The Philosophy Of Becoming:Gilles Deleuze's Approach To Literature

Gilles Deleuze is a philosopher of original ideas.His originality is reflected in his insistence on the concept of “becoming”.The concept of becoming is different from the rational thinking which plays a dominant role in the development of western thought for a long time,featuring in optional fracture,random connection,non-directional extension and heterogeneous combination.It is commonly claimed that becoming is just a philosophical issue,but Deleuze firmly believes that literature is the only way to clarify the concept of becoming.In the process of creating becoming,literary presentation becomes the core of Deleuze's theory.He believes that literature is a true becoming,and the birth of the author and his work is the result of becoming-other.Meanwhile,Deleuze's literary ideas are deeply influenced by his philosophy of becoming,initiating a new approach to literature fundamentally different from the conventional way of doing literature.Based on this development,the thesis discusses the three possibilities of the concept of becoming,aiming to define Deleuze's approach to literature and the significance and value of Deleuzian theory of literature.The body part of the thesis consists of three chapters,which respectively define the significance of three types of becoming in Deleuze's philosophy reflected in literature.Chapter 1 discusses becoming as imperceptibility and its literary significance.“Imperceptibility” refers to a condition of perception that the subject can no longer find who or what he is.Deleuze's “becoming-imperceptible”(becoming as imperceptibility)refers to the condition of breaking the old ways of perception through the flow of life,creating a new world or adding new dimension to the existing world.This chapter argues that becoming-imperceptible in literature continuously enriches literary forms by two ways of expression: expressing micro perceptions disclosed by strong perceptions,and expressing the stream of consciousness.Those expressions make people be aware of new patterns of time and inner impulses of power.Chapter 2 investigates becoming as animality and its literary significance.Deleuze regards becoming-animal not as a literary type but as a special kind of literary machine.The task of this chapter is to show how this machine configured,that is,how becoming-animal relates to literature.This chapter argues that manifestation of becoming-animal can be easily found in short stories of metamorphosis.This type of story creates a difference in the sameness by disintegrating the absolute power of human beings.In the process of the disintegration of sameness,the configuration of literary machine is accomplished.Chapter 3 discusses becoming as womanhood and its literary significance.Becoming always begins with becoming to minority,so woman compared with man-as-being becomes the priority of becoming.Hence,Deleuze grants becoming-woman the privilegedposition.This chapter argues that becoming-woman in literature is a reflection and reformation of feminine literature,which liberates the evaluation of behavior and self-value from human solidified standards.The literature about becoming-woman is no longer a representation of certain potential human standard or a binary opposition to man-as-being,but rather an interpretation,creation and exploration of new types of perceptions.In conclusion,Deleuze's perspective of literature is a literature of “becoming”.By becoming-imperceptible,literature creates new ways of perception;by becoming-animal,literature manifests its diversity and philosophical value;by becoming-woman,literature shakes the foundation of the legitimacy of male-centered order.Hence,“becoming” provides a new approach to literary study.Becoming creatively presents literature with more perceptions and features of philosophy from a brand-new perspective.