Deleuze, Critical and Clinical: A Review by Charles Stivale

This Deep Dive examines a review by Charles J. Stivale which examines Gilles Deleuze’s collection Essays Critical and Clinical alongside a collaborative volume edited by Eleanor Kaufman and Kevin Jon Heller. Stivale highlights how Deleuze connects literary style to a "clinical" vitality, where authors create a foreign language within their own to explore new modes of existence. The text also addresses the academic reception of these ideas, specifically responding to Elie During’s critique of contemporary "Deleuzism" and its various regional interpretations. Stivale defends the practical application of these theories, arguing against rigid, exclusionary schools of thought. He emphasizes that the goal of such scholarship should be the creative manipulation and animation of concepts to expand the field of study. Ultimately, the sources celebrate the interdisciplinary reach of Deleuze and Guattari’s work across politics, cinema, and philosophy.