Deleuzism: A Metacommentary

Deleuze was a philosopher who offered sharp critiques of - as well as radical alternatives to -psychoanalysis, semiotics, all forms of structuralism and all forms of expressionism. While Deleuze was not a dialectician, as readers of him we must be. The conviction that Deleuze was doing something radically new in his work has accompanied a corresponding anxiety as to how to read it. In this work, Ian Buchanan takes up the challenge of answering the questions: how should we read Deleuze? And, how should we read with Deleuze? He shows us how Deleuze’s philosophy works. He offers a clear delineation of Deleuze’s way of thought, one that is inseparable from a conception of philosophy as a way of living. Buchanan ranges over the entire Deleuzian corpus engaging with elemental concepts in Deleuze - the dark precursor , desire , flow , nomad . the image , betrayal , becoming-woman - and shows that despite Deluge’s self-declared moratorium against dialectics he was a number of important respects a dialectician. Offering concrete Deleuzian readings of literary works such as Wuthering Heights , films such as Blade Runner , architectural structures such as the Bonaventure Hotel and popular cultural practices, including 80s pop music, Buchanan demonstrates the effectiveness of Deluzian analysis for interdisciplinary cultural critique. Deluzism is a work that should engage all those with an interest in the 20th century’s most radical and original philosopher.