Draft Literature Review 3
Still working on this literature review - in my head a bit about it.
Literature Review 3, Kim Fifield, Rhizome
Gilles Deleuze, and Felix Guattari “Rhizome.” Introduction from A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism to Schizophrenia, pages 3-25. University of Minnesota Press, 1987. Translated by Brian Masumi.
The book “A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism to Schizophrenia”, is written by Gilles Delueze and Félix Guattari. Deleuze (1925-1995) was a French poststructuralist, philosopher whose work spans a wide range of topics, including philosophy, literature, cinema, and art.1 Guattari (1930-1992) was a French psychoanalyst, philosopher and activist who placed an emphasis on the importance of collective subjectivity and was an advocate for social and political transformation. He is best known for his collaborations with Deleuze, particularly "Anti-Oedipus" and "A Thousand Plateaus”.2
Deleuze and Guattari introduce a philosophical and metaphorical concept of a rhizome as an alternative model of thought and social organisation. They assign the term “rhizome” in relation to root systems that spread underground, dispersing with no direction, no beginning, and no end. The rhizome model encourages a more interconnected approach to knowledge and understanding as it is non-linear, decentralised, and open-ended, which opposes arborescent (tree-like) hierarchical and binary models of thought. By exploring the concept of rhizome, Deleuze and Guattari challenge established systems of thought and promote an ontology that allows for multiple entry points, connections, and multiplicities, enabling a more dynamic and fluid understanding of reality.
Key characteristics of the rhizome include: decentring - no central point or hierarchy; multiplicity – many connections and entry points; heterogeneity - different elements and perspectives; movement - constant growth and transformation; territorialisation - creating new spaces and connections. Should I detail these more? Deleuze and Guttari explain the key characteristics of the rhizome through six principles: (1) and (2) connection and heterogeneity; (3) multiplicity (4) asignifying rupture (5) and (6) cartography and decalcomania.
In an essay also titled “Rhizome” (2004), Mark Gartler discusses how Deleuze (inspired by Jung) and Guattari developed rhizome in relation to media theory, but it was psychologist Carl Jung who introduced the rhizome into psychology and, consequently, theoretical discourse in his book Memories, Dreams and Reflections (1962).3 Jung wrote:
“Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. Its true life is invisible, hidden in the rhizome. The part that appears above ground lasts only a single summer. Then it withers away—an ephemeral apparition. When we think of the unending growth and decay of life and civilisations, we cannot escape the impression of absolute nullity. Yet I have never lost a sense of something that lives and endures underneath the eternal flux. What we see is the blossom, which passes. The rhizome remains.”4
Metaphorically, Jung is likening the plant and its rhizome (the underground root system of a plant) to the nature of life, growth and impermanence. Through the life cycle of a plant through its fleeting blossoming, the rhizome endures, as an invisible facet of the deeper and enduring forces and interconnectivity that shape our lives and the world around us. He is suggesting that there is more to life than what we see and experience on a surface level, that there is an eternal quality to life that transcends the ephemeral nature of human existence.
Deleuze and Guattari expanded on the concept of the rhizome, challenging fields such as linguistics typified by Noam Chomsky (b. 1928). Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual who is credited as the founder of modern linguistics.5 In phrase structure, for example, linguistics is one of many fields that utilises the hierarchical tree structure that dominates Western ontology.6 Comparing the rhizome and the arborescent structure, Deleuze and Guattari state that “Any point of a rhizome can be connected to anything other, and must be. This is very different from the tree or root, which plots a point, fixes an order. The linguistic tree on the Chomsky model still begins at a point S and proceeds by dichotomy”7. This describes the difference in structure between the sprawling interconnected rhizome is the oppositional hierarchical structures such as the tree. Gartler affirms this in his essay in relation to rhizome, however, he notes that the two models do not always repel each other, and the rhizome can affect the tree. He states a “rhizome and a tree are at odds, because the rhizome represents a structure that threatens the authority of the trees hierarchy. The two are not completely repellent, however, because the rhizome is able to infiltrate the tree; fluidity and openness infect the closed, unchanging and static”3 which indicates there is possibility within the rhizome model to create an opportunity for change. This idea is demonstrated within resistance groups which adopted more rhizomatic thinking.
The multifaceted concept of the rhizome, as proposed by Deleuze and Guattari, presents an alternative to traditional hierarchical and binary models of thought and social organisation. By emphasising decentralisation, interconnectedness, and multiplicity, the rhizome opposes established systems that rely on centralisation and control. The metaphorical implications of the rhizome, as initially discussed by Jung, emphasised an enduring and interconnected nature of life and existence. There is additionally a transformative aspect to the rhizomatic thinking and its potential for the rhizome to influence and change existing systems of thought.
Bibliography
1 Wolin, R. (2024a, April 25). Gilles Deleuze | French poststructuralist, philosopher. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved May 16, 2024, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gilles-Deleuze
2 Wolin, R. (2024b, April 30). Pierre-Félix Guattari | French psychoanalyst, philosopher, activist. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved May 16, 2024, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-Felix-Guattari
3 Gartler, M. (2004). Rhizome. The University of Chicago. Retrieved May 18, 2024, from https://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/rhizome.htm.
4 Jung, C. (1989). Memories, dreams and reflections (A. Jaffe, Ed.; C. Winston & R. Winston, Trans.) [PDF]. VIntage. https://antilogicalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/memories-dreams-reflections.pdf
6 University of Arizona. (n.d.). About Noam Chomsky. College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. Retrieved May 22, 2024, from https://sbs.arizona.edu/chomsky/about
7 Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia (B. Massumi, Trans.). University of Minnesota Press.
