Memory Assemblages - by Hilan Bensusan (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Making the claim that reality is more like memory than a permanent substance, this original work draws on Derrida and Malabou to suggest a picture of the world as an assemblage of spectral resonances and disseminations.

In Memory Assemblages, Hilan Bensusan combines elements of continental and analytic philosophy to advance a theory of realism which insists on the reality of spectres, an ultrametaphysical approach departing from metaphysics while attending to the problems that triggered metaphysical investigation. In doing so, Bensusan builds on the reception of Derrida's hauntology, particularly by Latin American scholars in disciplines such as media studies, history, and political theory, and engages with currents of speculative realism as well as contemporary work on idealism and logic.

Challenging the correlationist view in which being and time cannot be considered independently of subjectivity, Bensusan gives an account of exteriority where thought and reality share a common logic of addition. Central to the book is this philosophy of addition, where addition structures the insufficiency and incompleteness of whatever seems to be present: it is an operation that dismantles what has been before in a way that depends on that past consigned to memory. Addition is explored in light of the Derridian supplement, the Epicurean Swerve, Jean-Luc Nancy's notion of struction and the Marxist notion of forces of production. A coda further elaborates the notion of production in this context, arguing for a spectral Marxism and drawing on Deleuze and Guattari's Anti-Oedipus.

Review Quotes

In this brilliant and beautifully written book, Hilan Bensusan introduces spectral realism to philosophy, offering a fresh perspective on crucial topics like philosophical realism, memory, and colonial violence. Memory Assemblages is a must-read book that meticulously examines the 'urge' of justice that continues to haunt 'the very fabric of our reality.'
Juliana Martínez. Associate Professor, World Languages and Cultures. American University, Washington D.C, USA

This book by one of Latin America's most influential and innovative philosophers represents a major undertaking. Nothing less than a profoundly serious attempt to reconsider the nature of reality. With a compelling prose, Bensusan invites us to ponder over the concept of addition in order to think a ground-breaking spectral realism.
Fabián Ludueña Romandini, Professor of Philosophy, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

While metaphysicians characterize memory as a phenomenon requiring explanation, this book boldly proposes that memory is the key to explaining the fundamental structure of reality.
César Schirmer dos Santos, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil

About the Author

Hilan Bensusan is Professor of Contemporary Philosophy, University of Brasilia, Brazil.