Papers by Jake Nabasny
“Against Telephysics” from Contra la tele-visión
Postmodern Culture, 2014
My translation of "Against Telephysics" by Heriberto Yépez.
Bartleby Politics: On Disavowal, Derangement, and Drugs
This paper attempts to construct a tradition of writers that are usually not grouped together. Th... more This paper attempts to construct a tradition of writers that are usually not grouped together. The unifying theme is an alternative conception of the subject and its relation to alterity. To tease out this implicit connection, I develop the concept of "disavowal" and describe what relevance it may have to our contemporary political climate.
The American Eugenics Movement of the early 20th century was the inspiration that led to the horr... more The American Eugenics Movement of the early 20th century was the inspiration that led to the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. In bringing this history to light, I gesture at a rupture in the discourse of race that occurred at the same time. Eugenics inaugurates a fundamental shift from epistemological racism to metaphysical racism. Insofar as our current paradigm can be characterized as none other than "eugenic," I conclude by searching for ways of responding to contemporary techniques of racial oppression.
In volume 1 of The History of Sexuality, Foucault outlines a method for understanding how the dis... more In volume 1 of The History of Sexuality, Foucault outlines a method for understanding how the discourse of sexuality has historically developed. This is a vast project, of which we are only concerned with a minor aspect. However, a brief overview of the terms of the analysis should suffice for appreciating what leads Foucault to establish the rule of immanence. The first step is to understand what is meant by "discourse."
I would like to begin today by laying out the problem at hand. A great deal has been written abou... more I would like to begin today by laying out the problem at hand. A great deal has been written about the inside-outside dichotomy. This dichotomy is partly touched on by structuralists like Roland Barthes, but it does not take on its most problematic form until Derrida claims, in Of Grammatology, that there is no outside of the text. For Derrida, there is no clear demarcation line between the inside and the outside. (At this point, the beginning, these terms may sound abstract.
Scholarly and analytical writing by Jake Nabasny
Postmodern Culture, 2015
This piece was translated in Postmodern Culture Journal. It was originally published in 2007 in M... more This piece was translated in Postmodern Culture Journal. It was originally published in 2007 in México.
Conference Presentations by Jake Nabasny
"I is an Other": Pharmacological Alterity in Deleuze
The French poet Arthur Rimbaud famously declared that “I is an Other” (Je est un autre). To this... more The French poet Arthur Rimbaud famously declared that “I is an Other” (Je est un autre). To this day, his words are often interpreted as poetic fantasy. They mean, according to many, that the poet is a certain kind of self that plays “make believe.” By acting like others, in place of them or in their style, the poet may have new experiences that can be then be communicated in verse. In other words, this popular conception of Rimbaud’s statement is infused with Platonic undertones which presuppose that the task of poetry is imitation. In contrast to this Platonic reading, one could juxtapose the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze, in particular his notion of becoming-animal and its relation to the drug. For Rimbaud as well as Deleuze, the drug signifies an apparatus of alterity capable of challenging the very foundations of subjectivity. Unlike Rimbaud, Deleuze provides an onto-pharmacological framework for understanding the specific causality of the drug. Insofar as this framework enables a material understanding of Rimbaud’s declaration that “I is an Other,” it also destabilizes the Platonic reading with an overt critique of imitation. In this paper, I will articulate the role of the drug in Deleuze’s philosophy and relate it to Rimbaud’s controversial statement. This relation has the dual benefit of highlighting the pharmacological aspect of alterity and clarifying an all-too-misunderstood conception of the Other.
Books (Edited + Authored) by Jake Nabasny
Barricade, 2019
Barricade is a print and online open-access periodical dedicated to publishing translations of li... more Barricade is a print and online open-access periodical dedicated to publishing translations of linguistically and temporally diverse works of anti-fascist and anti-authoritarian literature. Barricade seeks sustenance in the manifold connections between anti-fascist writings across time and linguistic divides, and is dedicated both to the practice and theory of translation in the name of solidarity and a better world.
Volume 2 features works translated into English for the first time by Samir Amin, Michel Clouscard, José Carlos Mariátegui, Ralph Rabie (a.k.a. Johannes Kerkorrel), Évelyne Trouillot, an anonymous member of the ZAD, and an interview with Hungarian activist and journalist Orsolya Lehotai.
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Papers by Jake Nabasny
Scholarly and analytical writing by Jake Nabasny
Conference Presentations by Jake Nabasny
Books (Edited + Authored) by Jake Nabasny
Volume 2 features works translated into English for the first time by Samir Amin, Michel Clouscard, José Carlos Mariátegui, Ralph Rabie (a.k.a. Johannes Kerkorrel), Évelyne Trouillot, an anonymous member of the ZAD, and an interview with Hungarian activist and journalist Orsolya Lehotai.
Volume 2 features works translated into English for the first time by Samir Amin, Michel Clouscard, José Carlos Mariátegui, Ralph Rabie (a.k.a. Johannes Kerkorrel), Évelyne Trouillot, an anonymous member of the ZAD, and an interview with Hungarian activist and journalist Orsolya Lehotai.