#DGS2023 - What is Affect - prof. Ian Buchanan (the University of Wollongong)

About the lecture: What is Affect? It is generally thought that Deleuze and Guattari’s use of the term affect derives solely from Deleuze’s account of Spinoza, but this is simply a mistake that hides in plain sight. Not only that, insofar as we persist in thinking that Deleuze and Guattari’s use of the term affect derives solely from Deleuze’s account of Spinoza we fail to see both the originality of their conception of affect and its structural importance to their development of schizoanalysis as a critical methodology. To which I would add, it is only in the light of the latter – the development of schizoanalysis as a critical methodology – that one can actually grasp what they mean by affect. Spinoza is important to their project, to be sure, but so are a range of other philosophical and nonphilosophical authors, so we need to be careful not to make it seem schizoanalysis is in some way derived from Spinoza when at most it merely incorporates elements of his work. As I have argued elsewhere, there are no standalone concepts in Deleuze and Guattari’s work, and affect is no exception to this rule. Indeed, I would say one of the reasons it has been so poorly understood (by myself, as much as anyone else) is precisely because it has been treated as a concept that Deleuze and Guattari merely apply, as though it came to them from Spinoza as a ready-made, rather than as a concept they actually invented, or reinvented, for themselves. *************************************************************************** The international conference and camp 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒖𝒛𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔, under the title "Space | Control | Resistance", was held in Belgrade for the first time (from July 3rd to July 12th) and represented the most important event in the field of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari studies. Keynote lectures were held by: Janae Sholtz from Alvernia University, Ian Buchanan from the University of Wollongong, Chris L. Smith from the University of Sydney, Patricia MacCormack from Anglia Ruskin University, Claire Colebrook from Penn State University, Nicholas Thoburn from the University of Manchester, and Igor Krtolica from the University of Picardy Jules Verne. Additionally, six parallel sessions were held at FMK where participants had the opportunity to present their papers and research to each other. We would like to express sincere gratitude to all members of the organization, our partners Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory (‪@AngazovanaMisao‬), University of Plymouth, our supporters Australian Embassy to Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Edinburgh University Press, and volunteers who provided their invaluable support during the camp and conference. Next year, the #DGS2024 Camp and Conference will take place in Delft, Nederlands on July 3-10, 2024 at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology (convened by Andrej Radman, Stavros Kousoulas, Heidi Sohn and Robert Gorny). -- Faculty of Media and Communications Karadjordjeva 65, Belgrade Web site: http://fmk.singidunum.ac.rs​ FB: fmk.beograd IG: fmk.beograd YT: FMK Beograd LI: Faculty of Media and Communications