Abstract
The main question asked in this article is whether Deleuzo-Guattarian schizoanalysis provides a successful reading strategy for Gilbert Gibson’s collection of poetry Vry–, published in 2015. This collection of Afrikaans poetry has been described by critics as both hermetic and elliptic, posing a challenge for a more traditional close reading analysis. There are several tools in the arsenal of schizoanalysis that seem to lend themselves to an analysis of Gibson’s collection. This investigation is limited to only a few of these tools: territorialisation, deterritorialisation, reterritorialisation, refrain, nomadic subjectivity, stuttering of language and rhizome, among others. Furthermore, this investigation takes place on two levels: First, the content of the poetry is analysed by means of territorialisation and refrain in order to establish the kind of subjectivity that is represented in the collection. Then the formal aspects of the poems are considered alongside Deleuze’s concepts stuttering of language and rhizome. In summary, the following questions are asked: Can Deleuzo-Guattarian schizoanalysis provide a successful reading strategy for Gibson’s collection Vry– (2015)? Do the schizoanalytic tools territorialisation and refrain provide insight into the representation of the subject in the poems? Lastly, does the two-part concept of language stuttering and rhizome illuminate the meaning-resistant language utilised by the poet in this collection?
The theoretical framework used in this article is Deleuzo-Guattarian schizoanalysis. Deleuze and Guattari jointly published L’Anti-Oedipe (Anti-Oedipus) in 1972 and Mille plateaux (A thousand plateaus) in 1980, the latter from which most of the concepts used in this article, originate. These texts mark a milestone in the development of post-structuralist theory. Their publications have, however, gained a reputation for being difficult to interpret, and there are many critics who denounce their style of theorising. Massumi (1987:ix) speaks to this in the foreword of the English translation, A thousand plateaus: “This is a book that speaks of many things, of ticks and quilts and fuzzy subsets and noology and political economy. It is difficult to know how to approach it.” However, despite the difficulty and criticism associated with schizoanalysis, this article attempts to narrow the broad theoretical approach down to a few well-defined and, most importantly, functional tools for analysis.
The methodology involves, firstly, providing some theoretical background by clearly delineating the difference between structuralist and post-structuralist approaches to textual analysis. This contextualises Deleuzo-Guattarian schizoanalysis. Then the following concepts are introduced in order to utilise them in the analysis: first, territorialisation, which refers to the ways in which living beings establish boundaries within their environments in order to make up a territory. Within this territory there are certain patterns of behaviour and habits that form a refrain; repetitions that contribute to the subjective experience of “home”. Then the opposite of territorialisation, namely deterritorialisation, which Deleuze and Guattari (1983:322) describe as a “coming undone”. The first section of the article explores subjectivity, especially whether there are signs of a “nomadic subjectivity”. In this case nomadic should not be taken literally. The subject in Vry– is not nomadic in the sense that he continually travels from one point to another; rather, he is quite settled in his environment and is well established in his personal and professional lives. However, the article argues that this subject is nomadic in the sense that he is continually territorialising (establishing rhythms and habits within certain boundaries) and deterritorialising (escaping from those rhythms and boundaries), followed by reterritorialising – re-establishing boundaries and thereby repeating the process.
The second section of the investigation looks at the formal aspects of the collection and asks whether the language indeed “stutters” as a result of the language system itself’s being deterritorialised or coming apart. This article is limited in the sense that it does not consider Gibson’s entire oeuvre, but rather focuses exclusively on his fifth collection, Vry– (2015), although this “stuttering style” is also characteristic of Gibson’s style in earlier collections. Furthermore, the analysis is limited to utilising only a few of Deleuze and Guattari’s schizoanalytic concepts.
The main finding is that in this collection of poetry the deterritorialisation of language is symptomatic of the deterritorialisation of the subject. In other words, there is a nomadic subject present in this collection that is continually territorialising and establishing his boundaries. At the same time, this subject is not a static subject and keeps deterritorialising and reterritorialising by means of a constant re-evaluation his place in relation to others and to the world around him. Therefore, the hermetic and elliptic style of language used in this collection could be seen as symptomatic of this deterritorialising subject. The formal characteristics of the poems (breaking the language down, undoing it, dividing meaningful wholes into smaller constituents) reflect the way in which the subject continually reconstitutes himself and reconsiders his position in relation to everything else in the world around him. In summary, the formal deterritorialisation of language is symptomatic of the deterritorialisation of the nomadic subject in this collection of poems.
Keywords: Afrikaans poetry; Deleuze and Guattari, Deleuzo-Guattarian; deterritorialisation; Gibson, Gilbert; nomadic subjectivity; refrain; rhizome; schizoanalysis; stuttering of language; territorialisation; Vry– (2015)