we have only winds and their variations, and we ourselves are made of winds as we make ourselves counter-wind. « We have only lines and movements », i.e. This idea of being « strong » enough is close to the idea of being « worthy » enough, as the strength needed to « counter » the wind is not only physical but also noetic, conceptual and ethical. “Except we can never be sure we will be strong enough, for we have no system, only lines and movements.” The mission of the horde could be said to be not just to « counter » the event-wind in the sense of moving against it, resisting it, perhaps even getting to its source and neutralising it, but also to « encounter » the wind, to « counter-effectuate » it in the sense of being « worthy ».Īfter the title page there is a short paragraph dedication, and then on the next page there is for epigraph a solitary quote from A THOUSAND PLATEAUS: In the novel « counterwind » also has other functions and meanings: a direction (« à contrevent »), a type of wind (« les contrevents »), a phenomenon (« le contrevent »). This would be in line with Deleuze’s idea n LOGIC OF SENSE of what he calls the « counter-effectuation » of the event, the attempt to be « worthy of the event ».įurther, « Counterwind » as a name is in line with Deleuze’s idea that winds are hecceities, individualities that can be designated by names.

One could argue in favour of Dickow’s solution that this draws the word towards the more qualtitative, more conceptual pole. Note: Alexander Dickow in a conversation on twitter has assured me that the motivation for his choice is principally aesthetic, and also the impression that Counterwind could be considered as a name. However in the novel « counterwind » is a countable noun, and is preceded by the definite article, in both the singular and the plural. « Counter- » is a prefix that is used by them in A THOUSAND PLATEAUS to indicate something that is both against (negative face) and outside (positive face) the codes., for example they speak of a « counter-oedipal apparatus », « countersignifying semiotics ».įor some reason Alexander Dickow has chosen to translate the title « The Horde of Counterwind », with no definite article before « Counterwind ». The title THE HORDE OF THE COUNTERWIND is Deleuzo-Guattarian.ĭeleuze and Guattari sketch in A THOUSAND PLATEAUS an ontology of multiplicities (« horde ») and their relation to the intensive fluxes of the outside (often figured as « winds »). Continuing to live-blog my reading of LA HORDE DU CONTREVENT (2004) by Alain Damasio

La Horde du Contrevent by Alain Damasio