In The Incomplete Project of Schizoanalysis: Collected Essays on Deleuze and Guattari (2021), Ian Buchanan does not explicitly cite Gilbert Simondon. However, Simondon’s influence permeates Buchanan’s exploration of schizoanalysis, particularly through concepts like individuation, transduction, and the preindividual.
Buchanan’s Conception of Schizoanalysis
Buchanan views schizoanalysis as an open-ended, non-reductive method that resists traditional psychoanalytic interpretations. Instead of reducing phenomena to singular causes, schizoanalysis, in Buchanan’s view, involves “meta-modelling” complex, dynamic systems. He contrasts this with Freudian analysis by referencing Proustian expansiveness, suggesting that schizoanalysis embraces a multiplicity of relations and affects.
Central to Buchanan’s interpretation is the concept of the “body without organs” (BwO), which he describes as a dynamic multiplicity involving different phases—virtual and actual. The BwO serves as a limit to the formation of relations among diverse aspects, acting as a barrier to linked, connected flows and setting up a counter-flow of amorphous, undifferentiated fluid.
Simondon’s Influence
While Simondon is not directly cited, Buchanan’s emphasis on processes of individuation and the dynamic interplay of forces aligns with Simondon’s philosophy. Simondon’s idea that individuation arises from a preindividual field of potential resonates with Buchanan’s focus on the BwO and the non-linear development of subjectivity.
Conclusion
Ian Buchanan’s The Incomplete Project of Schizoanalysis offers a nuanced interpretation of schizoanalysis, emphasizing its open-ended, processual nature. While Gilbert Simondon is not explicitly mentioned, his philosophical concepts subtly inform Buchanan’s approach, enriching the understanding of schizoanalysis as a dynamic method for exploring complex systems and subjectivities.
