Deleuzian

Deleuzian refers to the philosophy, method, and vocabulary associated with the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze (1925–1995), and, in many readings, to the collaborative work he did with Félix Guattari. It is used to describe approaches that privilege difference, process, and becoming over static identities or representational truth. Core works such as Difference and Repetition and the cinema-related analyses in Cinema 1 and Cinema 2 help establish the vocabulary later developed with Guattari in Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus.

Key concepts commonly associated with Deleuzian thought include difference as a productive power rather than a negation of identity, and becoming as a continuous process rather than a state. The plane of immanence, the distinction between the virtual and the actual, and the primacy of multiplicity are central to Deleuze’s metaphysical and epistemological program. Deterritorialization and reterritorialization describe how social, political, and cultural formations continually break apart and reassemble. The rhizome and the concept of an assemblage (agencement) offer non-hierarchical models of organization, connectivity, and change, contrasting with tree-like or centralized structures. Desiring-production treats desire as a productive force shaping reality rather than a lack or deficiency.

Deleuzian influence extends across philosophy, film and media studies, cultural theory, architecture, and political theory, promoting styles of analysis that challenge transcendental foundations and essentialist meanings. Critics often target perceived obscurity or relativism, while supporters hail its innovative approaches to difference, power, and creativity.