l y be g e o l o g i e a l . z o o l o g i e a l ,chemiea l o r a e c h a n i e a l .

    We have seen a nu .be r of ways in whleh what we be l ievedwas the most human abou t wrl t i n g _ We have aeen ho w the body

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    en t e ra i n t o the p rocess of l a ngua ge , s ig n s and meanlng . Wehave 31so seen how t h l s body t h a t we lmaglned to be ane n t l t y , a s u b j e c t / o b j e c t l s , ln f a c t , a temporary nexus offo rces t h a t a re themselves n o t of the body. Even mednLng,v r i t l n g , the a c t s ve c o n s i d e r m o ~ t humdn, are t l ed tophys l c a l bodies In t e r ac t i n g ln ways t h a t defy the human,t h a t break lt up , ~ o v e I t beyond itself. Thls l s the po ln tt h a t ~ a n y postodern an a ly ses of th e body and meanlng cometo : the a f f i r m a t i o n t h a t t h e re ta a h o s t of e lemen ta t h a t

    lo es in to maklng up th e human. Ve see a s r e a t de a l o fv r i t l n l on "co n s t ru c t i o n " , th e co n s t ru c t i o n of r a c e , theco n s t ru c t i o n of gender , the co n s t ru c t i o n of h l s t o r y . Thene x t a t ep , the one t h a t l s t aken by only a handfu l o ft h e o r e t i c i a n s , is the d e s c r i p t i o n or d i s ~ o v e r y of thet e n d e n c l e s , a f f i n l t l e s and c h a r a c t e r i s t i c 8 of th e fo rcest h a t c o n s t r u c t the f a m i l l a r e n t l t i e s of the 8 u b j e c t , thebook, th e body. These fo rces a re no t s lmply c h a o t l c , nots l ap ly th e f l l p s lde o f r a t i o n a l o r d e r . lt l s only f ro a th ep o i n t of viey o f the emba t t l ed human form t h a t the forces ofthe o u t s l d e seem l ike madness , da r kne ss , and d ea th . In f a c tthe hu . a n oves its e n t i r e e x i s t e n c e to them. T he i r lawa canbe human l a v a , t h e i r vay of combln ing , c on f r on t ! ng ,c ha ng l n l . mark a p a t e n t la i fo r the human fora to moye beyondItself, to become ln a cont inuou8 p r o c e s s , to j o ln a t h a rfo rces to I t s e l f and let o t h e r s go . The fo rces t h a t make up

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    Chapter Body' . ForcesA c l a r i f i e a t i o n of the ter1l " lav" vhich 1 w i l l use

    ex tens ive ly . The re l a t ionsh ips betl leen forces have ce r t a intendencieo , ce r t a in vays of ae: t in l o r poten t i a l s tha t Iole seerea l ized . These a re not lall9 ln the sense of predeter l l inedru les tha t ..u st be fol loved. They a re lav8 s i l l i l a r to thelavs of physlcs : It i l not t h a t bodies obey ru les , butra the r tha t they tend to behave cons l s t en t ly . Thisconsis tency 15 vha t def ines l a v ln th e physica l sense and lnthe n .e ln vhich 1 vill use I t .

    Porces fo l lov a l e t of l av s . These l ava are vhat .. akeup th e hu.an , but the l a v i the l l se lves are fa r froll vha t veeofts ider "hu_an" 1 av l . There a re l eve ra l ex a .p l e s of t h i seon t ra s t be tveen 1avs o f fore:e and 1av i of the hu_an. ThehUlian sueeeedi to a I r ea t e r o r l e l l e r ex ten t inl n co rp o ra t ln a the l av i o f fore:e in to i t s ovn l av s . The lavsby vhich p a r t i c l e . In t e rae t . aecord ina to quantull physics .for exallple bver t t r a d i t i o n a l not tons o f t t . e . ofcausa l i ty , of s t rue: ture . ' le t . At th e hUllan leve1. theseconcepts still ho1d svay . W. s t U l . ea rch fo r causes and.f ee : t s . Ot her non-huaa f t 1av8 - - th a t l i vina be inas _U9 tU ve by coa .ua in tha t 1i fe l ives on death - - 19ineorpora ted in to the hUllan. but vi th a a r ea t d ea l ofrapress ion , j u s t i f i c a t i o n , and l u i 1 t . If ve are to s .y tha t

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    the hU11I3n l a made up of fo rce s , ve must look 1I0re e l o s e l y attheHe forces vi th the help of a nUliber of key concep t i frollDeleuze Ilnd GU-'lttllri: body vl thou t organs , d i a g ra a s , tb ecl tnamen. becol l lng- l io lecular . asseblages and l I u l t i p l l c i t y .

    Zero Degree: The Body Without Organs

    The body v l t h o u t organs i a the a ta t e o f v i r tua l l t y offo r c e s , fo rces be fore they have lound a deter l l lna te s t a t e .

    l . ag in e the body in suspended an iaa t ion : i n t ena i ty O. Cal! t ha t the "body v l t h o u t organa" (o r BvO,aa D & G l ike to v r i t e lt). Think of the bodyvl thou t organs as tb e body ou t l lde any determlnateI t a t e , pol .ed fo r any ac t ion ln Its r ep e r t o ry ;t h l a 1 . the body f r o . the p o i n t o f v1ev of it.p o t e n t l a l , or v i r tu l l l1 ty . Nov f reeze it as itpasses th rou lh a th rhold a t a t e on the vay f ro l lone deter l l ina te l 'Jtate to ano the r . That l a a degreeof i n t e n . l t y of the body v l th o u t o r l an lt i.Itill th e body as v i r t u a l i t y , but a t a tover l ev e iof v i r t u a l l t y , becauae only the p o t e n t i a i I t a t e linvolved ln the b i fu rca t ion f ro . tb e preeed ingI t a t e to the n ex t a re e f f ec t l v e ly superpos


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