Nine Notes on the Refrain

Deleuze’s concepts are inherently relational, inseparable from their interrelations within and between the works in which they are developed. The concept of the refrain is no exception. Moreover, the following notes outline how this concept can be seen to concentrate and summarize Deleuze’s...

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Main Author: Guillaume Collett
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: ACT 2019-12-01
Series:La Deleuziana
Online Access:http://www.ladeleuziana.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Collett10.pdf
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author Guillaume Collett
author_facet Guillaume Collett
author_sort Guillaume Collett
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description Deleuze’s concepts are inherently relational, inseparable from their interrelations within and between the works in which they are developed. The concept of the refrain is no exception. Moreover, the following notes outline how this concept can be seen to concentrate and summarize Deleuze’s philosophical development after his encounter with Guattari. This can be summed up with the formula “refrain = expression + territory”. This means that Deleuze’s univocal ontology of expression – the single Event speaking all events – is compromised as global structure, now favouring instead the concrete analysis of assemblages operating as nontotalizable multiplicities. A decidedly practical “logic of multiplicities” tied to inter- and intra-territorial relations replaces a generalized ontology of force wedded solely to the expressive principle of eternal return. Through this “logic”, Deleuze and Guattari trace a line from territorial animals to art and the contemporary demand for “self-”expression. In doing so, they fundamentally alter Deleuze’s earlier reading of Nietzsche, subtracting the eternal return (as the being of force) from the practical construct. Through the refrain, it is now the practical construct that constructs itself as the being of force. Yet, as concept, the refrain’s tendency toward self-transcendence nonetheless sits uneasily with the subtractive character of practical multiplicities – this irresolvable tension between concept and construct lying at the heart of Deleuze and Guattari’s own collaboration.
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spelling doaj.art-705a0d79cc5c44749fadb4231744206a2022-12-22T03:11:02ZengACTLa Deleuziana2421-30982019-12-01104357Nine Notes on the RefrainGuillaume CollettDeleuze’s concepts are inherently relational, inseparable from their interrelations within and between the works in which they are developed. The concept of the refrain is no exception. Moreover, the following notes outline how this concept can be seen to concentrate and summarize Deleuze’s philosophical development after his encounter with Guattari. This can be summed up with the formula “refrain = expression + territory”. This means that Deleuze’s univocal ontology of expression – the single Event speaking all events – is compromised as global structure, now favouring instead the concrete analysis of assemblages operating as nontotalizable multiplicities. A decidedly practical “logic of multiplicities” tied to inter- and intra-territorial relations replaces a generalized ontology of force wedded solely to the expressive principle of eternal return. Through this “logic”, Deleuze and Guattari trace a line from territorial animals to art and the contemporary demand for “self-”expression. In doing so, they fundamentally alter Deleuze’s earlier reading of Nietzsche, subtracting the eternal return (as the being of force) from the practical construct. Through the refrain, it is now the practical construct that constructs itself as the being of force. Yet, as concept, the refrain’s tendency toward self-transcendence nonetheless sits uneasily with the subtractive character of practical multiplicities – this irresolvable tension between concept and construct lying at the heart of Deleuze and Guattari’s own collaboration.http://www.ladeleuziana.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Collett10.pdf
spellingShingle Guillaume Collett
Nine Notes on the Refrain
La Deleuziana
title Nine Notes on the Refrain
title_full Nine Notes on the Refrain
title_fullStr Nine Notes on the Refrain
title_full_unstemmed Nine Notes on the Refrain
title_short Nine Notes on the Refrain
title_sort nine notes on the refrain
url http://www.ladeleuziana.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Collett10.pdf
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