In this weekly seminar, we will discuss - for the most part one book at a time - the second half of Deleuze’s rich oeuvre. This part of his work includes the four infamous books co-written with psychiatrist and political activist Félix Guattari, his remarkable account of the cinema, and his equally remarkable portrait of his friend and contemporary, Michel Foucault.
In each session, our goal will be to treat the book under discussion on its own terms, and to provide a structural overview of what Deleuze is trying to accomplish. While this will not presuppose any particular familiarity with Deleuze’s work, this work is not straightforward and demands a lot of its readers.
Course Schedule
Week 1: Anti-Oedipus
Week 2: Kafka: Towards a Minor Literature
Week 3: A Thousand Plateaus I (from being to the territory)
Week 4: A Thousand Plateaus II (from the territory to the face)
Week 5: A Thousand Plateaus III (from politics to ethics)
Week 6: Francis Bacon
Week 7: Cinema 1. The Movement-Image
Week 8: Cinema 2. The Time-Image
Week 9: Foucault
Week 10: The Fold: Leibniz and the Baroque
Week 11: What is Philosophy?
Week 12: Overview, Questions and Answers