Baboons, Centipedes, and Lemurs: Becoming-Animal from Queer to Ghost of Chance

Humanities

Alexander Greiffenstern¹ 

[1] Independent Scholar, Forsthausweg 2, 47057 Duisburg, Germany;

关键词: William S. Burroughs;    Queer;    Ghost of Chance;    Yage Letters;    Naked Lunch;    Madagascar;   

DOI  :  10.3390/h10010051

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The paper establishes a connection between the becoming-writer of Burroughs, who found his calling and style during the 1950s and his signature characteristic of becoming-animal. This can first be observed in Queer, where Burroughs develops his so-called routine; a short sketch-like text that often involves instances of metamorphosis or transformation. The theoretical background for this short form and the term becoming-animal is taken from Deleuze’s and Guattari’s book on Kafka, who also worked best in short texts and frequently wrote about animals. “The Composite City” may be the central text to understanding Burroughs’ work. It is the text where Burroughs found his style and his identity as a writer. Becoming-animal is a logical consequence that further develops Burroughs’ aesthetic ideal. Over the following decades, he experimented with it in different forms, and toward the end of his career, it became part of an environmental turn. In Ghost of Chance, one can find the same aesthetic ideal that starts Burroughs’ writing in 1953, but the political implications have turned toward saving the lemurs of Madagascar.

【 授权许可】

Unknown