Deleuze and the Problem of Affect

This book reconsiders Deleuze's position as a key figure in affect theory and explores his complex and multifaceted philosophy. It demonstrates his radical and conservative tendencies, challenges the portrayal of him as an unambiguous champion of affect, and highlights his ambivalence toward embodiment. By systematically analyzing affect throughout Deleuze's work, the book offers a new understanding of his philosophy and its significance in the affective turn in philosophy and the humanities.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 31 May 2023
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Re-examining Deleuze's status as a pillar of affect theory and, a fortiori, affect theory itself, this book demonstrates simultaneously radical and conservative tendencies of Deleuze's philosophy. Developing affect as the operator of interdisciplinarity according to Deleuze, it challenges the portrayal of Deleuze as an unambiguous champion of affect. Perhaps more than any other philosopher, Deleuze has been pivotal for the recent affective turn in philosophy and the humanities at large. Critics and proponents alike, however, have yet to appreciate the extent to which Deleuze himself remains profoundly ambivalent toward affect and embodiment in general. In this book, D. J. S. Cross argues that this ambivalence and its longevity have been overlooked because they only become apparent through a systematic analysis of affect throughout Deleuze's work. By outlining how, from beginning to end, Deleuze's system of thought both ruptures and complies with the tradition, Cross recalibrates Deleuze's philosophy and the recent affective turn that hinges upon it.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474485555