Abstract

Chaosmosis and Subjectivity: The Aesthetics of Félix Guattari (1930-1992) is the first doctoral thesis monographically devoted to the work of this great contemporary thinker. The aim of this study is the analysis of his aesthetics in the context of French post-structuralist thought, by means of a systematic analysis of the influences, stages and foundations of his work. From a state of the field which allows us to understand the historiographical keys in the reception of his thought, we then present the development of the complete Guattarian works, paying special attention to all the historical correlates, in order to thus picture the post-Lacanian Guattari who writes about machinic production, collective enunciation, micropolitics and ecosophy. Next, we address the groundings of Guattarian aesthetic thought in relation to four problem-authors: Joyce, in relation to Guattari’s overwhelming volonté d’écriture; Proust, peak of Guattari’s analytic ambitions, and an opportunity to talk about the phylum machinique in the context of his theory of a nonindividualized enunciation; Kafka, the minor, and collective enunciation; and finally, Schumann, paradigmatic example of the great importance music had in Guattari’s work and life, and suitable viewpoint for a deep theory of the refrain. Ultimately, what this study tries to point out is the centrality of the aesthetic plane in Félix Guattari’s work, just as the profound richness of Guattarian contribution to Contemporary Aesthetics.