Date: 	Sat, 16 Mar 1996 21:10:22 -0800
From: afavell-AT-direct.ca (andrew favell)
Subject: Re: territorializations


On Sat. March 16, Patricia T. Srebrnik wrote:

>Dear list members, sorry to ask such SIMPLE questions, but would
>anyone be willing to help me out by explaining briefly the
>concepts "deterritorialization," "reterritorialization," and
>"nomadism"??
>THANKS!
>
>
>
Patricia, nothing simple about those questions. I think that answering those
questions adequately is to tap into the crux of the D&G idea of becoming.
However, I'm not sure if I personally can give a 'brief' explanation, but
what the heck ... I'll give it a go. To explore ideas of
'territorialization' - that is re- and de-terr., consider this metaphor:
Take ice and melt it. The water molecules are deterritorialized as ice and
reterritorialize as liquid. If you continue to heat the liquid, the
molecules will deterritorialize as liquid and reterritorialize as steam. Now
freeze the gas, and the steam is deterritorialized as the liquid
reterritorializes. In other words, territorialization refers to the
movements of the nomadic subject as it passes along the 'celibate machines'
and assumes the state through which it passes. Nomadism refers then to this
movement of territorializations through which the subject becomes and
'realizes' itself as a becoming.

This is what enables D&G to write of 'becoming-other', 'becoming-dog', etc.
Now I may have got it all confused, but this is my (mis)understanding of
these concepts for whatever its worth.
Have fun!!

Andrew 
Vancouver, BC


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