Schizoanalytic Cartographies

Description

Schizoanalytic Cartographies represents Felix Guattari's most important later work and the most systematic and detailed account of his theoretical position and his therapeutic ideas. Guattari sets out to provide a complete account of the conditions of 'enunciation' - autonomous speech and self-expression - for subjects in the contemporary world. Over the course of eight closely argued chapters, he presents a breathtakingly new reformulation of the structures of individual and collective subjectivity. Based on research into information theory and new technologies, Guattari articulates a vision of a humanity finally reconciled with its relationship to machines. Schizoanalytic Cartographies is a visionary yet highly concrete work, providing a powerful vantage point on the upheavals of our present epoch, powerfully imagining a future 'post-media' era of technological development. This long overdue translation of this substantial work offers English-speaking readers the opportunity finally to fully assess Guattari's contribution to European thought.

Felix Guattari (1930-1992) was a French psychoanalyst, philosopher, social theorist and radical activist. He is best known for his collaborative work with Gilles Deleuze. Andrew Goffey is Senior Lecturer in Media, Culture and Communications at Middlesex University, UK.

In a style full of conceptual surprise and confidence, like the rock climber who pushes upward knowing a handhold will somehow somewhere appear, Schizoanalytic Cartographies makes each term and concept a leap of faith, defying the abyssal melancholia of fascist life to confront the question that so concerns us today: what would a non-servile relation to media look like? This is a welcome translation, and untimely in the sense of affording, as if again for the first time, a consideration of how to conduct analysis across radically heterogeneous domains of existence in the digital era. -- Thomas Lamarre, Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies at McGill University, Canada Schizoanalytic Cartographies is the most complete and far-reaching formulation of Felix Guattari's philosophical thought. We see him at the height of his conceptual powers, scintillating with an intellectual intensity of dizzying inventiveness. This long-awaited English translation will put to rest any hasty assumptions about Guattari playing philosophical second fiddle to his long-time collaborator Gilles Deleuze. This is Guattari at his most creative -- and most enigmatic -- near the end of his career. The singular force of his thought vibrates on every page. -- Brian Massumi, Professor in the Communication Department, University of Montreal, Canada