Description
Book SynopsisElizabeth Grosz addresses three related concepts—life, politics, and art—by exploring the implications of Charles Darwins account of the evolution of species.
Trade Review“
Becoming Undone allows us to hear with new ears the words of Bergson, Irigaray, Uexküll, Deleuze and Guattari, and especially Darwin. The result is a surprising and exciting feminism in conversation with biophilosophy and art practice. Elizabeth Grosz offers a rich, provocative, not-quite-materialist philosophy of life, matter, and the creative cosmos.”—
Jane Bennett, author of
Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things“With a passionate call for philosophy and feminism to embrace the transformative power of life as difference,
Becoming Undone describes with elegant arguments the unexpected legacy of Darwin in the ontology of Bergson, Deleuze, and Irigaray, as well as their promise for an as yet unforeseeable future.”—
Paola Marrati, author of
Gilles Deleuze: Cinema and Philosophy"[A] provocative, thoroughly researched, and beautifully written exploration of the question of difference in its material, political, and aestheticdimensions. . . .
Becoming Undone is a fascinating project, not only because of its invaluable contribution to the discourses of posthumanism and material feminism, but also due to its convincing interpretation of Darwinian theory as an intricate philosophical worldview." -- Vera Coleman * Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature *
“Grosz’s book is well written and easily accessible even for someone who does not know a great deal about the theorists with whom she engages.” -- Lasse Thomassen * Perspectives on Politics *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii
Introduction
Part 1. Life: Human and Inhuman Becomings
1. The Inhuman in the Humanities: Darwin and the Ends of Man
2. Deleuze, Bergson, and the Concept of Life
3. Bergson, Deleuze, and Difference
Part 2. Disturbing Differences: A New Kind of Feminism
4. Feminism, Materialism, and Freedom
5. The Future of Feminist Theory: Dreams for New Knowledges
6. Differences Disturbing Identity: Deleuze and Feminism
7. Irigaray and the Ontology of Sexual Difference
Part 3. Animals, Sex, and Art
8. Darwin and the Split between Natural and Sexual Selection
9. Sexual Differences as Sexual Selection: Irigarayan Reflections on Darwin
10. Art and the Animal
11. Living Art and the Art of Life: Women's Painting from the Western Desert
Notes
Bibliography
Index
