Hypatia

Hypatia 16.1 (2001) 100-102

Book Review

Irigaray and Deleuze: Experiments in Visceral Philosophy

In her latest book, Irigaray and Deleuze: Experiments in Visceral Philosophy (1999), Tamsin Lorraine not only makes the work of Irigaray and Deleuze accessible and applicable to contemporary social problems but also extends [End Page 100] their theories in order to weave her own net of what she calls conceptual and corporeal logics. Lorraine uses the work of Irigaray and Deleuze to develop a notion of embodied subjectivity. Lorraine's subject is not philosophy's traditional disembodied mind but a socially significant conceptual, corporeal self whose dynamic process is always a result of the tension between soma and psyche. Lorraine motivates this shift in the subject by showing how the notion of the subject as disembodied mind has been detrimental to women and other marginalized groups. In the end, she argues that her alternative account of the subject and subjectivity can help us reconceive of ethical self-other relations, which in turn can have transformative implications for politics and social relations in general.

Lorraine turns what sometimes seems like the poetry of Irigaray and the science fiction of Deleuze and Guattari into clear, compelling analysis. She argues that the evocative styles of both of these theorists can be transformative by opening up the space for unconscious meaning to break through conventional language. When unconscious meaning breaks through the human subject not only experiences life as more meaningful but also experiences the deep resonance between body and mind. Lorraine maintains that "the response to aporetic suspensions of conventional meaning can evoke somatic responses that adhere to corporeal rather than conceptual patterns of response. Such responses can destablize our physical forms as well as our psychic selves. This destabilization in turn can initiate fresh integration of corporeal and conceptual levels of subjectivity" (1999, 13).

The implication of Lorraine's analysis is that our very experience of, and conceptions of, our own embodiment and bodies can change by virtue of stylistic experimentation. If our social positions correspond to, and are often limited by, the types of bodies we have/are, then changing the way we experience and conceive of those bodies will change our social positions. Lorraine's analysis suggests that experimental philosophy can work to overcome oppression and marginalization based on bodily differences by opening up the unconscious space within which to mobilize alternative associations and desires in relations to our bodies and those of others. Lorraine argues that the experimental styles of Irigaray and Deleuze open both our corporeal and conceptual logics to differences.

By combining Irigaray's notion of the feminine Other with Deleuze's conception of nomadic thinking, Lorraine develops a theory of humanity as an openness to the dynamic flux of life forces. Her human being is a corporeal-conceptual becoming in relation to others and her environment. In addition to challenging the mind/body split of traditional philosophy by insisting on their connectedness, Lorraine challenges the split between different minds and between different bodies. She reads both Irigaray and Deleuze as calling for a heightened awareness and consciousness of relations with others. Using these theorists, Lorraine extends their analysis, suggesting that ethical relations [End Page 101] require attunement to others and the environment. Her human subject is as dependent on others as it is dynamic.

Throughout her book, Lorraine develops careful, detailed, scholarly, evocative, and original readings of Irigaray and Deleuze. She explains what Irigaray means by the "feminine Other." She explores Irigaray's dialogue with Nietzsche. She interprets Irigaray's theory of angels and the divine. She explains what Irigaray means by the sensible transcendental. She compares Irigaray's reading of Nietzsche to Deleuze's reading. She explains Deleuze and Guattari's critique and alternative to Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis. She interprets what they mean by becoming-imperceptible. She develops Deleuze and Guattari's model of subjectivity. She engages Deleuze's reading of Foucault in order to develop her notion of the virtual and its relation to...