Extremely Brief Reading Notes: Pugliese, "Compulsory Visibility"

[rax]

I wasn't going to take any notes on this one at all, but look at this sentence: "As somatechnology, the niqab here signifies a garment that refuses the colonial gaze." (14) "...It deflects the penetrative gaze of the West, even as it enabled the occluded subject agentially to return the gaze without herself being scopically exposed." 

Oh, and "the critical power in conceptualising race in terms of a prosthesis lies in the way in which it effectively dislocates race from its biological ground, as a type of naturalised biological datum, in order to disclose its status as techne`; that is, as a biopolitical somatechnology of power." (16)

Deleuze and phantasm again, this also comes up in the Puer.

Crime suspects who wore balaclavas were called Middle Eastern on that basis in London? What in the everliving what? *sigh*

...the performance art pieces of people in balaclavas and suits reads totally different to me than it would have before that game with the spy character came out. I know this is dumb but I can't possibly be the only person to have seen, by virtue of being on the internet, hundreds and hundreds of depictions of that outfit meaning "goofy video game character" rather than "terrorist." I don't know if this means anything or if there's anything useful to be said about it.

Comments

[krinndnz.livejournal.com]

... a biopolitical somatechnology of power.

Hmm. Yes - yes, all the signs are there, I think you have an acute case of being in grad school.


I am jealous that you are dealing with far more difficult ideas than I am. Keep up the good work! ♥

[rax.livejournal.com]

But Doctor, is there a cure? ♥

[ab3nd.livejournal.com]

It will run its course in about 2 to 8 years, and most cases are not fatal. Giddy feelings as well as occasional lack of energy or mood swings are common symptoms.