The declension of variation. On the notion of multiplicity in Gilles Deleuze This paper aims at a reconstruction of the notion of multiplicity in the thought of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. To this end, our guiding thread corresponds to the relationship that this thinker establishes between the mathematical doctrine of Bernhard Riemann and the philosophy of Henri Bergson. Our purpose is to go through the various appearances of this relationship and to reconstruct the fundamental axes of an original concept of multiplicity that we believe Deleuze's thought holds. Thus, our inquiry, via a strategic journey through the Bergsonism, A Thousand Plateaus and Difference and Repetition, uncovers a double articulation for the deleuzian multiplicity. This double articulation is expressed in the two axes of thematization that we develop, namely coherence and inherence, or in other terms, a multidimensional organization and an activity of internal division. From these two axes, we believe, the notion of multiplicity describes the dynamics proper to a mouvement of continuous change or variation of nature. Keywords : Deleuze, Multiplicity, Variation, Bergson, Riemann, Bergsonism, A Thousand Plateaus, Difference and repetition.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Please refer to full text for abstract.

赫爾曼．梅爾維爾(Herman Melville)的小說《白鯨記》(Moby-Dick, 1851)以其極富深度的思維吸引著讀者，並將捕鯨船上的生活百態萌發為哲學領域的思考。《白鯨記》富有多重意義的特徵使之不乏多面向的解讀，其中若以「海上旅行」作為分析的視角切入，《白鯨記》的成就將益加彰顯。《白鯨記》體現了旅行者如何因心態的不同影響其感知，在伊息默爾(Ishmael)所重述的故事中，以「遇見他者」(encounter the other)的論點觀之，能夠促進存在於伊息默爾與亞哈船長(Captain Ahab)之間相異處的瞭解。自兩者身為彼此殊異的旅行者的對比中，探討旅行者是否真實地「遇見他者」與經歷轉變的過程，本論文將伊息默爾視為能夠真實「遇見他者」的旅行者，亞哈則因其狹隘的復仇心態導致他無法獲得「遇見他者」的機會。 　　緊接著檢視不同旅行者的探討後，對於旅行者更深層的審視將以德勒茲(Gilles Deleuze)與葛塔力(Félix Guattari)的「游牧理論」(nomadology)進行推論，從游牧推衍的概念如：「戰爭機器」(war-machine)與「國家機器」(the State apparatus)，適以處理由伊息默爾、亞哈船長與莫比．迪克(Moby Dick)所構築的關係維度。以啟迪於游牧學的反抗思維進行分析，使得亞哈的捕鯨之旅不再僅是被動地受對莫比．迪克的仇恨牽引，更是蘊藏著亞哈本身具備的能動性。游牧理論能夠開展無法以偏執狂(monomaniac)化約亞哈的特質，讓對亞哈追逐莫比．迪克的解析更形豐富，亞哈不僅具備「國家機器」的控制作為，也擁有「戰爭機器」的抵抗能力。此外，本論文更援引德勒茲與葛塔力的「變成動物」(becoming-animal)理論藉以瞭解亞哈與莫比．迪克之間可能的（變成）關係，「變成」(becoming)理論的應用並非強調外在型體上的相似，而是闡述亞哈身處與莫比．迪克居中關係內所經歷的非形體轉變，亞哈透過「逃逸線」(lines of flight)的模式，使之身處「變成莫比迪克」(becoming-Moby Dick)的進程，藉以顯示其強烈欲望的能量流動。 　　總體上，本論文旨在將「游牧」與「變成」理論的特質帶入《白鯨記》的文本中，產生進一步的對話空間，能使讀者從僅視《白鯨記》為單純冒險式的捕鯨敘事中進入「游牧思想」體現的思辨過程。 / Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851) captivates readers with its exuberance and renders the experiences of shipboard life into a source of philosophy. Moby-Dick bears manifold characteristics worthy of exploration. Among the multiple entries into the literary research, Moby-Dick’s achievement becomes evident when being analyzed from the perspective of sea journey. Moby-Dick manifests how a traveler’s mind-set influences her/his perception along the way on the sea journey. In light of encounters with the other, Ishmael’s recounted narrative assists in the understanding of the distinction between him and Captain Ahab as different travelers. The contrast between Ishmael and Ahab concerns whether they really encounter the other and undergo transformation. This thesis considers Ishmael as a traveler who really encounters the other while Ahab keeps his one-track mind-set on his revenge, which halts the chance for his encounter with the other. Following the examination of different travelers, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s nomadology would be applied to further the reading of travelers. The triangular dimension among Ishmael, Ahab and Moby Dick is interpreted with the concepts derived from nomadology such as a war-machine and the State apparatus. Mainly focused on the power of resistance highlighted from nomadology, Ahab’s whale hunt deserves more attention to mobility rather than to the passiveness channeled by his revenge upon Moby Dick. More than what the monomaniac can show, the theory of nomadology would potentially enrich the analysis of Ahab’s pursuit of Moby Dick. Ahab plays both a role of the controlling force like the State apparatus and a role of the resisting power like the war-machine. Besides nomadology, Deleuze and Guattari also employ becoming-animal to suggest the possible inspirational resonance between Ahab and Moby Dick. Instead of an emphasis on the physical resemblance, “becoming” sheds light on the incorporeal transformation which Ahab undergoes within the in-between relationship with Moby Dick. Through his “lines of flight,” Ahab has been involved in becoming-Moby Dick to assert his energy flow out of the intense desire. Overall, this thesis aims at generating more dialogue by bringing nomadology and becoming in the context of Moby-Dick. This incorporation would allow readers to consider Moby-Dick as the manifestation of Deleuze and Guattari’s “nomad thought” rather than as a mere whale-hunting story of adventure.

(résumé en français)<p><p>Le diagnostic de Rem Koolhaas sur les métropoles actuelles montre une ville générique, sans fin, sans identité, sans passé, sans rues, la seule activité qui reste est le shopping et la condition « in-transit » devient universelle. À cette analyse manque une partie très importante, la condition biopolitique de la métropole, qui expliquerait plusieurs des caractéristiques de ce Junkspace, comme le fait qu’il contient la possibilité de résistance face au générique.<p>À la lumière de ce constat et suivant les directions de pensée que Gilles Deleuze et Félix Guattari ouvrent dans Mille Plateaux, cette thèse propose d’identifier les intervalles témoignant de la dimension biopolitique du Junkspace au travers d’une mobilisation de la théorie des agencements comme hypothèse pour la théorie architecturale et urbaine. Le postulat général est que ces intervalles seraient des territoires entre-deux qui fonctionneraient comme des laboratoires d’agencements témoignant d’une pratique architecturale politique redéfinissant le rôle même de l’architecte. <p>Trois axes de recherche sont déployés. Le premier interroge la pertinence d’une pensée architecturale en termes d’agencements dans le contexte des transformations actuelles des territoires. À la suite d’un croisement avec la pensée de Deleuze et Guattari l’architecture se comprend dans son processus d’agencement et réagencement. Le second axe interroge la dimension biopolitique du Junkspace identifiant les points critiques de ses agencements et évaluant le paradoxe de l’entre-deux. Le troisième axe met à l’épreuve le potentiel des territoires entre-deux de créer des opportunités pour de nouvelles configurations spatiales.<p><p><p>(english abstract)<p><p>Rem Koolhaas’s diagnostic of the modern metropolis shows a generic city with no end, no identity, no past, no streets where the only activity remaining is shopping and the « in-transit » condition is becoming universal. An important part is missing from this analysis: the biopolitical condition of the metropolis, that could explain a number of Junkspace’s characteristics, like the fact that it contains the possibility to resist the generic condition. <p>In the light of this review and in accordance with the philosophical directions that Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari draw in A Thousand Plateaus, this research intends to identify the intervals witnessing the biopolitical dimension of Junkspace by rallying the assemblage theory as hypothesis for the architectural and urban theory. The general postulate is that these intervals are in-between territories functioning as laboratories of assemblages that show a political and resistant architectural practice redefining the very part of the architect. <p>Three lines of research are deployed. The first one questions the relevance of an architectural assemblage thinking in the context of the current territorial transformations. Operating a crossing with Deleuze and Guattari’s thought, architecture is understood as a process of assembling and re-assembling. The second line of research is questioning the biopolitical dimension of Junkspace identifying the critical points of its assemblages and evaluating the in-between paradox. The third research line is testing the in-between territories potential to create opportunities for new spatial configurations. <p> / Doctorat en Art de bâtir et urbanisme / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished