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Ontoterrorem; or, power, ontological-terror & protestation: (Re)conceptualizing language, thought & the body as structures of possibility

Posted on:2012-10-29Degree:Ph.DType:Dissertation
University:State University of New York at BuffaloCandidate:Maurer, Jamerson AndrewFull Text:PDF
GTID:1455390011450450Subject:Literature
Abstract/Summary:
"Ontoterrorem; or, Power, Ontological-Terror & Protestation" attempts a (re)conceptualization of Language, Thought & the Body as structures of possibility. While I feel it is utterly impossible to 'definitively' frame the 'narratives' of each of those terms, these concepts are nevertheless critical components of philosophical ideas & 'poietic' expressions. Poiesis is distinct from 'poetics;' poiesis is rooted in the acts of creation that result from 'poetic' explorations & expressions. As such, in any analysis &/or reading of existence, it becomes crucial---if not inevitable---to explore Language, Thought & Body as they have extended across various & often radically distinct 'poietic' expressions. In the language & consequent thought of Deleuze & Guattari, it can be said that my dissertation attempts a 'noology'---a 'line of flight' that incises the history of representation of the 'images of thought' being explored in Language, Thought & the Body. It is, in a sense, impossible to encapsulate these concepts in such a way as to 'define' them---to give them specific, pre-determined 'forms' & static signification & 'sense.' This work attempts precisely the opposite; it strives to identify the inherently transient & dynamic nature of each of these concepts, as well as the consequent possibilities that emerge from their structural relationships with one another. It is my contention that Language, Thought & the Body cannot truly be thought of, examined or explored in absentia of the others; rather, they must be considered with regards to the possibilities of 'Becoming' that emerge once they are conceptualized anew as (what I call) structures of differentiation.;Of course, it is impossible to do so in an 'absolute' or (in a sense) transcendent fashion. For this reason, my intention is to present a possibility of conceptualizing these notions. As they are not attempts at 'definitive' statements, they avoid the sedimentation & 'framing' of the possibilities contained within the creative 'forms' themselves, as well as the aforementioned concepts of which they 'speak.' Without doing so, I fear that my work---indeed any exploration---may inevitably descend into the very same inherent oppression at the hands of 'form' & 'stasis' that this work so feverishly acts-against. How can one consider & navigate these poietic-possibilities, without first abandoning the very vessels that carried them into the contentious spaces that bellowed for uprising against Language, Thought & the Body? It is these spaces & bellows of uprising that are explored in the work.;I argue that rather than literally objectify these concepts, we instead think of & through them as constructs possessive of constitutive elements---& explore the zones created within such structures . These are zones of possibilities, for within their spaces there is perpetual differentiation between, through & against these constitutive elements. Their differentiation & thus their possible-existentiality as both concept & actualized-'thing' occurs on the level of the rhizome---as constellations & amalgamations of connections & nodes, thus avoiding 'linear,' 'directionalized' or pre-determined pathways. As a result, Language, Thought & the Body are reconceptualized & represented as the structural-differentiations between, through & against 'poiesis' & ontology. The zone(s) created from such symbiotic-constructs are termed 'ontopoiesis' & the 'ontocorporeal' in my work. Language, Thought & the Body, therefore, are explored in this dissertation through readings of the expressions of 'ontopoiesis' & the 'ontocorporeal,' as well as the 'narratives' they both constitute, & are constituted by.;In such an analysis of these concepts, there is inevitably a confrontation with 'Order;' or as these 'interiorizations' & limitations are applied to our species writ large, in the 'form' of the State. As the primary method of 'State' perpetuation & predomination manifests through power, my work concludes with an exploration into the 'objectifying' or 'limiting' restrictions on & of possible 'ontopoietic' & 'ontocorporeal' expressions through impositions of power. Notably, Language, Thought & the Body affect & are effected by each of these conceptual permutations & their consequent expressions. Ultimately, I argue that the protestation to & resistance towards such effigial impositions is what I name ontoterrorem. It is a dark-energy that infects---as if a virus to a Host---the sites of power & the 'solidifying' & limiting symptoms of its oppressive presence. It is in the dynamic entities of 'shadows,' 'doubles' & duende that this protestational energy manifests & flows---three concepts from the writing of Antonin Artaud & Federico Garcia Lorca that are explored in my work, & that speak towards an 'ontopoiesis' that consumes & immolates stasis & 'forms.' Thus the transient-'forms' embodied by this possibility of protestation are not 'Revolutions' (which are permanent & fixed), but rather uprisings.
Keywords/Search Tags:Thought, Language, Protestation, Possibility, Power, Structures, Ontoterrorem, Attempts
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