Cormac McCarthy’s Aesthet(h)ics of the “Canal-Rhizome” in Suttree
This essay interprets Suttree’s (1979) obsessional themes of vagrancy and in-betweenness, and their aesthetic inscription in the text by resorting to Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s motif of the “canal-rhizome” as developed in Mille plateaux (1980). Close textual analysis reveals that, in parall...
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| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
2017-12-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12372 |
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| author | Marie-Agnès Gay |
| author_facet | Marie-Agnès Gay |
| author_sort | Marie-Agnès Gay |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This essay interprets Suttree’s (1979) obsessional themes of vagrancy and in-betweenness, and their aesthetic inscription in the text by resorting to Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s motif of the “canal-rhizome” as developed in Mille plateaux (1980). Close textual analysis reveals that, in parallel to his hero’s embracing of social liminality in rebellion to his father’s conservative value system based on law and order, McCarthy makes the ethical choice of “pass-words” over “order-words,” of transforming “compositions of order” into “components of passage,” a militant act of literary commitment. Moreover, the essay contends that the text’s aesthetic choice of liminal forms is also meant to enable the reader to share the hero’s metaphysical experience of the mysteries of death-in-life. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7f50e7c95f60445a83465e0bc79c6919 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-7f50e7c95f60445a83465e0bc79c69192025-01-06T09:09:20ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362017-12-0112310.4000/ejas.12372Cormac McCarthy’s Aesthet(h)ics of the “Canal-Rhizome” in SuttreeMarie-Agnès GayThis essay interprets Suttree’s (1979) obsessional themes of vagrancy and in-betweenness, and their aesthetic inscription in the text by resorting to Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s motif of the “canal-rhizome” as developed in Mille plateaux (1980). Close textual analysis reveals that, in parallel to his hero’s embracing of social liminality in rebellion to his father’s conservative value system based on law and order, McCarthy makes the ethical choice of “pass-words” over “order-words,” of transforming “compositions of order” into “components of passage,” a militant act of literary commitment. Moreover, the essay contends that the text’s aesthetic choice of liminal forms is also meant to enable the reader to share the hero’s metaphysical experience of the mysteries of death-in-life.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12372Gilles DeleuzeCormac McCarthySuttreeFelix Guattarirhizomevagrancy |
| spellingShingle | Marie-Agnès Gay Cormac McCarthy’s Aesthet(h)ics of the “Canal-Rhizome” in Suttree European Journal of American Studies Gilles Deleuze Cormac McCarthy Suttree Felix Guattari rhizome vagrancy |
| title | Cormac McCarthy’s Aesthet(h)ics of the “Canal-Rhizome” in Suttree |
| title_full | Cormac McCarthy’s Aesthet(h)ics of the “Canal-Rhizome” in Suttree |
| title_fullStr | Cormac McCarthy’s Aesthet(h)ics of the “Canal-Rhizome” in Suttree |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cormac McCarthy’s Aesthet(h)ics of the “Canal-Rhizome” in Suttree |
| title_short | Cormac McCarthy’s Aesthet(h)ics of the “Canal-Rhizome” in Suttree |
| title_sort | cormac mccarthy s aesthet h ics of the canal rhizome in suttree |
| topic | Gilles Deleuze Cormac McCarthy Suttree Felix Guattari rhizome vagrancy |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12372 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marieagnesgay cormacmccarthysaesthethicsofthecanalrhizomeinsuttree |