Democratic Aesthetics

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Critical Horizons: A Journal of Philosophy and Social Teory8(2), Decemer 2007, 23055 Acume Pulhg Ltd. 2007

REVIEW ESSAY

Democratc Aethetc:O Jacque Racre Latet Work1

Jea-Phlppe Deraty

Jacque Racre, Hatred of Democracy, Steve Corcora (tra.) (Lodo: Vero,2006), isbn 978-1-84467-098-7; Film Fables, Emlao Battta (tra.) (Oxford:Berg, 2006), isbn 978-1-84520-167-8; Te Future of the Image, Gregory Ellott(tra.) (Lodo: Vero, 2007), isbn 978-1-84467-107-6

Up utl recetly, Jacque Racre work eemed to e clearly dvded to twoeparate perod, correpodg to dtct et of queto. Te firt perod,tartg wthAlthussers Lesson (1974) ad culmatg Disagreement(1995)ad the ecod edto ofOn the Borders of the Political(1998), wa wholly ded-cated to the poltcal queto ad the defece of democratc poltc. Te year199698 marked a turg pot a Racre teret hfted from the poltcalto the aethetc: firt to lterature,2 ad the to roader queto of aethetctheory ad to the vual art.3 Of coure, Racre poltc from the eggrevolved aroud the vlty of the domated ad wa defied a a challegeto the hegemoc percepto of the ocal world. It wa therefore, from the eg-

g, heretly aethetc, the orgal ee of the term. Coverely, h forayto aethetc theory ca e characterzed a the extrapolato of the egaltaraaxom to the phere of arttc practce. Te apparet dvo h careertherefore hde a deep uty ad coherece. A ow well kow, for Racre,poltc aethetc (a challege to domat ocal percepto); ad aethetc poltcal (troducg the prcple of equalty the practce, repreetato

1. I mut expre my grattude to Daelle Petherrdge ad Joh Rudell for ther very helpfulcommet o earler vero of th eay.

2. J. Racre, Mallarm: Politique de la Sirne(Par: Hachette, 1996); La Parole Muette:Essai sur lesContradictions de la Littrature(Par: Hachette, 1998); LaChair des Mots:Politiques de lEcriture(Par: Galle, 1998), tralated a Te Flesh of Words:Te Politics of Writing, Charlotte Madell(tra.) (Palo Alto, CA: Staford Uverty Pre, 2004).

3. J. Racre, Le Partage du Sensible: Esthtique et Politique (Par: La Farque, 1998), trala-ted a TePolitics of Aesthetics, Garel Rockhll (tra.) (Lodo: Cotuum, 2004); La FableCinmatographique(Par: Seul, 2001), tralated a Film Fables, Emlao Battta (tra.) (Oxford:Berg, 2006); LInconscient Esthtique(Par: Galle, 2001); Le Destin des Images(Par: La Farque,2003), tralated a Te Future of the Image, Gregory Ellott (tra.) (Lodo: Vero, 2007).


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REVIEW ESSAY: DEMOCRAIC AESHEICS

Acume Pulhg Ltd. 2007

ad percepto that cout a art ad aethetc experece). T profoud utyuderlyg all of Racre work ha come to lght more explctly the patfew year, a he ha retured to the poltcal queto a reewed, utatve

defece of democratc poltc, wth Te Hatred of Democracy,4

ad h motrecet ook pulhed Frace5 ow exprely egage multaeouly wththe two prolematc.

T eay wll focu o the three Eglh tralato that have ee pulhed the pat year: Te Hatred of Democracy(2006); Film Fables(2006) ad TeFuture of the Image(2007). Te revew of Racre latet work wll e guded partcular y the followg queto: are there ay oteworthy developmet,

complemet or correcto, h poltcal theory; what more do thee latetook teach u aout the lk etwee poltc ad aethetc; how doe theprcple of radcal equalty cocretely help to read the htory of the vual artad partcular art work? I hall try to demotrate that the extrapolato of theegaltara axom to art ad aethetc experece fact help u to detfy thedeep phloophcal vo at the heart of Racre thkg, a vo artculatedaroud what could e termed a paradoxcal, at-eetalt materalm, com-ed wth a defece of creatve prax.

Te Hatred of Democracy

Let u eg wth Te Hatred of Democracy. A uperfical readg could leave thempreo that Racre eay oly a polemc terveto a deate that doycratcally Frech. However, the htorcal recotructo ad coceptual

aalye that Racre propoe order to dagoe ad crtque the hatred ofdemocracy at work today Frech pulc phere make the demotrato ofmuch roader gficace. Tey make th eay a hort ut utatve ook ofcotemporary ocal ad poltcal phloophy. From a mmaet perpectve,the ook help greatly clarfyg ome of the key dea uderpg Racrethee o poltc ad moderty. Mot mportatly, a we hall ee, Te Hatredof Democracyprovde gficat clarficato aout the mplct theory of the

ocal uderpg h famou defito of poltc. Ad phloophcally, theook cofirm that ultmately Racre project am to e, agat all pemtcor cycal adcato, a defece of the polty of poltcal acto.

4. J. Racre, La Haine de la Dmocratie(Par: Galle, 2005), tralated a Hatred of Democracy,Steve Corcora (tra.) (Lodo: Vero, 2006).

5. J. Racre, Malaise dans lEsthtique(Par: Galle, 2004); Te Ethcal ur of Aethetc ad

Poltc, Recognition, Work, Politics: New Directions in French Critical Teory, J.-P. Deraty,D. Petherrdge, J. Rudell, R. Serrk (ed), 2745 (Lede: Brll, 2007) ); Politique de laLittrature(Par: Galle, 2007).


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Who, the, hate democracy, ad why? I Frace today, the hatred ofdemocracy repreet the fial product of a upco hared y a great umerof tellectual toward the core prcple of moder lfe. Democracy th

cae doe ot mea a pecfic form of poltcal ttuto, ut rather a type ofocety, wth t pecfic prt. It degate the prt of equalty that moder oc-ety ha created ad through whch t defie telf, ad whch, thee pemtcoerver argue, threate the very urvval of Europea ocety. By attackg allform of ymolc tracedece, whch, accordg to them, are eceary forocal reproducto (firt amog whch the relatohp of chldre to therfather), the democratc prt of radcal equalty lead to othg hort of a cr-

of cvlzato. Te pervero heret th prt uppoed to ecometraparet oce t real org located. Accordg to th poto, the prc-ple of democratc egaltaram uppoed to expre the cotat, ataledemad of the moder coumg dvdual for the fulfilmet of h edle,arctc dere. Moder egaltaram, the root of the democratc prt, therefore accued of hdg the tyray of the atomzed dvdual of ma co-umpto ad potmoder pectacle. eacherpupl, paretchld, mawoma:all relato formg the core of ocetal reproducto are ad to e pervertedwhe they fall uder the way of the egaltara mperatve, whch fact hdethe logc of commercal ratoalty ad elfih dvdualm.

T alleged groud of democratc pervero expla why the curret, wde-pread crtque of the democratc age propouded Frace o all de of thepoltcal pectrum. It ca e eatly grafted oto the purtc repulcam thattll largely determe the Frech ojectve prt, wth varato o all pole ofthe poltcal pectrum. Alo, the groud for the hatred of democracy o deep-

rooted that t allow the udlg together of the mot dvere pheomea: thelegal demad of gay ad lea, the truggle of ethc ad cultural mor-te, the attempt to mata ocal ad ecoomc rght, ad o o.

It worth otg that ofte thee pemtc dagotc ecure ther theo-retcal groud y recoure to pychoaaly, otaly t Lacaa vero, athey attempt to demotrate that the egaltara prt of democratc ocety detructve of the prcple that allegedly determe the polty of the cot-

tuto of ymolc order, the much-aded-aout ame of the father. Wthet cat o deep, ay ocal truggle purued the ame of equalty ecomeyoymou wth a decet to ararm.

At the momet, th kd of dagotc terect frequetly wth aotherradcal crtcm of Europea moderty, the type that make the Holocautthe turg pot of moder htory. Paradgmatc of uch a cotruct Jea-Claude Mler extreme attack Les Penchants Criminels de lEurope, whch

Htler preeted a the ma who realzed Europe ecret wh. Te lk wththe crtque of moder, captaltc ocety made va the dtcto etweetwo athropologcal ad ocetal prcple: the good prcple, the repect of


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the law of filato, veru the ararm heret model of ocety ad u-jectvty that refue ther otologcal fitude ad emark o the programmeof utopa elf-procreato. From th perpectve, democratc demad, the

rreducle at-Semtc treak Europea culture ad the dager of modertechology ecome jut dfferet facet of the uque, lethal project defigEuropea cvlzato. For the Europea uject ad ther ocety, the moturget tak would the e to delete the ame of the Jew ecaue t repre-etatve of the good law of filato ad lmtato, the lat otacle to fulfillgthe dere of ulmted coumpto ad elf-creato.6 Te facato exercedy argumet lke thee the Frech cotext caot e uderetmated. Te

recepto to Mler ook, for example, wa trkg for the emarramet ofthe revewer. Te power of tellectual tmdato of that ook, ad of otherwrtg of that lk, make the hytercal wtch-hut curretly takg place agatalleged at-Semtc leftt wrter, of whom Ala Badou the mot famoutarget, a rather ter affar.

Racre eay, however, more tha jut a terveto a Fraco-Frech deate. He demotrate covcgly how thee extreme deucatoof democracy fact reflect a htorcal movemet ad molze phloophcalreferece that are much roader ad gficat cope tha the heagaof the Para mcrocom.

I the geealogy propoed y Racre the firt chapter of the ook, t thevrulece of the cotetato of herarche y the ocal movemet of the 1960that tated the acklah agat democracy. Te evet of 1968 are of courethe culmato of th cotetato. T cofirm the dea that the terpreta-to of 1968 of crtcal mportace the curret poltcal cotext. Forty year

ago, coervatve ocologt ad poltcal theort, uder the challege of theaault o the herarche prevalet Weter ocete, had already detfiedthe doule d of democracy: democracy requre the partcpato of themay the affar of govermet, ut th rg wth t a prt of reellou-e that challege all competece, all form of experte ad authorty, thereymakg goverg mpole, ad udermg democracy telf. Democracy,the well-meag govermet ad ther tellectual upporter argue, therefore

eed to e defeded agat t ow prt: a a ocal ad poltcal form of lfe,democracy the reg of the exce. T exce gfie the ru of democratcgovermet ad mut therefore e repreed y t.7 For a ref perod, a theocalt totaltara regme collaped, huma rght ad leral democracy werecelerated, ut th epode dd ot lat log. Very quckly the old upcoagat the heret of the democratc prt reurfaced. oday, the wdepread

6. Smlar argumet were of coure well artculated Lyotard latet phloophy.7. Racre, Hatred of Democracy, 8.


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upco amog tellectual of all poltcal peruao toward the excee ofthe democratc fury fid t real, practcal eactmet the polce of gover-met for whom ecurty ha explctly ecome the ole ojectve of poltc.

Te moder upco toward democracy ca fid a theoretcal foudato a varety of coceptual ource, otaly va a retur to the clac of poltcal ph-loophy, from Hoe to Artotle. However, oe phloophcal edfice partcularerve th purpoe mot prometly, the phloophy of Haah Aredt. T why he the phloopher wth whom Racre egage crtcally throughout heay.8 Beyod the pecfic cotet of her poltcal thee, t the method throughwhch he defie poltc ad reject radcal democratc movemet that preet

the exemplary model for all type of hatred of democracy: amely, through aotologcal dualm amg to olate the pecfic logc of ocal ad poltcal lfe,a otologcal dualm that ca the uderp a crtcal metaphyc of modertyad a crtcal athropology of the moder dvdual.

Aredt the mot ophtcated defeder cotemporary poltcal thoughtof a pure cocept of poltc, radcally detached from ocal lfe, ad famoulydefied a the earch for the commo good y a commuty of free dvdual.Coverely, he provde oe of the mot utaed crtque of the ocety ofma coumpto, whch he vew a the reg of atomtc, egottcal dere,ad thu a the htorcal realzato of at-poltc. Te moder, democratcdvdual ecome the athropologcal figure of the detructo of real freedom,a at-poltcal amal that doe ot qute deerve the huma ame. Aredtalo play a cetral role today cotext, through her forceful crtque of theFrech Revoluto ad the phloophy of huma rght attached to t. She pro-vde the phloophcal ackdrop to the revot terpretato of the Frech

ad later, tweteth-cetury revoluto, propouded y leral htora cethe 1980.9 Te phloophcal ad htorcal terpretato arrve at the amecocluo: the radcal earch for ocal equalty of the Frech revolutoare,whch ecame the matrx of all uequet revoluto, ecearly eded up terror ecaue the democratc prt wa ot held check. T uvel the realface of democracy ad dcate y cotrat the prcple of good poltc: the

8. A Racre e Tee o Poltc demotrated, Aredt poltcal thkg wa for hm,from the tart, a emet repreetatve of the egato of poltc poltcal phloophy. Seea tralato of the te thee Teory and Event5(3) (2001), http://mue.jhu.edu/joural/theory_ad_evet/v005/5.3racere.html (acceed Novemer 2007).

9. Te firt, groudreakg terpretato of th kd wa Frao Furet Interpreting the FrenchRevolution, E. Forter (tra.) (Camrdge: Camrdge Uverty Pre, 1981). It culm-

ate Frao Furetad Moa Ozouf (ed), ACritical Dictionary of the French Revolution,A. Goldhammer (tra.) (Camrdge, MA: Belkap Pre, 1989), pulhed the two-hudredthaverary of the egg of the Frech Revoluto.
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theory_and_event/v005/5.3ranciere.htmlhttp://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theory_and_event/v005/5.3ranciere.htmlhttp://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theory_and_event/v005/5.3ranciere.htmlhttp://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theory_and_event/v005/5.3ranciere.html


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prt of equalty fact othg hort of totaltara; lerty, ot equalty, the true prcple of poltc.10

Racre repoe to th powerful cotruct molze h well-kow co-

cepto of poltc a the pragmatc eforcemet of the prcple of equalty, aeforcemet that ot a prioridcoected from ay phere of ocal lfe, ordcard a priori, a o-poltcal, ay type of ujectve poto. What maketh latet eay partcularly teretg, however, the great clarficato of hmplct vo of ocety that ha uderped h poltcal thkg from theegg, h ocal theory a t were.

Racre defece of democratc poltc caot e docated from h

aumpto that ocal lfe alway ecearly tructured, through a kd ofatural tedecy, y a olgarchc logc that operate multaeouly wthocal teracto ad the poltcal ttuto correpodg to them. Tecoecto etwee the two olgarche ( the ocal ad the poltcal) othard to fathom: ocal power precely the capacty to reproduce ad etrechtelf, otaly ad through poltcal ttuto.

wo prcple partcular tructure the ro law of ocal lfe: rth adwealth. Brth telf act two dfferet way. Frt, t ecapulate the relato ofuequal power that the relato of authorty etwee the older ad the youg.Htorcally, pateral authorty ha ovouly ee the paradgm for other rela-to of authorty huma affar, epecally poltc. But rth alo theway whch a morty of dvdual are aturally choe from amog all torule over the majorty, mply ecaue they hert a pre-extg wealth of ocalpower. Comed wth gerotocracy, artocracy therefore the other tme-le tedecy of ocal ad poltcal tructure. Mot of the tme, the ultmate

make-up of ocal power ecoomc wealth, whch the olgarchc tructurehelp to cocetrate: firt the ac, quattatve ee, a there o lmt toaccumulato; ad ecodly a ocologcal ee, a thee tructure help toreta wealth wth famly ad cla, ad traform ecoomc power to alltype of ymolc power. I may paage h prevou wrtg, ad aga th eay, Racre thu make the domato of the rch over the poor theecret holeth of olgarchc tructure ad ttuto.11 Fally, a thrd form

of olgarchc prcple complemet ad hore up the firt two: the power ofthe tellget ad the competet over the gorat, whch help to provde thetructure of jutficato for the overall ytem of domato.

Poltc for Racre cot ovouly the challege to thee dfferet formof olgarchc tructure, wth ther dfferet kd of eforcg ad legtmzg

10. See epecally the firt three chapter of Haah Aredt On Revolution (Harmodworth: Pegu,

[1963] 1991).11. See for example Te Ed of Poltc, On the Shores of Politics, Lz Hero (tra.), 537 (Lodo:

Vero, 2007), otaly 1219.


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mecham. More precely, however, poltc for hm ha to do wth the ldethat cotatly occur, realty a theory, etwee the ocal ad the poltcal,a domato the former ecome fallly etreched the ttuto,

ad more mportatly, the repreetato, the dea ad the dcoure thataccompay thee ttuto. Domato ecome ot oly a ttutoalfact, ut a atural way of vewg the ocal, whch dappear from vew a tecome aturalzed. A a reult, oe partcularly urget tak of poltc to co-tet the dea that oe requre pecfic ettlemet or capacte to partcpate poltc, ecaue uch requremet ed up reproducg the herarchcal ytem ofocal domato. T expla Racre cotet upco toward the real

motve ad the practcal poltcal outcome of repulcam. I t ophtcatedphloophcal gue or a the partcular deology of the Frech tellectual, a tattempt to preerve the purty of the poltcal momet through a eltt dre-gard for the pette of ocal lfe, repulcam fact vdcate the olgarchclogc ad thu amout telf, through a remarkale dalectc, to a egato ofpoltc. Te repulca cotempt for the ocal force ad t rejecto of ayattempt to foud poltc the truggle agat ocal domato, promulgateprecely the cotuty etwee ocety ad poltc that the hallmark of theolgarchc logc telf. Te mplct aumpto of repulcam that oly thoefit to gover hould do o.12 Repulcam the ed repreet the prtualpoint dhonneurof the polce.

By cotrat, f poltc to have ay real meag, t eed to e defied pe-cfically a the everg of th lk etwee ocal domato ad t recupera-to the ttuto of ocetal maagemet. T the reao why Racreequate poltc ad democracy, where democracy the practcal verficato

of the equalty of all:

Democratc exce doe ot have aythg to do wth a uppoed coump-tve made. It mply the dolvg of ay tadard y whch aturecould gve t law to commutara artfice va the relato of authortythat tructure the ocal ody. Te cadal le the djog of ettle-met to gover from ay aalogy to thoe that order ocal relato . It

the cadal of a uperorty aed o o other ttle tha the very aeceof uperorty.13

I Racre earler wrtg, the at-olgarchc logc of poltc wa defied term of a paradoxcal otology, a a logc of ocal fuctog that otoe, ce t drupt the atural logc of ocete. Racre termology, the,

12. Racre, Hatred of Democracy, 389, wth pecfic referece to Aredt.13. Ibid., 41.


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wa heavly deted to Badou grammar of the evet: the poltcal dmeowa lke a vod, vle or tolerale from the perpectve of ocal mma-ece, yet cottutve of t, ad urtg at regular terval ad local ettg

through the acto of reellou uject. Te ew ook tll cota elemetof th paradoxcal otology, for example, whe Racre decre democracy athe acto of uject who, y workg the terval etwee dette [etweeocal ad poltcal detty] recofigure the dtruto of the prvate ad thepulc, the uveral ad the partcular.14 Motly, however, the coceptual la-guage ha hfted ad the ew ook artculate the logc of poltc more explctly term of legtmacy ad jutficato, a the aove quote make clear.15 Te

famou defito of poltc a the part of thoe wthout part ow ecomemore quarely the ttle of thoe who have o ttle to gover.16

T reformulato of democratc poltc term of jutficato allowRacre to recat h theory ew ad very cocrete term. For example, f oefollow through cotetly the dea that poltc ext oly whe the aturaldomato tructurg ocete terrupted, partcular the et up of thepoltcal ttuto, the oe forced to accept what Plato had already ecou-tered h Laws: the ultmate poltcal ttle (the ttle allowg oe to gover) the aece of all ttle.17 Ad o chace could e a etter type of electo thathe type of electo we curretly have.18 I a commuty of equal, the olyequtale way to elect thoe who wll gover to leave t to the luck of the draw.19Te very fact that we fid uch a propoto prepoterou the uret g thatwe are ot real democrace, ut uder the way of the olgarchc logc. Ideed,a Racre add, we caot eve mage that t doe ot have to e a law ofpoltc that t hould e thoe who are thrty for power that hould gover u.

By cotrat, a much a the democratc exce, the great poltcal thker, fromPlato oward, were equally cocered aout the tedecy for poltcal power toe graed y dvdual whoe oly motvato wa power telf.20

Racre ow veture to the field of poltcal theory, ad doe ot he-tate to draw ome of the cocrete ttutoal mplcato of the democratc

14. Ibid., 612.15. I may paage h earler text, however, Racre already ued the laguage of ratoal jutfi-

cato, defig poltc a the demad o domato to gve t reao ad a the demotratoy the domated of ther capacty to artculate reao, ee for example, Te Ue of Democracy, On the Shores of the Politics, 3961, ep. 4551.

16. Racre, Hatred of Democracy, 53.17. Plato, Te Laws, III, 690a690c. T referece, however, ad the coceptual pot draw from t

were made already the thrd of the e Tee o Poltc.18. Racre, Hatred of Democracy, 368.

19. See Racre cocrete referece to the formato of jure for uverty examato, ibid., 102.34.

20. Racre, Hatred of Democracy, 42.


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prcple, the mmal rule that lay dow the mmal codto uder whcha repreetatve ytem ca e declared democratc:

Short ad o-reewale electoral madate that caot e held cocur-retly; a moopoly of people repreetatve over the formulato of law;a a o State fuctoare ecomg the repreetatve of the people; aare mmum of campag ad campag cot; ad the motorg ofpole terferece y ecoomc power the electoral proce.21

By cotrat, the realty of our poltcal ytem demotrate how they have ee

ezed y olgarchc power, a they are tructured through a moopolg oflachose publiquey a old allace of State olgarchy ad ecoomc olgarchy.22A democratc poltc uettle the homology etwee ocal domato ad

the ttuto of poltcal power, t operate mot epecally agat the pr-vatzato of poltc. T degate firt of all the tedecy of poltcal lfe toreject the ocurty (Aredt) of the prvate phere whatever uppoed toe dfferet to the res publicaqua pulc: a tedecy that operate the dtc-to of the pulc, whch elog to all, ad the prvate, where the lerte ofall preval.23 A Racre remark, however, thee lerte each pero ha arethe lerte, that the domato, of thoe who poe the mmaet pow-er of ocety.24 Te otologzato phloophcal dcoure of the eparatoetwee the phere of the commo agat the phere of the prvate oly repro-duce at a hgher level of atracto the real logc of olgarchc ocety. Ad theprvatzato of poltc goe eve further. Oce the prvate ha ee excluded,the commo telf prvatzed a t fall the had of the repreetatve of

ocal domato.Democratc poltc act mot epecally agat th doule prvatzato of

poltc. Oce aga, decrg th proce, Racre rg welcome clarfi-cato through referece to cocrete developmet. Te truggle agat the pr-vatzato of poltc ha meat htorcally, ad tll doe today, the truggle forfar electoral procedure ad a fully democratc poltcal ytem, oe partcularthat clude all dvdual the proce. Mot mportatly, t alo clude all

attempt to demotrate the poltcal ature of what the phloopher, the cy-cal ocologt ad the repreetatve of power have alway rejected, today ole tha the pat, a prvate teret. oday, th cocer partcular thedefece y pecfic rache of dutry, profeoal ad ocal group, of thelaour rght ad welfare provo firt demaded y the laour movemet,

21. Ibid., 72.

22. Ibid., 73.23. Ibid., 57.24. Ibid.


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whch the pot-war perod had eemed to ttutoalze ad uveralze. Icoductg thee aalye, Racre poto ecome very cloe to the potoof thker who detfy emacpatory poltc wth ocal movemet.25

T lat remark, however, help to put a figer o a partcular deco Racre argumet. Te olgarchc tedece of ocete ad ther reproduc-to refyg ocologcal ad phloophcal dcoure appear o overwhelmgto hm that he refue all polty of groudg poltc ocal experece.He coder t a mtake to look for the ocal a of a poltcal truggle, letoe export the eparato of ocal lfe to poltc ad poltcal theory. T what ehd Racre tece, for example, that the adequate category of

agecy poltc that of ujectvato ad ot detty. Poltcal ujec-tvty degate a paradoxcal place wth the ocal, the place where a twt at play, etwee the commuty maaged y the polce ad the people ofequal dvdual, whch poltcal acto ca reveal. Ayoe ca fill that otolog-cal, or par-otologcal vod. o groud poltc a ocologcally well-defieddetty (worker, woma, mmgrat) alway to ru the rk of fallg prey tothe homology etwee the ocal ad the poltcal, ad o to reproduce ocaldomato to the poltcal. T argumet, however, clearly doule-edged.It oud ucaly cloe to the very otologcal eparato of ocety ad pol-tc to pure prcple that Racre reject. Jut lke Badou, Racre up-co toward the oto of detty poltc ofte ha the ame accet a therepulca deucato of the evl of commutaram. Racre doe otuffi cetly coder that t coceptually pole to ackowledge the olgarchctedecy of ocete, whle locatg the mperatve of equalty wth ocal lfetelf. I fact, ext to the paage rejectg detty-poltc, there are alo other

paage, whch decrg the dalectc of domato ad equalty, mplctlyackowledge that equalty a force operatg wth the ocal telf.26 I thew ook, t a paage of the ecod chapter that doe th mot trkgly:

Equalty ot a ficto. Tere o mater who doe ot t ack ad rklettg h lave ru away, o ma who ot capale of kllg aother,o force that mpoed wthout havg to jutfy telf, ad hece wthout

havg to recoge the rreduclty of equalty eeded for equalty tofucto.27

Te argumet the hft from the ocal to the poltcal va the ue of jut-ficato. However, the ed, Racre forced to retur to what the egg

25. Ibid., 556.

26. See partcular, J. Racre, Disagreement: Politics and Philosophy, Jule Roe (tra.) (Meapol,MN: Uverty of Meota Pre, 1999), 55.

27. Racre, Hatred of Democracy, 48.


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of the extract had already tated: equalty ot jut a cotrag axom ocedomato attempt to jutfy telf, otaly whe t eek to ttutoalzetelf. It already requred wth the mmaece of ocal lfe, for equalty

to fucto: Iegaltara ocety ca oly fucto thak to a multtude ofegaltara relato.28 O that model, poltc ot the acto that troduceequalty to olgarchc ocety, ut rather the momet that uvel, makemafet a equalty that already had to e preet.29 If, however, the demad forequalty tem from the ocal telf, t come a o urpre, the, that Racre,depte h tated upco toward that paradgm, aturally led to ug thelaguage of recogto: o force mpoed wthout havg to recoge

the rreduclty of equalty. Ad the thrd chapter, the htorcal truggleagat the prvatzato of poltc are alo decred through th grammar:amely, through: the recogto, a equal ad poltcal uject, of thoe thathave ee relegated y State law to the prvate lfe of feror eg; ad therecogto of the pulc character of type of pace ad relato that were leftto the dcreto of the power of wealth.30

I the lat chapter of the ook, aalyg the reao for that hatred,Racre for the firt tme te h theory of democratc poltc to a crtque ofcotemporary captalm, a rout dagotc of the curret tuato. Temperatve of ecoomc ecety, the ew dogma declarg that oly oe modelof ocoecoomc developmet ratoal, reforce the pre-extg power ofthe ocal elte that wa already etreched tate ttuto. Te three logc,of ocal, poltcal ad ecoomc domato, today come the mot power-ful form of govermet, whoe ma am to put a ed to the very poltyof democratc poltc, to fially traform govermet to a oe-way form of

polce. Te cycal crtc of moderty play a mot amguou role th game:falg to deouce real, extg jutce, the atdemocratc dcoure of the

28. Ibid.29. Ibid.30. Te Frech text actually emphaze the dyamc ad agotc apect of recogto. Racre wrte

faire reconnatre: to force, mpoe or acheve recogto. O the uexpected coectoetwee Racre poltc ad a poltcal theory aed o the dea of a truggle for recogto,

ee my Jacque Racre Cotruto to the Ethc of Recogto, Political Teory31(1) (2003),13656. Te vocaulary of recogto wa fact frequetly ued y Racre h earler work,otaly Te Ratoalty of Dagreemet, ee ep. Disagreement, 523. See alo, On the Shoresof Politics, 50. Racre ha explctly poke agat a recogto approach to h poltc MaxBlechma, Ata Char ad Rafeeq Haa, Democracy, Deu ad the Aethetc of ClaStruggle: A Exchage wth Jacque Racre, Historical Materialism13(4) (2005), 285301. Athe extract quoted ugget, I would argue that he much cloer to recogto theory tha he

ackowledge. Te dagreemet mght are ecaue Racre mtake Axel Hoeth theory ofrecogto for a vero of the materlave dalectc, ad thu me the platcty of the lattermodel of poltc.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/external-references?article=1465-4466(2005)13L.285[aid=8200154]http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/external-references?article=1465-4466(2005)13L.285[aid=8200154]http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/external-references?article=1465-4466(2005)13L.285[aid=8200154]http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/external-references?article=1465-4466(2005)13L.285[aid=8200154]http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/external-references?article=1465-4466(2005)13L.285[aid=8200154]


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tellectual add the fihg touche to the coeual forgettg of democracythat oth tate ad ecoomc olgarche trve toward.31

I th mot formdale allace of olgarchc force, democratc truggle

appear a eceary, a dffi cult ad a ucerta a ever. Te ook cocludgword am to retreve the calm cofidece of Spoza Ethics, wth a vrat odeto democracy, a a practce egaged agat all domato, ad challegg allreficato: of htory ad htorcal acto; of ocal ad poltcal lfe, ad of t-tuto. Agat the grm horzo of aemlg olgarche, ut equally dtatfrom the ew utopa ad fahoale meac arratve, Racre matathe rarty ad thu the precoue of free, democratc acto (rocally, though,

edg o a poltcal affect that typcally Aredta):

Uequal ocety doe ot carry ay equal ocety t wom. Rather,egaltara ocety oly ever the et of egaltara relato that are tracedhere ad ow through gular ad precarou act. Democracy a are t relato to the power of wealth a t to the power of khp thattoday come to at ad rval t. It ot aed o ay ature of thg orguarateed y ay ttutoal form. It ot ore alog y ay htor-cal ecety ad doe ot ear ay. It oly etruted to the cotacyof t pecfic act. T ca provoke fear, ad o hatred, amog thoe whoare ued to exercg the magterum of thought. But amog thoe whokow how to hare wth ayody ad everyody the equal power of tel-lgece, t ca coverely pre courage, ad hece joy.32

Silent speech

T joy of traformatve ad creatve acto, t remag pole depte thethreat poed y the allace of atagotc poltcal ad ecoomc force, thefirt commo elemet lkg the poltcal ad the aethetc Racre thkg.But the overlap etwee the two fact goe much deeper tha that. Te defi-g geture characterzg Racre terveto aethetc theory cot

extedg the realm of applcato of the democratc prcple, from poltc, toart ad aethetc experece. Bacally, he terpret the romatc revoluto a ademocratc revoluto. T qute a dffi cult clam to uta f we reflect o what etaled t: t commt oe to explag what meat cocretely y aygthat arttc practce ad aethetc experece are traformed, qua arttc adaethetc, ot jut term of ther ocal mport, y the uveralzato of the

31. Racre, Te Hatred of Democracy, 92.32. Ibid., 97.


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equalty prcple. What doe t mea to talk aout equalty regardg a practce,otaly regardg the techque ad practce of art? Ad what equalty experece, otaly aethetc experece? A we hall ee, Racre doe ot hy

away from the dffi culte, deed the radcal cocluo, oe forced to emrace,oce thee queto are take erouly. Ideed, t the dea that equalty reacheto the aethetc that help detfy the paradoxcal materalm that mplct Racre defece of creatve acto.

I the gee of Racre wrtg, th expao of democratc equalty,from the poltcal to the aethetc, performed La Parole Muette. We eed tofocu refly o th ook ecaue t there that he develop the greatet detal

h vo of aethetc moderty. All of h later aethetc wrtg, cludg TeFuture of the Imagead Film Fables, draw extevely o thee developmet.Sadly, the cotgece of edtoral work, epecally a t perta to trala-to, mght well make th eetal text oe of Racre few ook ot to etralated to Eglh.

Racre terpretato of romatcm uderped y the dea that thedemocratc revoluto that occurred the ocal ad the poltcal produced aequvalet democratc revoluto the aethetc. Te hft well ecapulated the metaphor of a chage of regme. Te deme of the old order ocety paralleled the aethetc y a ucceo of correpodg regme. Cocretely,the old regme of aethetc that collape at the ame tme a the ocal orderwa herted from Artotle ad refied through the ucceve poetc theore.Racre call t the representative regme of aethetc, ecaue t cetred othe ytem of ormatve rule defig proper repreetato. Tee rule euc-ate the way whch t ca e eured that the mmetc world coform to the

ocal herarchy exteral to t, y repectg partcular the mode of peakgad of appearg that deally efit the character referred to. Te rule are otretrcted to the level of laguage. Te choce of a kg or of a peaat a a ce-tral character determe the etre uequet aethetc of the repreetato:the gere, the tyle, the type of arratve, the et, ad o o. Socal olgarchy paralleled ad deally cofirmed a olgarchy of art form, arratve, type ofacto, gere, mode of peech ad topc.

I th aethetc, acto the cetral oto, aroud whch the art work cotructed ad judged. Te hghet gere are thoe that depct me of hghtatu who reveal ther dtcte through peech ad acto.33 Te parallelwth repulca poltc duly oted y Racre, who characterze th olgar-chc orderg of aethetc a the repulca order of the ytem of repreeta-to.34 Te cetralty of acto jutfie the prmacy of peech over the mage,

33. H. Aredt, Te Human Condition (Chcago, IL: Uverty of Chcago Pre, 1958), 176.34. Racre, La Parole Muette, 27.


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ad the parallelm etwee ocal ad aethetc olgarchy tralated rgdeparato etwee art form, ad, a ad, all other related aethetc apect.Depte thee trct, herarchcal eparato, though, what make art form com-

meurale precely the fact that they all depct acto; that they tell torethat ca e tralated to arratve ad have moral, ocal ad poltcal gfi-cace. T true eve of patg. Every patg mut alway e ealy tra-lated to a meagful arratve, whch why the hghet gere clacalpatg draw from a lmted field of mythologcal ad htorcal arratve. Ithat regme, the crtc play a mportat fucto, evaluatg ad demotrat-g the proprety wth whch the artt ha maaged to lk the way of eg,

actg ad ayg of t character. Te crtc ha the tak of verfyg whetherkg peak ad ehave a kg are uppoed to, ad peaat a peaat, adof revealg the mplct moral of the tory.

Wth the deme of th order, the ew aesthetic regme troduce the demo-cratc revoluto to mode of repreetato themelve. Te ew prcpledrectly oppoe each of the prcple of repreetato. Agat the prmacy ofacto, the ew regme aert the prmacy ofexpressivity, of laguage a poetcpower ad a a ed telf, eyod t mmetc fucto. I oppoto tothe olgarchy of gere, the aethetc regme refer to the equality of all sub-jects. Racre ope La Parole muettewth Vctor Hugo Notre-Dame de Paris.Rereadg the crtque of the tme, he coted that the real cadal Frechromatcm wa ot the poetc lcece ofHernani, ut the fact that a cathe-dral ecame the ma uject of a ook. Te cathedral could ecome the maprotagot of the artwork o the a of the firt prcple: the cathedral aexpreve, cota a much or deed more poetc potetal, tha the trad-

toal acto of kg ad peaat. Expreve art thu tralate the expre-vty of the world telf. Beyod the equalty of all uject, a thrd prcplemut therefore e added, the prcple ofindifference. Agat the mperatve ofproprety, the aethetc regme of art aert the dfferece of tyle relatoto the repreeted uject. Here, the paradgmatc artt for Racre Flauert,who made the uject rrelevat comparo wth tyle, the oly true ujectof lterature.35 I Flauert, the ame care take to decre a farmyard ad a

love cee, the medocrty of lve provcal Frace or the extraordary lveof acet heroe ad at.

Te romatc revoluto, however, ha t ow cotradcto. We kow thatthe cotradcto of repulca poltc that t mut preuppoe the radcalequalty of all dvdual, eve a t te each to ther proper place wth theocal herarchy. A mlar cotradcto affect the ew aethetc. At firt, thecotradcto etwee the prcple of total exprevty ad the prcple of

35. See aga Racre, Politique de la Littrature, 5984.


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dfferece. Te firt prcple etalhe a utatal lk etwee the mma-et poetcty of the world ad the arttc work. Accordg to t, the poem the expreo, at a hgher power of cocetrato, of a meag that wa

already that of the world telf. T ovouly the prcple at the heart ofGerma romatcm. A Racre how, th alo the prcple utg themoder art formpar excellence, the ovel, ad the ew hermeeutc practceemergg the eteeth cetury: each cae, the meag of a tme, theprt of a commuty, are ee to e already cred the materalty of theworld ad offered to the terpretve gaze of the wrter ad the ocal cett.Balzac decrpto offer the prme example of th ew paradgm. Te dea

of a mmaet poetcty of the world of whch the art work the expre-o, mple that the laguage of the poem cotraed y the mot aoluteecety, a t mut ecome the chael of the world ow exprevty. Tutatal cotuty etwee the artt work ad the world telf, however, drectly cotradcted y the prcple of dfferece, ce the latter deethat ay expreo hould e prvleged ay kd of eceary way (ocal oraethetc) for ay gve topc.

T cotradcto, however, oly the mot uperfical oe. Udereatht lurk a more troulg cotradcto that take u to the heart, ot oly ofRacre aethetc, ut of h phloophcal vo. Romatcm attemptedto offer a oluto to the tal cotradcto, y declarg, va the recoure toFchte dealtc oluto, the polty of ythezg the radcal ujectvefreedom of the creator ad the ojectve ecety of the world expreed hwork. Hegel, who play the cetral role Racre aethetc thkg, co-vcgly demotrate the lluo hdde th oluto: the alleged ythe

oly the deal of clacal tme (of a perfect correpodece etwee formad matter, etwee meag ad form), whch the cotrat of the moderworld make lluory. Hece the fate of moder art, ad epecally of t motrepreetatve gere, the ovel. Rather tha achevg the ultmate recocla-to of ature or of a people the work of art, moder art codemed todocumetg the rreducle gap etwee the deal ad the proac realty ofourgeo moderty.

Te Hegela deflato of the romatc programme pot to the deepetcotradcto of moder aethetc, etwee the prcple of exprevty (thateverythg peak) ad what Racre call the prcple of lterarty. T lat-ter prcple, at the heart of the moder experece, the ultmate coequeceof the deme of the olgarchc regme. Te latter had put cotrat o the ueof laguage ad the rule of mme y tyg them trctly to the proprety ofrepreetato o the a of the orm attached to ocal herarchy. Oce the

democratc revoluto make th arragemet collape, laguage ad repreeta-to are freed, a t were. Te mplet way to udertad th o a ocologcallevel. It mea that deally everyoe ad ayoe ow ettled to tervee


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ay form of dcoure, to ue ay laguage, to e addreed y ay dcoure,ad e the uject of ay repreetato. Racre lt the fate of umeroueteeth-cetury ovel character, mot otaly Emma Bovary, who emrace

the pecfically moder experece of a letter that ha ecome avalale to all,emprcally, through the developmet of techque of ma dtruto, admore eetally, ecaue of the fudametal lack of proprety of wrtg.36 Allthee character provde arratve allegore of the errg letter, a letter that o loger ted to pecfic field, reerved for certa peaker, ut rather haee freed from the trcture of proper repreetato.37 A Racre ote, theourgeo ovelt caot help eg attracted to uch arratve lve that et

capture the moder experece of lterature (meag ad the letter are leratedfrom the rule of proprety). At the ame tme, thee wrter caot help egcadalzed y the radcalty of the egaltara clam ther character make: theourgeo ovelt ha a Aredta poto aethetc he eleve that art threateed t purty f t emraced y dvdual who hould rema thephere of prvate lfe ad laour. A a reult, they ever fal to make ther heroepay the full prce for ther democratc mpudece (Emma Bovary ucde).

More fudametally, therefore, the lerato of laguage mea for Racreomethg lke a otologcal dorder, a dorder troduced etwee the levelof realty. I a retrcted ee at firt: wth the detructo of the repreetatvelogc, t ot jut the ocal eparato etwee dvdual that are challeged(who ca peak, to whom, aout whom), ut alo the choce of oject. I theaethetc regme, ay oject worthy of arttc repreetato, dow to aural. If we thk aout t, though, oce th democratc revoluto wth theaethetc codered all t mplcato, t challege much roader ad

deeper otologcal eparato. Ideed, t the very fact of otologcal eparatotelf that uettled. T what the oto of mute/let peech, parolemuette ultmately pot to: eyod the peech of mute thg (exprevty), t the mutee, the lece of all peech, that to ay, the mpolty torelate peech to fixed otologcal place:

36. A ofte the cae, Plato offer the paradgmatc example of a phloophcal andat-democratc(the two are trcally lked for hm) couter-model, oth for the clarty ad hoety of h

at-democratc approach, ad for the phloophcal power of h cotruct. Here, t Platocodemato the Phaedrus, of wrtg a orpha letter, capale of defedg telf ad aval-ale to all, that repreet for Racre the typcal phloophcal crtque of the democratc eeceof wrtg (LaParole Muette, 815). Equally gficat Racre mplct rejecto of Derrdadecotructvt readg of the ame dalogue.

37. See Davd Bell, Wrtg, Movemet/Space, Democracy: O Jacque Racre Lterary Htory,

SubStance103 33(1) (2004), 12640, a pecal ue o Racre aethetc. Bell emphaze very

well the lk etwee Racre early ocologcal (or rather, at-ocologcal) work o the e-teeth-cetury proletara ezed y the letter ad the geeralzato of ther experece adcatve of the geeral aethetc paradgm.


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o the poetc of repreetato wa uppoed to ucceed the grad world-poetry (posie-monde), that the poetry of the everythg peak, of thepeech already preet every let thg. But th poetc alway already

led wth t oppote: the let peech that carate telf oly to ruall ode carryg peech.38

Te figure that et carate the radcal ature of lterature oce t ezedy the demo of democracy, Do Quxote, the character ad the text thatradcally challege all clear dtcto etwee the real ad the deal, the v-le ad the vle, art ad lfe, word ad thg. Te real cotradcto

therefore etwee a prcple declarg that everythg already peak, ad theother prcple, whch fact the uderlyg oe (jut lke equalty preup-poe equalty), deyg ay utatal or uvocal coecto etwee theymolc ad the materal, deed rejectg ay hard eparato etwee thedfferet order of realty. Moder lterature caught up thee cotradctoad attempt wth every ew work to reolve them: the cotradcto etweethe exprevty of the world ad the dfferece of expreo; etwee thedea of a aolute ecety of poetc laguage ad the aarchtc ature ofmoder lterary form; etwee the radcal freedom of the artt, the ultmateparadgm of free creatvty, ad the fite pavty of the materal th actv-ty attempt to let peak; etwee the vo of art a uperor kowledge adthe fite docy of a world, whch art, however, uppoed to take to t fullexpreo.

Aesthetics as creative action: Te Future of the ImageandFilm Fables

T dea that the hft to moderty volve the emergece of ew, cottutvecotradcto the gudg thread of Racre uequet ook of aethetctheory. I them, Racre geeralze the cocluo reached the tudy ofmoder lterature y applyg the full rage of cotradcto lted aove, tothe other art form. We hall focu o Te Future of the Imagefirt, a t exted

the cotradcto of lterature ad the prcple of lterarty to a umer ofvual art (patg, photography, cema, deg), efore lookg at the way whch Film Fablesapple mlar prcple to the cae of cema.39

Te democratc preme, a we aw, lead to the radcal rejecto of allotologzg dcoure ad all otologcal eparato. Appled to aethetc, thlead Racre to adopt a perpectve that effectvely ru couter to ome of the

38. Racre, La Parole Muette, 88.39. Te Future of the Image, lke Hatred of Democracy, a collecto of eay, wrtte y Racre for

coferece varou art ttuto.


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mot fluetal poto cotemporary cotetal aethetc. I the cae oflterature, for example, th amout to a ceptcm toward terpretato ofromatcm ad moder lterature that uderped the re of pottructural-

m ad played a decve role Europea aethetc; terpretato that makethe auto-telm ad tratvty of writing ot oly the eece of moderlterature, ut more geerally the paradgm of the moder art work.40

Put geeral term, Racre aethetc theory thu preet a alteratveto all the modert ad pot-modert theore that defie the dfferet artform o the a of the way whch the latter gradually defie ad appro-prate ther aethetc pecficty y leratg themelve from the mperatve of

mmetc logc. A mot famou example of uch a poto, th tme relatoto the htory of moder patg, Greeerg the that, a each art developad progree y ecomg ever more aware of the pecficty of t medum,progre the htory of patg rede the coquet of flate. o takeaother example, Racre tace mple a crtque of Barthe famou aalyof photography, relatg t pecfic aethetc power to t puctum effect, talty to carate a th-ha-ee, a pathetc momet of the world.41

Te at-eetalt geture make Racre equally retcet toward recetattempt to defie a pecfic tatu ad fucto of the arttc mage y olat-g t eece, cotrat to the mage of ma commucato ad macoumpto. I all the way of thkg the mage today, whether the caeof the aked mage (a rute extract from the real udercuttg all attemptat re-preetato), the oteve mage (the mage a pure power of preeceagat the capture of mage at the had of ecoomc ad deologcal power)or the metamorphc mage (the mage a rearragemet of extg mage), a

dalectc at play. Racre argue that th dalectc cofue the level etweetype of mage, a well a etwee realty ad repreetato.42 Fally, h at-eetalt approach make Racre epecally crtcal toward the teleologcaltedece uually at work modert ad potmodert theore. Oe ofRacre cotet target the kd of decotructve arratve that te thetheory of moder aethetc to the roader programme of a decotructo ofmetaphyc. Lyotard aga emlematc of that drecto for Racre, ut a

more recet repreetatve would e Agame. Such decotructve crtqueuually hft from a egatve poltc to a aethetc of the ulme ad the

40. Racre accout of moder lterature, a a ere of practcal attempt to deal wth t cotradc-to, h accout of let peech a the cotradctory uty of actvty ad pavty, are explctly

developed a couter to Blachot famou accout of the ame oto. For a recet, ophtcateddcuo of mlar auto-telc cocepto of lterature ad ther phloophcal uderpg,ee Alo Ro, Te Aesthetic Paths of Philosophy: Presentation in Kant, Heidegger, Lacoue-Labarthe

and Nancy(Palo Alto, CA: Staford Uverty Pre, 2007).41. Racre, Te Future of the Image, 1011.42. Ibid., 229.


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urepreetale, whch, rocally, mpoe the mot rgd otologcal jacketo arttc practce (lat chapter).

How, the, doe Racre effectvely propoe to apply the related yet oppoed

prcple of exprevty ad lterarty to the vual art, wth all the attachedcotradcto; what doe la parole muette ecome the vual art? Te logcrema the ame: o the oe had, la parole muettedeote the meagfuleof the thg themelve. T crucal for the vual art a t ope them up tothe polty of revealg meag aout the world y producg, or eve juty extractg, pcture of t. A the vual art are lerated from the cotratof repreetg acto, lerated from the hegemoy of laguage, they ca clam

to preet the world telf. But a ecod ee, the let peech of thg o the cotrary ther otate lece,43 that , ther refual to delver a uvo-cal, meagful meage. T ecod ee of the prcple goverg moderaethetc pot to t deepet level. Wth the deme of the otologcal caf-fold orderg (eparatg yet coectg) the dfferet art, gere, vocaulare,uject, o the a of the otologcal caffoldg of ocal olgarchy, a geeralcofuo eue the field of experece telf. T why Racre call theew regme of arttc practce ad experece, the aethetc oe, a t ologer grouded the rule of proper repreetato, ut the relato to theworld telf, a ew form ofaesthesis.

Te prcple of art o loger to e foud a term of meauremetthat would e the proper oe for each art, ut o the cotrary where ayuch proper collape; where all the commo term of meauremet haveee aolhed favour of a great chaotc juxtapoto, a great dffer-

et melage of gficato ad materalte. Let u call t the greatparatax.44

By detroyg the herarchcal frame that predetermed the categore ued the experece ad repreetato of the world, democracy doe ot jut chal-lege ocologcal oudare, ut, much more deeply, the pre-ordered chemeof experece. It lerate the field of experece, uch a radcal way that t eve

challege the eparato etwee the materal ad the deal, a well a etweemateralte. Whe the thread of htory udoe, t ot mply theform that ecome aalogou; the materalte themelve drectly mx to eachother.45

I the ew regme, the field of pole experece therefore up for gra,ope for ew retructurg. Here three polte ca e dtguhed. Te

43. Ibid., 13.44. Ibid., 42.45. Ibid. I have lghtly altered ome of the tralato ofTe Future of the Image.


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firt a degree zero of experece: the great chzophrec exploo where theetece k to the cream ad meag to the rhythm of odly tate.46T the temptato, ofte explored y moder artt, to make art the drect

commucato of the paratactc tate of the world, that to ay, of the fite,orderle juxtapoto of affect, emoto, phycal tate, dea, ymol ad oo. Te mot famou ame of thoe who vetured dow th path are Netzche,Maupaat, Va Gogh, Rmaud ad Vrga Woolf. At the other ed of thepectrum tad the reorderg of the commuty through the mpoto ofa ew homogeeou logc, the logc of the coeu. wo type of htorcalfigure have explored th polty: the utopa of a art that would drectly

regter the movemet of the commuty telf (the cotructvt utopa), orthe form of dcoure ad repreetato that have aadoed all amto toeparate themelve from the laguage of the commodty.

Betwee thee two extreme le the ma aveue of aethetc practce. Sceo pre-ordered, pre-gve tructure are avalale ay more, whch would defiewhat ca e ad, what form, what laguage, ad to whom, art the ae-thetc regme cot of lmted ad alway fallle attempt or propoto,for a local retructurg of the field of experece. Such propoto operate ytroducg a local order, ome form of ee, the great paratax. Te corecategory, therefore, aethetc a poltc, that of practce. Lke egaltarapoltc, art oly ever the et of relato that are traced here ad ow throughgular ad precarou act.

Betwee poltc ad art, however, there a teretg dfferece. Poltc forRacre multaeouly the ame of the egaltara prcple ad that of thegular ad precarou act that attempt to verfy t. For thee act, Racre

ofte lke to ue the model of theatre, ad call them tagg.47 I aethetc,the act reorderg the ele have ther ow ame ad the model a dffer-et oe. Te producto of art are called y hm alteratvely mage, phrase-image (etece-mage) or montage. Wth thee oto, Racre tedto degate thoe partcular operato that locally aocate elemet drawfrom dfferet level of realty, otaly materalte ad dcoure. Tee opera-to alway perform a pecfic ythe, that , alway alo a dfigurato

or a alterato a they rg together elemet y multaeouly alterg ordfigurg a expected otologcal order.48 Te mage udertood th ee the attempt to come the two prcple of moder experece: the attempt tohow ee, to lk elemet meagfully (the etece or phrae fuctoof art work), ad the ecety to take to accout the chaotc dmeo of

46. Ibid., 45.

47. See Peter Hallward -depth tudy of the theatrcal apect of Racre poltc, StaggEqualty: O Racre Teatrocracy, New Left Review37 (2006): 10929.

48. Racre, Te Future of the Image, 6.


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experece, wthout, however, eg aored y t, ad o, y tatg rup-ture, hft, wth the mmaet preece of the world.

Accordgly the mage ot the preerve of the vual art ad dealty that of

the art of the word. Te mage rather the reult of the operato that etalhea pecfic relato etwee meag ad vualty, text ad mage. Aga Flauert a partcularly good example here, for the vual power of h tyle. Coverely,oe ca cte the way whch may vual work today draw ther meag fromther meage rather tha the cotet ad form of ther compoto. I the thrdchapter, Patg the ext, dedcated to the hft the relato etwee pat-g ad wrtg, Racre how detal what way the prmacy of the word over

the mage, through the predomace of the arratve ad the orm of repre-etato expreed y the crtc, traformed the ew regme, uch a waythat the word ow operate drectly o the mage a t dplace the figure o thecava through t ow figure. Word o loger precre, a tory or doctre,what mage hould e. Tey make themelve mage o a to hft the figure ofthe patg, to cotruct th urface of covero [etwee materalte addealte], th urface of form-g whch the real medum of patg.49

Ad aga, thee defigurato, refigurato ad covero are alway local,crcumcred, expermetal, precarou, potg alway to other pole orfuture operato. I the htory of moder art, oe oly eed to thk of thedfferet mode of mxg word ad mage from Cum to Dadam to Pop Artto have a mple llutrato of what Racre decrg here.

Te partcular cae of photography help u to ee cocretely what Racremea y the crculato etwee practce, materalte ad dcoure that charactertc of the aethetc regme, ad the cope of th crculato.50

Photography exactly the art that, wth every oe of t operato, attempt tocome the two prcple of the exprevty of the aal, ad the dotc ret-ace of the real. I partcular, photography, a the techologcal veto typcalof the eteeth cetury, pot to a pecfic dmeo of the great term-glg that characterze the aethetc age.51 I t, the exchage ot jut etwee

49. Ibid., 87.50. Ibid., 1517.51. Te emergece of termglg a a core cocept, after that of let peech ad the doluto

of the oudary etwee the vle ad the vle, force me to draw a uexpected parallelwth Merleau-Poty. Merleau-Poty ow theory of let peech famouly developed thecetral chapter ofTe Prose of the World, a well a key page ofTe Visible and the Invisible. Tedea of a termglg of otologcal layer a drvg prcple of h later work, otaly the 1957 lecture o ature, ad the preparatory ote for Te Visible and the Invisible. Racreow materalm, of coure, oly paradoxcal; he clearly doe ot purue the otologcal ad vtal-

tc am of the late Merleau-Poty. But they are oth exemplary defeder of two fudametalphloophcal opto: the freedom ad creatve productvty of huma prax, ad the rejectoof otologcal reficato.


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mage ( the mmetc ee) ad the crtcal dcoure, otaly the great herme-eutc dcovere of the cetury (Marx, Freud ad ther lterary equvalet, forexample, Balzac). Te exchage or the oldarty alo etwee the mage of art,

the crtcal dcoure, ad the ocal form of magery, a the eteeth cetury the tme that correpod wth the oet of that pecfic moder pheomeo:the attempt y ocety to defie ad locate telf through the ma producto ofew mage. Wth th, the froter etwee art mage ad ocal magery, otalythe whole magery of the commodty, for the firt tme aolhed, ettg moderaethetc o a coure whch t tll egaged.

I the htory of moder art, Racre ofte lke to olate a pecfic equece,

etwee 1880 ad 1920, etwee ymolm ad cotructvm, ecaue tllutrate mot clearly the partcular cotradcto of the aethetc age. Durgthat tme, mot avat-garde project are defied y the radcal applcato of thepolty of otologcal decompartmetalzato, a they attempted to drectlyequate art wth o-art, to make art ad lfe coexteve. wo oppog drec-to amed to realze that programme: the deal of a pure art whoe creatowould o loger re-preet aythg, ut mply create deal lfe form; adthe art that aolhe telf y makg telf yoymou wth ocal lfe, ota-ly poltc. T perod wa dreamg of a art eyod mage, of a art thatwould take the dmeo of the world telf. For Racre, a for o may ofthe Frech phloopher of h geerato, the cetral figure th equece ,of coure, Mallarm.

Te fourth chapter ofTe Future of the Image, ettled La urface du deg,gve a atohg poltcal ad materalt readg of the prce of poet.Te chapter mot amazg clam cot argug that there a deep mlar-

ty etwee Mallarm project ad the work of the poeer of dutral deg(ad the creator of corporate rad detty), Peter Behre. T where thecollape of oudare demotrated the mot facatg way. What makethoe two eemgly oppoed creatve practce comparale ther commogoal: to defie a ew texture of commo lfe.52 Te le of the ymolt poemad the le of dutral product all am to create arttc form that would emmedate form of lfe, y purfyg the form, the oject ad the materal-

te extracted from everyday ocal lfe. I th readg, the urface of graphcdeg ecome the mot trkg llutrato of the prcple of the aethetcage. Lke the cava of patg, t a urface of covero, whch themmaet, operatg prcple the equal footg o whch everythg ledtelf to art, where word, form ad thg exchage role. Lke other arttcmeda, the creato of deger outle the hape of a world wthout herarchy

52. Racre, Te Future of the Image, 97.


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where fucto lde to each other, thu cocretely reuttg ay defitoof a medum term of a otologcal prcple.53

Gve that oe of the ame that Racre elect to degate the pecfic

productvty of arttc operato montage, t ot urprg that cemahould play a exemplary role h aethetc thkg ad that he dedcatemuch of h wrtg today to cema. I fact, the moder artt playg the motgficat role Racre aethetc theory proaly a cate: Jea-LucGodard. Cema, for Racre, the artpar excellencethat come the expre-vty ad ymolm of the everyday, the magery of ocal lfe, wth the fitepavty ad otruvee of materal ode. Cema alo ute the radcal

freedom of the auteur, a the lat carato of the romatc poet, wth hradcal depedecy o exteral power. Ad Godard practce of etalhga fite crculato, a gat metoymy amog cema mage, mage fromthe htory of patg ad photography, crtcal text (Faure ad Malraux arthtore, Barthe, Foucault, etc.), poetc ad oveltc extract, ad of ugthee collage ad layered motage a a vual commetary for the crtque of themage of the pectacle, the mot defite vdcato practce of Racreaccout of the aethetc age.

Film Fables, pulhed Frace 2001, rg together Racre film eaypulhed film joural (otalyrafic ad Cahiers du Cinma), a well acoferece paper o the topc. Te tude o dvdual film ad filmmaker(Eete, Murau, Lag, Ma, Roell, Marker, Ray, Godard) offer a com-pellg demotrato of the frutfule of Racre pragmatt, or we coulday operatoalt, approach to art work. It mpole for a revew of thkd to do full jutce to thee tude. Each of them a treaure of coceptual

matery, aethetc etvty ad art-htorcal memory. I each cae, Racretude the pecfic operato wth whch the film-maker produced ther owvual world a they ecoutered, each ther ow way, the potetalte adcotrat of the aethetc age. Oe of the mot remarkale apect of theedvdual tude the prece atteto to the pecfic techque employedy the artt the compoto of ther mage: the ceography of gaze adthe traformato of hadow Murau; the truggle etwee perpectve

Lag, that , the materal, arratve ad poltcal cofrotato etwee thevew from moder ocety, the outcat, the mater of the mage, the ave,horzotal gaze of chldre, etc.; the poetc of erracy Athoy Ma,materalzg arratve of fortutou ecouter ad of acto wthout deal the very detal of the mise en scne, through the movemet of ode ad theplacg of ymolc oject, ad o o.

53. Ibid., 1067.


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Of coure, wth the referece to a pecfic array of techque avalale tocema, a cotradcto eem to emerge, ce t appear to mply a eeceof the medum. Ideed, f cema wa ad to carate the prcple of moder

aethetc, the utale uty of oppoed prcple, that would defie a eece,f oly a paradoxcal oe, of the art. Racre would the e commttg theame mtake a thoe phloopher he cotatly deouce, who, o the aof a grad arratve of moderty, dtl the eece of a art form y reducgt to the polte ad lmtato of t medum. Chapter 7 ofFilm Fablescoduct a crtcal readg of the paradgmatc phloophcal characterzato ofthe cematc medum, the equvalet of Lyotard aethetc of the ulme

patg: Deleuze famou two ook o cema.Racre ue the troducto to dpel th upco of elf-cotradcto,y howg that h approach to cema doe ot effect re-eetalze t. Tecematographc fale, a thwarted oe, he clam.54 Te pecfic cotradc-to the other art have to face that they have to actvely eek to deced tothe expreve pavty (the let peech) of the world. Te camera, cotrat, alway already, y t very ature, the pave medum that the other am toecome: Camera caot e made to e pave ecaue t pave already.55Ad o, the cotuty etwee cema ad the aethetc revoluto that madet pole ecearly paradoxcal:

eve though the ac techcal equpmet of the cema ecure the de-tty of actve ad pave that the prcple of that revoluto, the factrema that cema ca oly e fathful to t f t gve aother tur ofthe crew to t ecular dalectc. Te art of cema ha ee cotraed,

emprcally, to affi rm t art agat the tak aged to t y the du-try. But the vle proce y whch t thwart thee tak oly hde amore tmate proce: to thwart t ervtude, cema mut firt thwart tmatery. It mut ue t arttc procedure to cotruct dramaturge thatthwart t atural power. Tere o traght le rug from cematechcal ature to t arttc vocato.56

I other word, the ultmate paradox of the aethetc age that t ee theemergece of a art, cema, whch, ecaue t already the perfect caratoof t prcple (the uty of exprevty ad dfferece, pavty ad actv-ty, kowledge ad gorace), forced to egage ew kd of operatoad procedure, order to fully explot the potetalte of the ew aethetcage. Otherwe, t alway gog to ecome the ervat of ome other teret.

54. Racre, Film Fables, 9.55. Ibid.56. Ibid.,11.


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Cema therefore olged, lke all the other art, to cotruct pecfic opera-to. It ca ever jut rely o t alleged eece, ce that eece make tmmedately the prey of ecoomc ad other teret, cludg the teret

retellg tore the old-fahoed, repreetatve way, a a eat, learufoldg of caue ad effect, for the am of dvdual ad/or collectve cathar-. T the provde the crtero to dtguh cema a a art form from thecema that ha uccumed to t mater. Te cema that fulfil the potetal-te of the aethetc age the oe that troduce operatve rupture, that cae decred cocretely, wth the clacal repreetatve mode, y oeyg theaethetc prcple, that to ay, y propog ovatve way to come the

exprevty of the world wth t rute otructo to meagfule ad, partcular, t retace to arratve caualty. Te great film-maker lted earlereach have ther ow way of dog precely that.

T way of watchg how film-maker deal wth the aethetc equato (utyof the cotrare, crculato of materalte ad meag, ad o o) ha thegreat advatage of focug o the pecfic trat of ther dvdual techque,ad o ther creatve orgalty. It gve them the full tatu of creator adallow oe to take the full meaure of ther orgalty, or, a the cae may e,ther geu. Itead of vetg ther work wth a phloophcal depth theywould have had o cocoue of, rug the rk of provdg a tel-lectualt terpretato radcally at odd wth ther tated teto, Racrepragmatc approach, focued o the dvdual achevemet of each art workwth the cotext of the aethetc age ca follow the operato of the art work t mmaece, a a local mache of ee ad eauty.

Jut a Hatred of Democracyeded wth a paoate ode for democratc acto,

the leo ofFilm Fables thu pred y the covcto of the cotat po-lty of cocrete, creatve arttc practce the alleged era of the pectaclead the ed of art:

A logtadg lametato cotemporary thought wat u to earwte to the programmed death of mage at the had of the machefor formato ad advertemet. I have opted for the oppote perpec-

tve ad have tred to how that the art ad thought of mage have alwayee ourhed y all that oppoe them.57

I poltc a aethetc, Racre wrtg offer u a rare ad precou defeceof creatve acto.

57. Ibid., 19.


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Jean-Philippe Deranty a Seor Lecturer Phloophy at Macquare Uverty, Sydey.He ha pulhed a umer of artcle Frech ad Germa phloophy ad completga maucrpt o Axel Hoeth theory of recogto.

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