Transversal Subjects - by B Reynolds (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Transversal Subjects, now in paperback, proposes a combined theory of consciousness, subjectivity and agency stemming from analyses of junctures in Western philosophical and critical discourses that have greatly influenced the development of present-day understandings of perception, identity, desire, mimesis, aesthetics, education and human rights.

Review Quotes

'This book is a treasure trove of sparkling new ideas, new connections and new directions. In short, it is the perfect example of its own topic, namely transversality. It has a singular and distinctive voice, yet that voice is collectively and collaboratively enunciated so the one is always the many. It is a stunning performance that ranges the length and breadth of modernity and postmodernity.' - Ian Buchanan, Professor of Critical and Cultural Theory, Cardiff University, UK, and Editor, Deleuze Studies

'Bryan Reynolds and company have done it again. Here they use phenomenology, hermeneutics, neuroscience, psychoanalysis, and "schizoanalysis" to cross various subjectivities. They explore gene-like (or virus-like) memes, unintentional mimicry, the "Shakespearean G-spot," its antitheatrical critics, the "naming-function," performance anxiety, hypochondria, masochism, cartography, panopticism, historiography, feral children, playground reforms, cannibalism, terrorism, civility, human rights, and more - in this wild ride through diverse theoretical frontiers.' - Mark Pizzato, Professor of Theatre, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, USA

'Bryan Reynolds and his collaborators have produced an intriguing and insightful work on the problems of consciousness, desire, subjectivity, and cognition. Transversal Subjects is a major intervention in contemporary theory.' - Robert Markley, Professor of English, University of Illinois, USA

'This collaborative book is a unique attempt at a synthesis of poststructuralist theories (Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari) with more traditional interpretations of subjectivity in phenomenology and reader-response theories. Based on a wide range of texts from Shakespeare and Montaigne to philosophical and architectural responses to 9/11, it convincingly argues for the importance and reconfiguration of subjectivity as an experiential process and reflexive power.' - Martin Procházka, Professor of English, American and Comparative Literature, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

'Transversal Subjects takes on Félix Guattari's claim that "among the fogs and miasmas which obscure out fin de millénaire, the question of subjectivity is now returning as a leitmotif" and pushes it deeply into our post 9/11 present. The book taps with equal sprezzatura into theoretical, historical and artistic reservoirs, its diverse voices and arguments held together by a deep commitment to the subjunctive as a means to 'move' subjects and send them off onto transversal trajectories. The intellectual energy and the adventurous spirit of Transversal Subjects takes your mind back to the pleasures and the excitement of the playground; the maybe most communal of heterotopias. If your body can follow, so much the better!' - Hanjo Berressem, Professor of American Studies, University of Cologne, Germany

'Like intricate fractals and other paradoxical or nonsensical worlds, the corpus ofBryan Reynolds evolves by expanding from within. In Transversal Subjects, the recursive, (re-)iterative itinerary of Reynolds' work spreads tentacles into new territories, demonstrating once again that Reynolds' collaborative means of production performatively enacts the singular conceptual (non-)logic of transversality. This is synthetic, transdiscplinary thought in its most supple form, providing a powerful tool for contemporary interventions, opening spaces for colleagues and students alike to step up, step into, and perform the next becoming. "WELCOME to the machine."' - Paul A. Harris, Loyola Marymount University, USA; Co-Editor, SubStance: A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism

'Use your transversal lube now!' (p. 121). This compellingly eccentric and 'ecstatically alive' (p. 35) work is Reynolds's fourth book on transversality. . . . Reynolds and his friends prove to be extremely accomplished 'fugitive dealers' (p. 109) in the highest of high theory; their approach seems intended to replicate the lucid, precise expansiveness of the 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine under the aegis of which this book is, it seems to this reviewer, rather coyly (p. 21), yet altogether appropriately, placed. A towering achievement and an amulet against aphanisis, destined to have theory-haters everywhere screaming for the thought-police. - Oliver Davis, French Studies

About the Author

ADAM BRYX is an Associate Instructor and doctoral student at the University of California, Irvine, USA JOSEPH FITZPATRICK is an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wesleyan University's Center for the Humanities, USA GARY GENOSKO is Canada Research Chair in Technoculture at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada ANNA KLOSOWSKA is Associate Professor of French at Miami University, Ohio, USA GEORGE LIGHT currently works in the education industry and presents a blues music show on community radio in Mississippi, USA DONOVAN SHERMAN is an Associate Instructor and doctoral student in the Joint Program in Drama and Theatre at University of California, Irvine and University of California, San Diego, USA