The pragmatic constructions of Deleuze, Guattari and Miles Davis

Abstract

The aim of the following investigation is two-fold. Firstly, the project takes as its focus the growing corpus of secondary literature written on the work of the French philosophers and theorists Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, whose work has generated a great deal of interest in recent years and a proportionate amount of controversy. Much of this controversy can be attributed to simplifications and misunderstandings on the part of commentators who have in some instances neglected to approach Deleuze and Guattari with sufficent rigour and care, resulting in the perpetuation of so many misunderstandings regarding their work. Secondly, the project will seek to redress some of these misunderstandings by recourse to a pragmatic embodiment of Deleuze and Guattari's concepts and ideas through a case-study based on the life and work of the African-American jazz musician Miles Davis. In attempting to provide a new and challenging case as the basis for this investigation, the overriding aim is to assess the pragmatic remit of Deleuze and Guattari's thought, in terms of aesthetics, ethics and politics, whilst remaining sensitive to the potential limitations and dangers of their project.