Rhizome (philosophy)

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Rhizome ( Greek ῥίζωμα rhizoma , root ') is a central concept in the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari , developed in the 1970s.

The term is derived from the name for root plexuses ( rhizomes ) of plants. For Deleuze and Guattari it serves as a metaphor for a postmodern or poststructuralist model of knowledge organization and description of the world, which replaces older hierarchical structures represented by a tree metaphor . The philosophical concept of rhizomatics met with great interest in the theory of science , media philosophy and cultural studies .

Rhizome and tree model

“Dichotomous” tree of human knowledge in Volume 1 of the Encyclopédie
"Rhizomatic" link structure between websites
Ginger rhizomes piled on top of each other - a network without a "trunk"
Rhizome of a grass plant

The metaphorical use of the botanical term rhizome proposed by Deleuze and Guattari initially characterizes their own spelling, which rejects hierarchies, i.e. is not designed according to the traditional form of the tree of knowledge . The knowledge tree is an order model that is supposed to make hierarchies of knowledge and sciences describable and whose tradition refers to ancient Greece. Taxonomies , classifications , classic encyclopedias and libraries , for example , are organized according to this tree model . Tree models are oriented both hierarchically and dichotomously, i.e. each element is on one (and only one) level of order, is subordinate to a higher level and can be superordinate to one or more elements. There are no cross-connections that skip hierarchical levels or connect elements that are superordinate to two different higher-level elements. Diderot and d'Alembert had already recognized the weak points of the tree model in their Discours préliminaire de l'Encyclopédie (1749) and tried to correct them by cross-referencing under the lemmas to other contributions and areas of knowledge.

In addition to replacing the metaphor of the tree of knowledge with the metaphor of the rhizome for their own notation, Deleuze and Guattari also consider the tree model in a more general sense to be epistemologically no longer appropriate because it is not open to possibilities for change, such as paradigm shifts can be reflected in the research and understanding perspective. There are no crossings or overlaps in hierarchically structured order models. An element cannot belong to more than one level of organization, nor are cross-connections to elements of other "branches" permitted. But this is exactly what appears to be absolutely necessary in the postmodern world of knowledge. From a political point of view, the authors also considered the tree model to be socially problematic, since, in their view, dictatorships shaped their oppressive regimes in an analogous way.

Deleuze and Guattari use rhizomatic plant structures as a substitute for the tree model and again in contrast to another organizational metaphor, that of the network. Further examples are the structures of ants and rats, which they also regard as "rhizomes". So the authors stay in the field of botanical metaphor, but find a metaphor that corresponds to their idea of ​​a multi-interwoven structure:

“As an underground strand, a rhizome is fundamentally different from large and small roots. Bulbs and tubers are rhizomes. Plants with large and small roots can be rhizomorphic in very different ways, and one might wonder whether what is specific about botany is not precisely the rhizomorph. Even animals are when they pack, like rats. The structure of the animals is also rhizomorphic in all of its functions, as a dwelling, storage space, space for movement, hiding place and starting point. The rhizome itself can take on a wide variety of shapes, from branching out in all directions on the surface to compression in bulbs and tubers. "

A rhizome is therefore a "multi-rooted", intertwined system that cannot be represented in simplifying dichotomies : "A rhizome can be broken and destroyed at any point, it continues to grow along its own or other lines."

Despite this specific use of the term, the metaphorical use of the “rhizome” often leads to misunderstandings due to an incorrect formulation from a botanical point of view among the authors: Plant rhizomes are not roots.

Deleuze's and Guattari's criticism of the logic of identity was taken up in the reception by post-structuralism :

“Post-structuralism thinks both in terms of different multiplicity and in contexts. The resulting image of unity and multiplicity does not subordinate the multiplicity to the unity logically or it does not fall into a mere nominalistic opposition that does not change anything in the tree scheme. Rather, unity and multiplicity are interwoven and neither exists in front of or above the other, nor does one cancel the other. There is none without the other. "

Order in the rhizome

So-called "connections" lead to the fact that individual points in rhizomes are connected to one another, which in turn allows a wide variety of issues to come into contact with one another ("heterogeneity"). Fixed or at least more solid structures in a "rhizomatic" order of knowledge are definitely possible, but not exclusively.

“Each rhizome contains segmentation lines according to which it is layered, territorialized, organized, labeled, assigned etc .; but also deterritorialization lines, where it inexorably flees. "

Instead of "units", the focus of observation and interpretation is now on "multitudes", called "plateaus" by the authors:

"Any multiplicity that can be connected to others through underground stems running on the surface, so that a rhizome forms and spreads, is called a plateau."

Plateaus can be connected to one another, but they are not organized in such a way that, as in the tree model, one element is declared the "trunk" on which all others depend. Depending on the perspective, the center of a rhizome is in different places and, in contrast to the order model of the network, may not even be there. Conceived as a rhizome, the value of apparently chaotic connections can only be understood and described:

“The tree and the root paint a sad picture of thought which, proceeding from a higher unity [...] continuously imitates the many. [...] Hydra and medusa we cannot escape. "

Rhizome means the liberation from defined power structures: Many perspectives and many approaches can be linked freely:

"A rhizome is a spatial image of pure immanence."

reception

"Rhizomatics" is discussed above all in postmodern philosophy and media theory , because the term seems to offer a starting point for many problems of orientation within modern worlds of knowledge that cannot be ordered and categorized according to the tree model. Certain organizational structures can be created, but these are undermined again by internal links and connecting lines.

From the perspective of every scientific discipline and every new approach, the system and order of existing knowledge are built up in their own way. “In a rhizome there are no points or positions like in a structure, a tree or a root. There are nothing but lines. ”To many modern media theorists, the metaphor of the rhizome therefore seems suitable for describing the structures of hypertext , social networks or computer networks such as the Internet .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ DG 1992, p. 16
  2. ^ DG 1977, p. 16
  3. ↑ Gabriel Kuhn (2005): Animal-Becoming, Black-Becoming, Woman-Becoming. An Introduction to the Political Philosophy of Poststructuralism , p. 63
  4. ^ DG 1977, p. 16
  5. ↑ DG 1977, p. 35
  6. ↑ DG 1977, p. 26f
  7. ↑ Kurt Röttgers (2012): Rhizom , p. 344
  8. ↑ DG 1977, p. 14