This post contains a translation of the first half of the « missing » paragraph of RHIZOME (first published in 1976 as a separate book). For the French text see below.
TRANSLATION
« We no longer talk much about psychoanalysis, however we still do talk about it, far too much. Nothing is going on there any more. We were thoroughly fed up with psychoanalysis, but unable to stop [talking about it] immediately. Analysts and above all analysands bore us too much. This matter was slowing us down, we had to accelerate it for our own account – without any illusions as to the objective scope of such an operation – we had to impart to it an artificial speed capable of bringing it to the point of rupture or to the breaking point for us. It’s over, we will speak no more about psychoanalysis after this book. No one will suffer from this, neither them, nor us » (my translation).
COMMENTS
French uses the same word, « nous », for subject (« we ») and object (« us »).
The passage in question begins and ends with « nous ». Further RHIZOME itself begins with « nous » (« We wrote ANTI-OEDIPUS together ») – this is obscured by the published translation: « The two of us wrote ANTI-OEDIPUS together »).
There are 23 occurrences of « nous » in the first two pages of RHIZOME. In comparison, ANTI-OEDIPUS begins with « ça » (« it » – not to be confused with other words for « it » having different grammatical functions), and uses it seven times in the first two pages.
Thus, while ANTI-OEDIPUS can be seen as the book of « it » and of machines, RHIZOME is the book of « we » and of subjectivation.
For an in depth treatment of this passage see the video in the previous post.
TEXT
Here is the (first) missing paragraph in RHIZOME. The book begins page 7, with the first paragraph as we know it in A THOUSAND PLATEAUS. Then on page eight and the first four lines of page nine we have the text that was omitted in the ATP version. For my commentary I have cut this missing passage into two parts.
