Irving Goh (Singapore)
From Chuang Tzu to Deleuze: Writing, Becoming-Animal, and Disappearing
What I would like to bring to the discussion of Deleuze and literature/ écriture is to introduce the
classical Chinese text of Chuang Tzu, which can be considered either to be a text between philosophy
and literature, or a text that is both philosophy and literature. I would like to show that the enigmatic
Chuang Tzu, which precedes Deleuze’s philosophy more than 2000 years, already inscribes the
Deleuzian desire for écriture to express the force of a becoming-animal. I would also like to argue that
in both Chuang Tzu and Deleuze’s philosophy, what is critical of becoming-animal in écriture is that
end towards disappearance or “becoming-imperceptible” to use Deleuze’s words. In Chuang Tzu and
Deleuze’s philosophy, to disappear would only be but to reclaim life as it is or immanent life, if not just
life, e.g., life before or beyond the capture of politics.