Rhizome is a philosophical concept
developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix
Guattari in their Capitalism and
Schizophrenia project. It is what
Deleuze calls an "image of thought,"
based on the botanical rhizome, that
apprehends multiplicities.
As a mode of knowledge and model for
society
Deleuze and Guattari use the terms
"rhizome" and "rhizomatic" to describe
theory and research that allows for
multiple, non-hierarchical entry and
exit points in data representation and
interpretation. In A Thousand Plateaus,
they oppose it to an arborescent
conception of knowledge, which works
with dualist categories and binary
choices. A rhizome works with planar and
trans-species connections, while an
arborescent model works with vertical
and linear connections. Their use of the
"orchid and the wasp" is taken from the
biological concept of mutualism, in
which two different species interact
together to form a multiplicity.
Hybridation or horizontal gene transfer
would also be good illustrations.
"As a model for culture, the rhizome
resists the organizational structure of
the root-tree system which charts
causality along chronological lines and
looks for the original source of
'things' and looks towards the pinnacle
or conclusion of those 'things.' A
rhizome, on the other hand, is
characterized by 'ceaselessly
established connections between semiotic
chains, organizations of power, and
circumstances relative to the arts,
sciences, and social struggles.' Rather
than narrativize history and culture,
the rhizome presents history and culture
as a map or wide array of attractions
and influences with no specific origin
or genesis, for a 'rhizome has no
beginning or end; it is always in the
middle, between things, interbeing,
intermezzo.' The planar movement of the
rhizome resists chronology and
organization, instead favoring a nomadic
system of growth and propagation.
"In this model, culture spreads like the
surface of a body of water, spreading
towards available spaces or trickling
downwards towards new spaces through
fissures and gaps, eroding what is in
its way. The surface can be interrupted
and moved, but these disturbances leave
no trace, as the water is charged with
pressure and potential to always seek
its equilibrium, and thereby establish
smooth space."
Principles
Deleuze and Guattari introduce A
Thousand Plateaus by outlining the
concept of the rhizome:
1 and 2: Principles of connection and
heterogeneity: "...any point of a
rhizome can be connected to any other,
and must be,"
3. Principle of multiplicity: only when
the multiple is effectively treated as a
substantive, "multiplicity" that it
ceases to have any relation to the One
4. Principle of asignifying rupture: a
rhizome may be broken, but it will start
up again on one of its old lines, or on
new lines
5 and 6: Principle of cartography and
decalcomania: a rhizome is not amenable
to any structural or generative model;
it is a "map and not a tracing"
See also
References
Sources
Deleuze, Gilles and Félix Guattari.
1980. A Thousand Plateaus. Trans. Brian
Massumi. London and New York: Continuum,
2004. Vol. 2 of Capitalism and
Schizophrenia. 2 vols. 1972-1980. Trans.
of Mille Plateaux. Paris: Les Editions
de Minuit. ISBN 0-8264-7694-5.
Guattari, Félix. 1995. Chaosophy. Ed.
Sylvère Lotringer. Semiotext(e) Foreign
Agents Ser. New York: Semiotext(e). ISBN
1-57027-019-8.
---. 1996. Soft Subversions. Ed. Sylvère
Lotringer. Trans. David L. Sweet and
Chet Wiener. Semiotext(e) Foreign Agents
Ser. New York: Semiotext(e). ISBN
1-57027-030-9.
External links
Rhizomes" – Cultural Studies Online
Journal.
Power of Networks" – RSA Animate video
on the "Power of Networks" by Manuel
Lima.
