DIABOLIC MARKS, ORGANS, AND RELATIONS

Abstract

The globalized societies of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries are de-composing, according to Bernard Stiegler. This decay is expressed by breakdown in the compositional process between symbol and diabol as the dynamic circuit of interiorization and exteriorization, vital for individuation, has become subject to mass calculation, marketization, and hyper-synchronization. For Stiegler there is no way out of this impasse and the result is misery – a diabolic world. In Stiegler’s narration of symbolic misery, diabolic activities and aesthetic forms are not considered capable of conditioning social relations. This article develops the concept of the diabol through readings of Emily Dickinson’s poetry – her diabolic marks – and the diabolic organs and relations of feminist free improvisation. I demonstrate how diabolic inscriptions, which intensify singularity and diachrony, are social-aesthetic resources that can support individuation and trans-individuation and hold potential to open up a new epoch of diabolic sense.

Keywords:

• diabol
• feminist free improvisation
• singularity
• proletarianization
• Emily Dickinson

disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The full articulation of Stiegler’s argument about symbols and diabols is promised in the yet-to-be-published fourth volume of Technics and Time. There are, however, significant discussions of these concepts in volumes 1 and 2 of Symbolic Misery, and in the interview collection Philosophising by Accident. This article draws on these existent resources to argue that the diabol is an important and underutilized theoretical weapon in Stiegler’s armoury.