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The ExhaustedAuthor(s): Gilles Deleuze and Anthony UhlmannReviewed work(s):Source: SubStance, Vol. 24, No. 3, Issue 78 (1995), pp. 3-28Published by: University of Wisconsin PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3685005.

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TheExhaustedGillesDeleuze

translatedyAnthonyhlmann1Exhausteds a whole otmore han ired. It'snot ust iredness,'mnot ust ired,nspite f he limb."2hetired o onger reparesor nypossibilitysubjective):ethereforeannot ealize he mallestossibility(objective).utpossibilityemains,ecauseyounever ealize ll ofthepossible, ouevenbringt nto eing s yourealize omeof t.Thetiredhas only xhausted ealization,hile heexhausted xhaustsll of thepossible. hetired annolonger ealize, ut he xhaustedan no ongerpossibilitate.That hempossiblehould e asked fme,good,what lsecouldbe askedof me?" Unnamable0).There s nomorepossibility:

relentlesspinozism. oeshe exhaust hepossible ecausehe is himselfexhausted,r s he exhausted ecausehehas exhaustedhepossible? eexhausts imselfnexhaustinghepossible,ndviceversa.He exhauststhatwhichs not ealizedhroughhepossible. e hashaddonewith hepossible,eyond lltiredness,for oendyet gain."3God s the riginary,rthe nsemblef llpossibility.hepossiblesonlyrealized n thederivative,hroughiredness,hereasyouareex-hausted efore irth,efore elf-realizationrrealizingnything hat-soever "I gave up before irth").4 henyourealize ome ofwhat spossible,t's nrelationocertainoals, rojectsndpreferences:putonshoestogo out and slippers ostay n.When speak,when sayforexample, it'sdaytime,"he nterlocutoresponds,it'spossible . .,"becauseheiswaitingo knowwhatpurpose wish hedayto serve: 'mgoing ut because t'sdaytime.. 5 Language tates hepossible, ut npreparingtfor realization.nddoubtless canuse thedaytostay thome: rfor hatmattercanstay t homedueto someother ossibility("it s night-time").ut therealization f thepossible lwaysproceedsthroughxclusion,ecause tpresupposesreferencesndgoals hat ary,forevereplacingredecessors.t s these ariations,heseubstitutions,llthese xclusive isjunctionsdaytime/night-time,oing ut/stayingn...)that retiringntheend.Exhaustions altogether ifferent:oucombine heset ofvariablesofa situation, rovidedyourenounce ll order fpreferencend allorganiza-SubStance#78,995 3

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TheExhausted 5The combinatorials theartor science fexhaustinghepossible,

throughnclusive isjunctions.utonlytheexhausted an exhaust hepossible, ecausehe has renouncedllneed, reference,oalorsignifica-tion.Only the exhausted s sufficientlyisinterested,ufficientlyscrupulous.ndeed,he is obliged o replaceprojectswithtablesandprogramsenuded f ense.Whatmattersor imsthe rdernwhich odowhathemust, nd,followinghich ombinations,e able todo twothingst once--whent is againnecessary--forothing.eckett'sreatcontributiono ogic s todisplay hat xhaustionexhaustivity)oes notoccurwithout certainhysiologicalxhaustion:omewhatsNietzscheshowed hat he cientificdealdoesnot ccurwithout ital egeneration,as inthe ase of theMan and the eech, or xample--theonscientiousman who wished o know verythingbout hebrain f the eech.Thecombinatorialxhauststsobject,utonly ecause ts ubjects itself x-hausted. heexhaustivend he xhausted1'exhaustift 'exhaustel.ustonebe exhaustedotrustneselfo the ombinatorial,r, ndeed,s it thecombinatorialhatxhaustss,thateadsus toexhaustion,reven he wotogether-theombinatorialnd exhaustion?ereagain, nclusive is-junctions.nd t sperhapsike hewrongideandthe ightide[l'enversetl'endroit]f singlehing: sense r penetratingcience f he ossible,joined rratherisjoined ith fantasticecompositionfthe I."WhatBlanchotaysofMusil s equally rue or eckett:hegreatestxactitudeand themost xtremendeterminacy;he ndefinitexchangefmathe-matical ormulations,nd thepursuit f the formlessr theunformu-lated.1' hese rethe wo enses f xhaustion,ndboth renecessarynorder o abolish he eal.Many uthorsretoopolite,ndcontenthemsel-ves with roclaimingheworkntegralnd thedeath fthe"I."Butyouremainnthe bstractfyoudo notshow"how t s,"howto makean"inventory"mistakesncluded),nd howthe decomposes,tenchndagonyncluded-in hemanner fMalone ies.A double nnocence,e-cause, s the xhausted[l'dpuise(e)]"ays, The rt f ombiningsnotmyfault.t'sa curse rombove. or he est would uggest ot uilty."'12Evenmore han n art,t s a science hat emandsong tudy. hecombinersseated t hisschool-desk:Ina learnedchool/Tillhewreckofbody/Slow ecay fblood/Testyelirium/Orulldecrepitude.."13Not that ecrepituder wreck ome o nterrupttudy; nthe ontrary,they ccomplishtas much s they onditionndaccompanyt:the x-haustedremains eated at theschool-desk,bowedhead resting nhands,"14ands ittingn the able ndheadsittingnhands, ead evelwith he able. heposturef he xhausted,hatNacht ndTrflumeakesSubStance#78,995


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6 Gilles eleuzeup again ndduplicates.eckett's amned rovide hemost stonishinggalleryfpostures,aits ndpositionsinceDante.DoubtlessMacmannremarkedhat e felt happierittinghan tandingnd ying own hansitting"Malone0).But hiswasa phrasemore uited otirednesshan oexhaustion.yingdown s never heend,the astword; t's thepenul-timate,ndtheres toomuch isk fbeing estednough,fnot ogetup,at east o roll r crawl. o stop omeone romrawling,ouhavetoputhim n a hole, lant im na jarwhere, o ongerbletostir ismembers,hewill,however,tir omememories.'sut exhaustionllowsno lyingdownand,whennight alls, emainsittingtthetable, mpty ead ncaptive ands, Head sunk ncrippled ands." Onenightshesat thistableheadonhands...Liftispastheadamomento eehispasthands...;""skull lone n a dark lacepent owed na board .,""hands ndheada little eap."'6 t is themosthorribleositionnwhich o awaitdeath,sitting ithouthe orce ither orise r iedown,watchingor he ignal[coup] hatwillmakeus draw ourselves p one lasttime nd lie downforever.eated, oucan't ecover,oucannolongertir ven memory.Therockernher ockinghairlaberceuse]sstillmperfectnthis egard,what's equireds that he/ittop.'7 neshouldperhaps istinguishe-tween eckett'seuvreouch6ndthe euvressis,which lone refinal. ortheres a differenceetweeneated xhaustionndthe irednesshat iesdown, rawls rgets tuck. irednessffectsctionnall ts tates, hereasexhaustionnly elatesothe mnesicwitness. heseated s thewitnessaroundwhich he therurns, hile evelopingvery egree f iredness.He is there efore eing orn,nd before heother egins. Was theretimewhen toorevolvedhus? o, have lways een ittingere,t thisselfsamepot .." (Unnamable,69).Butwhy s the ne who s seated nthe ookout orwords, or oices, or ounds?Languagenames hepossible. ow couldyoucombine hathasnoname, heobject X?Molloyfinds imself acedwith small trangething,omposed f"two rossesoined,t their oint f ntersection,yabar"equally table nd ndiscerniblen tsfour ases Molloy,9).Futurearchaeologists,f hey ind ne nourruins, ill, s is their ont, robablyinterprettas a religiousbject sed nprayersrsacrifices.owcould tenternto combinatorialfwedon'tknowtsname, knife-holder"?f tis the mbitionf the ombinatorialoexhausthepossiblewithwords,however,t must onstitutemetalanguage,very pecial anguagenwhich herelationsfobjectsre denticalo therelationsfwords, ndwords henwouldno longer fferealizationo thepossible, utwouldthemselvesiveto thepossible ts own (preciselyxhaustible)eality.

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TheExhausted 7"Minimallyess.No more.Wellon thewayto nexistence.s tozerotheinfinite"IllSeen, 3).Let's all anguage[langue] this tomicanguagenBeckett-disjunctive,brupt,erky, here numerationeplaces roposi-tions,nd combinatorialelationseplace yntacticelations-a anguageof names.But fyou hopethus o exhaust hepossiblewithwords,youmust quallyhopetoexhaustwords hemselves;ence henecessityoranothermetalanguage,or languageI, no longer hat fnamesbutofvoices, languagehat o onger perates ith ombinabletoms utwithblendable lows. hevoices rewavesor flows hat irect nddistributelinguisticorpuscles. hen ouexhaust he ossiblewithwords, outrimandchop toms,ndwhenyou xhausthewords hemselves,oudry ptheflow.t s this roblem,ohavedonenowwithwords,hat ominatesBeckett's ork rom heUnnamablen:a true ilence, ot simple ired-nesswith alking,ecause, it s allverywelltokeep ilence,utone hasalsoto considerhekind f ilence nekeeps"Unnamable,8).18Whatwillbe the astword, ndhowmighttberecognized?To exhaust hepossible, nemustrelate hepossibliliaobjects r"things")othewords hat esignatehemhroughnclusiveisjunctions,within combinatorial.o exhaustwords, ne must elate hem o theOtherswhopronouncehem-or ather,mit hem,ecretehem-follow-ing he lowshatlternatelynterminglendbecome istinct.his econd,very omplexmoments notwithoutelationothefirst:t s always nOtherwho peaks,incewords avenot xpected/waitedorme nem'ontpas ttendu]nd theresno anguage ther han he oreign;t salways nOther,he"owner" fobjectshathepossesses yspeaking.t is stillmatterf hepossible, ut n a newfashion:heOthersrepossibleorlds,towhich oices onferrealityhatsalways ariable,ollowinghe orcethat he oiceshave, ndrevocable,ollowinghe ilenceshat heymake.Theyare sometimestrong,ometimes eak,tillthey alldumb formomenta silence ftiredness).owthey eparatendevenopposeoneanother,ndnow heymerge.heOthers,hats to ay he ossibleworldswith heirbjects, ith heiroices hat ive hem he nly ealityowhichthey an ayclaim, ompose stories." heOthers avenorealitytherthan hatwhich heir oices ive hemn their ossibleworld.'9t s Mur-phy,Watt,Mercierndallthe thers-"Mahood ndCo." Unnamable,2).Mahood ndcompany:ow doyouputanendtothem,heir oices ndtheir tories? o exhaust hepossiblenthisnewsense,youmust gainconfrontheproblemf he xhaustiveeries,ven f tmeans allingntoan"aporia."20ou wouldhave osucceednspeakingf hem,uthow sthat achieved without introducingyourself nto the series, withoutSubStance#78,995


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8 Gilles eleuze"prolonging"heir oices,without oing hroughachof them gain,withouteing n turnMurphy, olloy,Malone,Watt. .etc., ndfallingagainonthe nexhaustibleahood?Or, n the therand,wouldhavetoarrive t ,not s a term fthe eries, ut s its imit,the xhausted,heunnamable, all alone sittingn thedark,becomeWorm, theanti-Mahood,"denuded fallvoice, o effectivelyhat couldonly peakofmyself ith he voice ofMahood, nd couldonlybe Wormby againbecomingMahood (Unnamable,4). Aporiais composedof the nex-haustible eries fall these xhausteds.Howmany f us arethere l-together,inally?ndwho sholdingorthtthemoment?ndtowhom?Andaboutwhat?"ibid., 4).How doyou magine whole hatwillkeepcompany? ow do youmake wholewith he eries, oingup, goingdown, ndtimeswo f ne peaks othe ther,rtimes hreef ne peakstothe therf till nother?Howt s, 128-29;ompany).he poriawillbesolved fyouconsider hat he imit fthe eries snot tthe imit ftheterms,utperhaps nywhere,etween woterms,etween wovoices rvariationsfvoice,nthe low,lreadyeachedwellbefore ouknow hatthe eries s exhausted, ellbefore ou earn hat heres nomorepos-sibility,o more tory, longtime ince Unnamable,15).Longsinceexhausted, ithouttsbeingknown,without isknowingt. Theinex-haustible ahood nd Wormhe xhausted,heOthernd arethe ameperson,he amedeadforeignanguage.There s thereforelanguageII [langueII] that o onger elatesan-guage le angage]oobjectshat anbeenumeratedndcombined,or otransmittingoices,butto immanentimits hatnever ease to moveabout--hiatuses,oles rtears oucouldn't ccount or,ttributinghemtosimple iredness,f hey idn't xpand uddenlyowelcomeomethingcoming rom utside relsewhere:Blanks orwhenwordsgone.Whennohowon. Then ll seen as only hen.Undimmed. ll undimmedhatwords im.All oseenunsaid"Worstwardo, 24).21 his omethingeenorheard s called mage, isual raural, rovidedt sliberatedromhechainstwaskeptnbythe therwo anguages.t sno onger matterfimagining"whole" f he erieswithanguage(combinatorialmagina-tion sullied yreason"),r of nventingtoriesrmakingnventoriesfmemories ithanguageI (imaginationullied ymemory),lthoughhecrueltyfvoiceswillnever easetopierce swith nbearable emories,absurdtories rundesirableompany.22t sextremelyifficultotear llthese dhesionswayfrom hemage o astoreach he oint f Imagina-tion eadImagine."23t sextremelyifficultomake puremage, nsul-lied,that s nothingut mage, rrivingt thepointwhere tsuddenly

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TheExhausted 9appearsn all ts ingularity,etainingothingfthepersonal,oroftherational,nd ascendingntothe ndefinites intoa celestial tate.Awoman, hand, mouth,omeyes ..,a little lue nda little hite...,alittle reenwithwhite nd redstains, smallfieldwith rocuses ndsheep: little cenesyes nthe ight esbutnotoften o as if lightwentonyes s ifyes .. hecalls hat he ife boveyes .. theyrenotmemoriesno" (How t s,97).24To maken mage rom ime otime"it'sdone 've made hemage"),canart, ainting, usic, aveanyother oal, ven fthe ontentsf theimage requitempoverished,uitemediocre?n a porcelainculptureyLichtenstein,ixtyentimetersigh,tands brown-trunkedree,oppedwith ballofgreen lankedy little loud nda cornerf ky tdifferentheightsothe eftnd the ight: hat orce neasksnothing ore,itherofBramvanVelde or Beethoven. he mage s a little efrain,isualoraural, nce he ime as come: l'heurexquise..."25 nWatt,hreerogsintermingleheirongs, achwith tsowncadence, rak,Krek,nd Krik(135-37).mage-refrainsun hrougheckett'sooks.nFirstove,hemaleprotagonistatches patch fstarryky s itcomes ndgoesand thefemale rotagonistings n a low voice.Thepoint s,the magedoesn'tdefinetselfhroughhe ublimenessf ts ontent,ut hroughtsform--its"internalension"---orhroughhe orcetgathersomake hevoid ortoboreholes, o oosen he rip fwords,odry pthe ozing fvoices,oas todisengagetself rommemoryndreason:ittlelogicalmage,m-nesic, lmost phasic,nowstandingn thevoid,nowshiveringn theopen.26he mage snot nobject uta "process."Wedon'tunderstandthepower f uch mages, oweverimple hey ppear rom hepoint fview f he bject. his s anguageII,neitherhat fnames rofvoices, utthat f mages,ounding,oloring. hat stedious bout he anguage fwordsstheway t sburdened ith alculations,emoriesndstories:tcan'thelp tself.t is,nevertheless,ery mportanthat hepure mageinserttselfntoanguage,nto ames ndvoices.And ometimeshiswilloccurnsilence,ymeans f nordinaryilence,tthemoment hen hevoices eem ohavedied.But ometimeshiswillhappen t the ignal faninducingermnthe urrentfthevoice, ing: Pingmage nlyustalmostnever ne second ight ime lueand whiten thewind" Ping,150).27ometimest s a very istinctivelat-tonedoice, s ifpredeter-mined, reexisting,hat fanOpener rPresenterhodescribesll theelementsf hemage ocome,which tillacks orm.28ndfinally,ome-timeshevoicemanages omastertsrepugnances,ts oyalties,ts llwill,and,dragged longbymusic,tbecomes peech, apable n itsturn fSubStance#78,995


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10 Gilles eleuzemakingverbalmage,sina Lied,rmakingortselfhemusic ndcolorof an image, s in a poem.29LanguageII, then, an reunite ords ndvoiceswithmages, utfollowingspecial ombination:anguageisthatofthenovels, ulminatingithWatt;anguageI tracestsmultipleoutesthroughhenovelsTheUnnamable),uffuseshe heater,ursts ut ntheradio.But anguageII,bornof thenovel How t Is), traversingheater(HappyDays,ActwithoutWords,atastrophe)inds hesecret fits as-semblagentelevision,prerecordedoicefor n mage hatneachcaseis in theprocess ftakinghape.Theres a specificityo theworks ortelevision.30Thisoutside f anguages not nly hemage, ut vastness,"pace.LanguageII notonly roceedswithmages, utwith paces.And ust sthe magemust omply ith he ndefinite,ll thewhile emainingom-pletely etermined,hespacemust lwaysbe any-space-whateveruneespace uelconque],isused,unassigned,lthough ntirelyeometricallydeterminedasquarewithuch-and-suchides nddiagonals,circle ithsuch-and-suchones, cylinderfiftyeters ound nd sixteen igh").31Any-space-whateverspopulated, ell-trodden,tmay ven e thatwhichwe populate nd treadupon,but t opposes tself o all ourpseudo-qualified lacesanddefinestself: neithererenortherewhere ll thefootstepsverfell annever are earer oanywhereorfromnywherefurtherway" For oEndYetAgain,81).Justs themagewould ppeartotheonewho hasmade tas a visualorauralrefrain,he pacewouldappear otheone whotraversest as a propulsiveefrainune itournellemotrice]--postures,ositionsndgaits.Allthesemages orm nddecay.32With hePings hat eleasemages re mixedJumpshat elease trangemovementsnspatial irections.wayofwalkings no essa refrainhana songora little olored ision: n example mong therss thegaitofWatt, homoves astbyturningisbust owards henorthndthrowingthe ightegtowards he outh,henhe ust owardshe outh ndtheeftlegtowardshenorthWatt,8).Werecognizehat his ait sexhaustive,since tencompassesllthe ardinaloints,he ourthvidentlyeing hedirectionrom hence necomeswithout ovingromnywhereurtheraway. t s a matter fcoveringllpossible irectionshileneverthelessgoingna straightine.An dentityf he prightnd the lat,f he laneand thevolume. hat s,the onsiderationfthe pacegives newsenseanda newobject oexhaustion:oexhausthe otentialitiesf ny-space-whatever.Spaceenjoys otentialitiess long s itmakes he ealizationf ventspossible:tprecedes ealization,hen,ndpotentialitytselfelongso the

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TheExhausted 11possible. utwasn't his qually hecasefor he mage,which lreadyproposed specific eans f xhaustinghe ossible? his imetmightesaidthat n mage,s well s standingnthevoid outsidepace, nd alsotoonesideofwords,toriesndmemories,tores p a fantasticotentialenergyhattdetonatesndissipating.t s not hemeagerontentshatreimportantnthe mage, ut theenergy--mad,aptive,ndready o ex-plode-thatensures hat he magesnever ast ong.The magesmergewith hedetonation,hecombustion,hedissipationftheir ondensedenergy. ike ultimate articles,heynever ast ong, ndPingreleases"imageonly ust almost never one second" (Ping, 50). Whentheprotagonistays Enough,nough..,visions"The nd, 8), t s notonlybecausehe sdisgusted ith hem,utbecause hey nlyhaveephemeralexistence.Nomore luetheblue s done" Howt s,106).3We willnotinventnentityhatwouldbeArt, apable fmakingnimage ast: heimage ndureshefurtive omentfourpleasure,urgaze '"I tood orthreeminuteseforerofessorater'smile,ogazeat t" Disjecta,23]).There sa time ormages, rightmomenthen heyan ppear,nsertingthemselves,reakinghecombinationfwords nd theflowofvoices;theres a time ormages,whenWinnie eels he cansing 'Heurexquise,but t sa momentery ear he nd, nhour lose othe ast.Theberceuseis a propulsiveefrainhat ends owardstsownend,hasteningllof hepossibletowardthatend in going"faster nd faster,"shorterndshorter,"ill, resently,tendsabruptlyMurphy,41-42). heenergyfthe mage sdissipative.he mage uicklynds nddissipatesecausetis itself hemeans fhaving one. tcapturesll ofthepossible o as tomake t eap.When ne ays, I'vemade hemage,"t sbecause his imeit sfinished,heres nomoreossibility.heonly ncertaintyhatmakes sgo on is that venpainters,venmusicians,renever ure ofhavingsucceedednmakinghemage.What reat ainterasnot eflectedn hisdeathbed n havingfailed o makea single mage,howevermall orsimple?t s,rather,he nd, he ndof llpossibility,hat eaches sthatwe havemade t, hatwe areabout o make hemage.And t s likewisefor pace: f, ynature,hemage asa veryhortife,henpace, erhaps,has a very estrictedlace, s restricteds thatwhich queezesWinnie,when he willsay"la terre st uste" "The arth s very ight"]HappyDays, 0-41),nd Godard juste ne mage." he pace snosoonermadethan tcontractsnto "pinhole" ike hemagenamicro-fractionf ime:an identical ark, again hat ertain ark hat lonecertainshescan";"ping ilence ing ver."34

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12 Gilles eleuze-form xhaustive eriesofthings- dryup theflowofvoices-extenuatehe otentialitiesf pace-dissipatehe ower f hemage.Theexhaustedsthe xhaustive,hedried p,the xtenuatednd thedissipated. he ast twowaysareunitednlanguageII,the anguage fimagesnd paces.tremainsnrelationshipithanguage,ut ises porbecomes autn tsholes,tsgaps, r ts ilences. owitoperateshroughsilence, ow it makesuse of a recorded oice that resentst,and still

further,tforcespeech obecomemage,movement,ong, oem.Doubt-less twas bornnthenovels ndnovellas ndpassed hroughhe heater,but t sintelevisionhattcomesnto tsown, istinctrom he irstwo.Quadwillbe Spacewith ilence ndeventually usic.Ghost riowillbeSpacewith resentingoice ndmusic...buthelouds..,illbe magewithvoiceandpoem.Nacht ndTrilumeillbe Imagewith ilence,ong ndmusic.Quad,acking ords,acking oice,s a quadrilateral,square.Whileit s perfectlyetermined,ossessingertainimensions,t hasno otherdeterminationshan tsformalingularities,quidistanterticesndcen-ter, o other ontentsroccupantshan he our imilarrotagonistshotraversetceaselessly.t s a closed, loballyefined,ny-space-whatever.Eventheprotagonists,ho areshort,light,ndasexual, nd wear onggownswith owls,havenothingoindividualizehem ut thefact hat

eachdeparts rom vertex s from cardinal oint, ny-protagonists-whatever ho traverse hesquare, achfollowing given ourse nddirection.oucan lways ause hem o ffectdistinguishingight,olor,sound, rsoundoffootsteps.utthis s a means frecognizinghem;nthemselveshey reonly patiallyetermined,nthemselveshey reaf-fectedynothingther han heirrderndposition.hese reunaffectedprotagonistsnanunaffectablepace.Quad s a refrainhat s essentiallypropulsive,ith he hufflingf lippersormusic-like he ound f ats.Theformf he efrains the eries, hichsno ongeroncernederewithobjectsobecombined,ut olelywith bjectlessourney.35he eries asanorder,ccordingowhichtwaxes ndwanes,waxes gain ndwanesagain, ollowinghe ppearancenddisappearancef heprotagoniststthefour orners fthe quare: t s a [musical]anon.t hasa continuouscourseollowinghe uccessionf egmentsraversed:ide, iagonal,ide... etc. thasanensemblehat eckettescribessfollows:Four ossiblesolos llgiven. ixpossible uosallgiventwowice).our ossible riosll

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TheExhausted 13given wice"Quad451-452);36quartetour imes. heorder,he ourse,andthe nsemble,enderhemovementllthemorenexorablenthat t swithoutbject,ike conveyorelt hatmakesmovingbjects ppear nddisappear.Beckett'sext sperfectlylear: t s concerned ith xhaustingpace.There's odoubt hat heprotagonistsire hemselvesut and willdragtheirtepsmore ndmore. ut irednesssaminorspect f he nterprise,which oncernshenumberf imes possible ombinations realizedforexample,wo f he uos rerealizedwice,he our rioswice,he uartetfour imes). heprotagonistsire ccordingo thenumber frealizations.Butthepossible s accomplishedndependentlyf thisnumber,ytheexhaustedrotagonistsho exhaustt.Theproblems this: n relationowhat anexhaustionwhichs not he ame s tiredness)efinetself? heprotagonistsealize ndtire tthefour ornersf the quare, longthesides, nd thediagonals. ut hey ccomplishndexhausttthe enter fthe quare,where hediagonals ross. hat, nemight ay, s where hepotentialityfthe quare ies.Potentialitys a doublepossibility.t s thepossibilityhatneventhats tselfossibles realizednthe paceunderconsideration.hepossibilityhat omethingealizestselfnd thepos-sibilityhat omeplacerealizes t.Thepotentialityf the quare s thepossibilityhat hefourmoving odiesthat nhabitt willcollide-two,three rfour fthem-followingheorder nd the ourse fthe eries.37The centers preciselyhat lacewhere heymightometogether;ndtheirmeeting,heirollision,s not n event mong thers,ut theonlypossibilityfevent--theotentialityf thecorrespondingpace.To ex-haust pace s toextenuatetspotentialityhroughenderingnymeetingimpossible. he solution o theproblemrom ow on is foundn thisnimble entral isconnecting,his wayof thehips, his wervingside,this iatus,his unctuation,his yncope,apid idestepr ittleump hatforeseeshe omingogethernd avertst.Repetitionakes waynothingof hedecisive,bsolute haracterf uch gesture.hebodies void achother espectively,utthey voidthe centerbsolutely. hey idesteptogethert thecenter o avoid eachother, uteach also sidestepsnsolitudeoavoidthe enter.t sthe pace hatsdepotentialized,track..J.ust wideenough or ne.On itnotwo evermeet"Closedpace, 99-200).Quadisclose oa ballet. hegeneralimilaritiesetween hework fBeckettnd modern allet renumerous:he bandonmentf llprivileg-ingofverticaltature;he gglutinationfbodies s a means fkeepingupright; he substitution fany-space-whateverordesignated reas; theSubStance#78,995


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14 Gilles eleuzesubstitutionf "gestus"s a logic fposturesndpositionsor llstoryornarrative;hequestfor minimalism;heappropriationydanceofwalkingnd ts ccidents;he cquisitionfgesturalissonances.... t snot urprisinghat eckettequestshat hewalkers fQuadhave "someballet raining."t s needednotonly or hewalking utthehiatus,hepunctuation,hedissonance.It s also close oa musicalwork.Awork yBeethoven,Ghost rio"appearsnanotheriecefor elevisionyBeckettndgives t ts itle. hesecondmovementftheTrio,which eckettses, ssists s inthe om-position,ecompositionndrecompositionfa theme ftwomotifs,ftworefrains.t is likethe ncreasenddecrease f a more r essdensecompoundlongmelodic nd harmonicines,tsaural urfaceraversedby continual,bsessive,bsessional, ovement.ut heresanaltogetherdifferenthingswell: sort fcentralrosion hat irstrises s a threatamong hebass and sexpressednthe rill rwaveringf he iano, s ifone were bout oabandon hekey or notherrfor othing,earinghesurface,lungingnto ghostlyimension here hedissonances ouldcomeonly opunctuatehe ilence. ndBeckettnderlinesust his achtime espeaks fBeethoven:previouslynheard-ofrt fdissonances,wavering,hiatus,a punctuationfdehiscence,"stress iven ywhatopens, lips way,sswallowed, gapthat unctuatesothingtherhanthe ilence fthe atestnding.38ut,f heTrio ffectivelyisplayshesetraits, hywas itnot used to accompany uad, owhich t is so wellsuited?Whys tusedtopunctuatenotheriece? erhaps ecause heresno needforQuad o llustratemusicwhich,ndevelopingifferentlytsghostlyimension,as a role lsewhere.

Ghost rioncludes oice ndmusic. t s alsoconcerned ith pace,exhaustingtspotentialities,ut n a completelyifferent anner romQuad.Atfirsthe rea eems esignatedythe lementshat ccupyt: hefloor,hewalls, hedoor, hewindow, hepallet. utthese lementsredefunctionalized,nd thevoice namesthem n turnwhilethecamerashows hemnclose-up-homogenousrey ectangulararts omologoustoan denticalpace, istinguishednly ythenuances fgrey:norder fsuccession,specimenffloor,specimenfwall, doorwithoutnob,nopaquewindow, pallet eenfrombove.These bjectsnthe pacearestrictlydenticaloparts f pace. t sthereforeny-space-whatevernthepreviouslyefinedense, ompletelyetermined,ut t s locally eter-mined, otglobally,s inQuad: succession funiformrey ands. t sany-space-whatevernfragmentation,n close-ups, nd as RobertBresson

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TheExhausted 15indicatedor hefilmicpproach,ragmentationis indispensablefyoudo notwant to fall ntorepresentation.. Isolate theparts.Make themindependents a wayofgiving hem new nterdependence"Bresson,95-96). isconnecthem oallowa newconnection.ragmentations thefirsttep n a depotentializationf pace, akinghe ackroad.Of course heglobal pacehad first eengivenn ong hot. ut venhere t snot s inQuad,where he ameras fixed ndraised,xteriorothe pace n a closed hot,ndoperating,hroughecessity,ontinuously.Ofcourse global pacecan beexhaustedhroughhe imple ower ffixedamera,mmobilendcontinuous,peratingith zoom.AfamousexamplesWavelengthyMichael now: 45-minuteoomexploresny-rectangular-space-whatever,ejectinghe vents t encountersuringtsprogressionyonlyendowinghemwith ghostlyxistencethroughnegativeuperimposition,or xample) ntilt oins hebackgroundallthat s decoratedwith n imageofemptyea, intowhich ll spaceisswallowed.t is,onemightay,"the tory f thediminutionf a purepotentiality."39utapart rom hefact hat eckett oesnot ike pecialeffects,he onditionsf he roblem,romhe oint fviewof localizedreconstruction,equirehat he amera emobile, ith ravelinghots,nddiscontinuous,ith uts: verythings noted ndquantified.his s be-cause the paceof theTrio s onlydeterminednthreeides, ast,northandwest, he outh eing onstitutedythemobilewallof he amera.tis not theclosed paceofQuad,with single entral otentiality,utaspacewith hree otentialities,hedoor to theeast, hewindow o thenorth,hepallet o thewest.And as these reparts fspace, hemove-ments f the amera ndthe uts onstitutehepassagefromne totheother,swellas theiruccession,heirubstitutions,llthose rey andsthat onstitutepace ccordingo the equirementsf ach ocalized reat-ment. ut lso andthesere he epthsfTrio),llthese arts lungentothevoid, ach n tsownway, ach ummoninghevoid ntowhich heyplunge, hedooropening nto nobscureorridor,hewindowookingout onto rainy ight,he otallylat allet ummoningtsprivate oid.Andthey o this o wellthat he assage ndsuccessionromnepart oanotherervesnly oconnectr ink nfathomableoids. uch s thenew,properly hostly,onnection,rthe econd tepofdepotentialization.tcorrespondsoBeethoven's usicwherehatmusicmanages opunctuatethe ilence ndwhere "path f ounds uspendedngiddyheights" olongerinks nythingut unfathomablebysses f ilence."40his spar-ticularlyhe case in Beethoven'sTrio,"where hewaveringnd the

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16 Gilles eleuzetremolo lready ndicate ilence'sgaps and the auralconnectionhatbridgeshem,t the rice fdissonances.This is thesituation:he recorded oiceof a woman,off-screen,predetermined,rophesying,nnouncesn a murmurhathe rotagonist,"will hinke hears er"Trio,10). eated na stool lose othedoor ndclutchingsmall assette-player,heprotagonistetsup, putsdownthecassette-player,nd ike night atchmanrghostlyentinel,pproachesthedoor,then hewindow, hen hepallet.There re startings-over,returnsothe eated osition,ndthemusic nly omes romhe assette-playerwhen theprotagonists seated,eaning verthe machine. hisgeneral ituations notunlike hJoe, hichwasBeckett'sirst iecefortelevision.ut the differencesetween t and Trio regreatertill.Forexample,nEhJoe,hefemale oicedid notpresenthe bjects,ndthesewerenotmixed pwith lat ndequivalent arts f pace;further,esidesthedoor andwindow herewas a cupboardhat ntroducedn interiordepth o theroom, ndthebedhad spacebelow tratherhanbeingpallet n thefloor. heprotagonistas tracked,ndthefunctionf thevoicewasnot oname r nnounce,ut oremind,omenace,opersecute.Thiswas still anguageI Thevoicehad ntentions,ntonations,tevokedpersonalmemorieshatwereunbearableo theprotagonist,elvingntothismemorial imension ithouteing ble torise otheghostlyimen-sionofan impersonalndefinite.he atter imensions only eachednGhostrio: woman, man, nda child, ithoutnypersonaloordinates.From hJoeoTrio, type fvocal nd patial urificationccurs hat ivesthe irstiece he ppearancefbeingmore preparationnd ntroductionto theworksfortelevision hanfullybeing partof them. t is notreproducedn thepresent olume Beckett:uadet autres ieces ouratWl6vision,uivi eL'dpuisearGilles eleuze].nTrio,hemurmuringoicehas become eutral,lank, ithoutntentions,ithoutesonance,ndthespacehasbecome ny-whatever,ithout nderneathrdepth, aving ootherbjectshan tsownparts.t s the ast tep fdepotentialization-adouble tep, ince he oicedries pthe ossible tthe ame ime hat hespaceextenuatestspotentialities.verythingndicates hat hey rethesame-thewomanwho peaks romutside,nd hewhomighturstntothis pace.However, etweenhe wo-theoff-screenoice nd thepurefield f pace-theresa scission, line f eparation,s inGreek heater,Japanese 6,orthe inema f he traubsndMargueriteuras.41t s ikeplaying radioplayand a silent ilm imultaneously:newform finclusive isjunction.r,rather,t slike shot reak-downhere ocalsilences re nscribednone ide nd patial oids nthe thercuts).t s

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TheExhausted 17into his hantomhot hatmusic shurled,onnectinghevoids ndthesilences,ollowingridge-lineike limit o nfinity.The trios re numerous:hevoice, he pace, hemusic; hewoman,theman, he hild; he hree rincipalositionsf he amera;hedoor othe ast, hewindow othenorth,he allet othewest,hreeotentialitiesof pace.... Thevoice ays: He willnowthink e hears er"410).Butwemust ot hink hat e safraid nd feelsmenaced;hiswastrue nEhJoe,butnothere.He no onger opes rwaits or hewoman; n the ontrary.He only waits he nd, he atest nd.Allof heTriosorganizedohavedone, he nddevoutly ished or s athand:musicabsent rom hJoe),Beethoven's usic,s nseparableromtransmutationnto ilence,romtendencyo abolitionnthevoidsthat tconnects.n truth,nsofars hehas treatedhe hreeources s simple,imilararts, lind ndfloatingnthevoid, heprotagonistasextenuatedllthepotentialitiesf he pace:hehasmadeherrivalf hewomanmpossible.ven hepallets so flat hatitbearswitnesso tsvoid.Why oestheprotagonisteverthelessecom-mence,ong fter hevoicehasgone ilent, hydoes heagaingoto thedoor, hewindow, heheadofthepallet?We haveseenthis efore;t sbecause he ndwillhave appenedongbefore eis ableto understandthas happened: everythingillcontinueutomatically,ntil he orderarrives o stopeverything"Unnamable,15).And whenthe ittle ilentmessengeruddenlyppears,t s not o nnouncehat hewomanwillnotbecoming,s if twere pieceofbadnews, ut obringhe ong waitedorder ostopeverything,ince verythings truly inished. t easttheprotagonistasa means f ensinghat he nd s at hand.LanguageII isnot nly omposed f pace, utof mages. here s a mirrornGhost riothathas an importantoleanddistinguishestself romhe eries oor-window-palletecause t s notvisible rom he camera'song-shotosi-tion" nd doesnotfigurenthepresentationst the eginning; oreover,it willbe pairedwith hecassette-player"Smallgrey ectangle,amedimensionss the assette-player")413), atherhanwith he hreehings.Further,he nly ime heprophesyingoice s taken y surprise,aughtoff uard-"Ah "-is when heprotagonisteansover hemirroror hefirstime,efore ecan ee t.Whenweat ast eethemirror,na close-upshot, he mage-thefaceof the bominablerotagonist-leapsrom t.The imageabandons ts base tobecome floatinglose-up,whilethesecondmovementfthe Trio" lays ut ts ast mplifiedars.Thefacestartso mile,he stonishinglyeceitfulndcunningmile f omeonencontact ith he ndpointfhis"testyelirium":ehas made hemage.42

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18 Gilles eleuzeTriogoes from pace to the mage.Any-space-whateverlready

belongs o the ategoryfpossibility,ecause tspotentialitiesenderos-sibletherealizationfan event hats itself ossible. utthe magehasgreaterepth,ecause tdisengagesromts bjectoastobecomen tselfa process-apossible vent hat oesn't venhave to realize tselfnthebodyofan object ny onger:omethingiketheCheshire at'sdisem-bodied milenLewisCarroll.43his swhyBeckett akes hemagewithsuch are: lreadynEhJoehe milingace ppearedn mage, utwithoutourbeing bletosee themouth-the urepossibilityf he mile eingnthe yes, nd nthe worisingornersf hemouth,he est otbeingnshot.Ahorrible,outhlessmile.n ..buthe louds...,he emale ace,hasalmost ohead, facewithout ead uspendednthe oid;" nd nNachtundTrltume,he ream ace s as ifprocuredromheinen hatmops wayitssweat,ike face fChrist,nd floatsnspace.44ut f t s true hatany-space-whateveroesnotseparatetself rom n inhabitant ho ex-tenuatesomeof tspotentialities,he mage emains ith reatereasoninseparable rom hemovementhrough hich t dissipates:heheadbows, urnsway, ades way, rdispersesike cloudorsome moke.The visual mage s draggedlongbymusic,he ural mage hat ushestowards ts own abolition. oth ush oward heend, ll possibilityx-hausted.

TheTrioeadsusfrompace othe atewaysf hemage. ut ..butheclouds..,reaks nto he sanctum." he anctum:t s theplacewhere heprotagonistillmake hemage. rrather,na returnothe ost-cartesiantheories fMurphy,here renowtwoworlds, hysicalndmental,or-poreal ndspiritual,ealandpossible.45hephysicalworld eems om-posedofa limitedrea,with doorto the efteading osome"backroads," ndthroughhich he rotagonisteaves ndreturns;othe ight,a closetnwhich echangeslothes,ndabove, he anctumntowhich edisappears. ut ll this nly xists hroughhevoicewhich s that ftheprotagonistimself. llwe see,on thecontrary,s any-space-whatever,designateds a circleurroundedyblack, ecoming ore ndmore imas oneapproachesheperipheryndmore ndmore rights oneap-proacheshe enter:he oor, he loset,he anctum,reonly irectionsnthe ircle-west,ast,north--andar o the outh, utofthe ircle,s theimmobileamera.When heprotagonistoes n a given irection,e ustsinks nto hadow;whenhe s nthe anctum,e ust ppearsnclose-upfromehind,sittingn nvisibletool owed vernvisibleable"clouds,417).The anctumhen,nlyhasa mentalxistence;t sa "mentalham-

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TheExhausted 19ber," s Murphywouldsay Murphy,4),which esponds o the aw ofinversions disentangledy Murphy:Butmotionnthisworld of hemind] epended n restn theworld of hebody]" ibid.).The mage spreciselyhis:nota representationfan object, uta movementn theworld f he pirit.he magesspiritualife,he lifebove"ofHow t s.Onecanonly xhaustheoys, hemovementsndthe crobaticsf he ifeof he piritf he ody emainsmmobile,urled p, itting,ombre,tselfexhausted:his s whatMurphyalls "collusion"ibid., 5),theperfectaccordbetween heneeds ofthebodyand theneeds of thespirit,hedouble xhaustion.hesubject f ..but he louds...s this piritual eed,this ife bove. Whatmatterss no longer ny-space-whateverut thementalmage owhich t eads.Ofcourse,t s not asy omake n mage.t snot noughust othinkofsomethingr someone. he voice ays: When thoughtfher...No...No,that s not ight..." Itrequiresnobscurepiritualension,secondor third ntensios the authors f theMiddleAgeswouldsay,a silentevocationhats alsoan nvocationndeven convocationndrevocation,since traises he hingrthe ersonothendefinitetate:woman.... "Icalltotheeyeof themind" xclaimsWillie Happy ays, 4-75).46inehundredndninety-eightimesna thousand oufail ndnothingp-pears.And whenyousucceed, he ublimemage nvades he creen-female acewithout ontour-to mmediatelyisappear, in thesamebreath"(clouds,20); ometimest ingerseforeisappearing,ometimestmurmursomewords romeats's oem.nany ase, hemage espondsto thedemands f ll seen,llsaid; llseen, llunderstood,hich eignsnthekingdomf he pirit/mind.nd nsofars it sspiritual ovement,tisnot eparatedromheprocess f tsowndisappearance,f tsdissipa-tion, rematurer not.The mages a pant, breath,utexpelled nthewayto extinction.he mages what iesaway,wastes way, fall.t sapure ntensity,hichdefinestselfs suchthroughtsheight--itsevelabovezero,which s onlydescribedn falling.47etained rom eats'spoem rethevisual mage f loudspassingnthe ky nddispersingnthehorizon nd theaural mageofthecry f a birddying way nthenight.t s nthis ense hat hemage oncentratespotentialnergyhatitdrags longn tsprocess f utodissipation.tannounceshat he ndofthepossible s nearfor heprotagonistf ..buthe louds...justas forWinnie, ho feels "zephyr," "breath"ustbefore he ternal ark, heblacknightwithoutnd Happy ays, 8-79). here sno moremage, omore han heres space:beyond he ossible heresonly hedark, s inMurphy'shird nd ast tate,hattatewhereinhe rotagonisto ongerSubStance#78,995


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20 Gilles eleuzemovesnspirit,uthasbecomen ndiscernibletom, boulic,in he ark... of... absolute reedom"Murphy,6). t s the inalword, nohow."48Theentireast tanza fYeats'spoem srelevanto ..buthe louds...:two xhaustionso as toproduce he ndthat ears he eated way.TheintersectionfBeckettndYeats overflowshispiece;notthatBecketttakesup againYeats'sprojectf ntroducingapanese 6 intoWesterntheater. uttheconvergencesf Beckett ithN5,howevernvoluntary,appearfor heir artn theworks or elevisionndperhaps resupposethe heaterfYeats. t'swhathas been alled "visual oem," theaterfthe pirithat roposes ot o recount story,uttoerectnimage.t sfurtherefinedhroughords hat rovide ecor or networkf ircuitsin any-space-whatever,hroughheextrememinutiaefthese ircuits,measuredndrecapitulatednspace nd ntime,nrelationowhatmustremain ndefiniten thespiritualmage. It is defined hrough heprotagonists,ho are like"super-marionettes,"49nd thecamera, sprotagonist,ith utonomous ovement,urtiverdazzling,ntagonisticto themovementftheother rotagonists,nd throughherefusal fartificialechniquesslowmotion,uperimposition),hich renot uitedtothemovementsf hemind... 50Only elevision,ccordingoBeckett,is ableto atisfyhese emands.

TheoperationfNacht ndTriiumes still o"make hemage," ut histime heprotagonistas novoicewithwhich ospeak, nddoes nothearany, or s heabletomove, s hesits,mpty ead ncrippled ands,with"clenched taringyes" Worstwordo, 103). It is a newpurification,"Nohow ess.Nohowworse.Nohownought. ohow n" ibid., 28). t snightndhe is about o dream.Arewe supposed o think e is asleep?Bettero believeBlanchot, henhedeclares hat leepbetrayshenightbecause t produces n interruptionetween wodays,permittinghefollowingo ucceed he receding.51eareusually ontentodistinguishbetween he aydreamrwaking ream,ndthedream f leep.But hesearequestionsf irednessndrepose.nthiswaywemiss he hirdtate,whichsperhapshemostmportant:nsomnia,lone ppropriateonight,andthe ream f nsomnia,hich samatterf xhaustion.he xhaustedis theone whostares. ou dreamednsleep,butyoudream longsideinsomnia. hetwoexhaustions,ogical ndpsychological,theheadandthe ungs" s Kafka aid,arrange rendez-vousehind ur backs.KafkaandBeckettardlyesemble ne anothertall,but hey avethe nsom-niac dreamncommon.52nthedream f nsomnia,t s not matter frealizinghe mpossible,utof xhaustinghepossible,itheryextend-

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TheExhausted 21ing tto themaximum,hichwill llow ttobe treatedike realwakingday in themanner fKafka, r, n reducingt to a minimum, hichsubjectstto thenothingnessf night ithoutleep,ikeBeckett.reamistheguardianhat eepsnsomniaromleeping.nsomnias the rouch-ingbeast hatpreads ut s far sthe ays nd closesnas stronglysthenight.heterrifyingosturef nsomnia.The nsomniacfNacht ndTrilumerepares imselforwhathehastodo. He is seated, ands ittingnthetable, eadsittingnhands:simplemovementfhandsto head or still essa simple isengagingfhands romneanothersa possibilityhatmightnly ppearna dream,like flyingootstool.... ut t snecessaryomakehis ream. hedreamofthe xhausted,fthe nsomniac,fthe boulic,s not ike he leepingdream hat ashionstselfll alone nthedepths fdesire ndthe ody,tis a dream fthemind hat astobemade,manufactured.he"dream,"the mage,willbe the ameprotagonistnthe ameseatedposition,n-verted,eft rofilenstead fright rofile,ndabovethedreamer;ut norder or he reamed ands odisengagenthemage, ther ands, hoseof woman,willhave ocaress ndraise hehead,bringta chalice, ipeitsbrowwith cloth othat, eadnowraised,hedreamedrotagonistanstretchishands owards neof hosehands]hat ondensenddispenseenergynthe mage. his mage eems o attain heart-rendingntensity,until hehead sinks gainonto hree ands, hefourthestingentlyntopof hehead.Andwhen hemage issipates,oumighthinkouheara voice: he ossiblesaccomplished,it sdone 've made hemage." utno voice peaks, o more hannQuad.There s only hemalevoice hathums ndsings he astbarsof thehumble efrainarriedlongbythemusic of Schubert, Softdreams come again ...," once beforethe ap-pearance fthemage, nd once ftertsdisappearance.heaural mage,music, elayshevisual mage,ndopensupthe oidorthe ilence f helatest nd.This imet's chubert,oadmiredyBeckett,hobringsbouta hiatus r ump, kind fdisconnectingna mannerery ifferentromthat f Beethoven.t is themonodic,melodic oice thatumpsclearofharmonicupports,educed oa minimum,norder oexplorehepureintensitiesxperiencedn thewaythe ounddiesaway.A vectorf boli-tion traddledymusic.

Inhisworks or elevisioneckettxhaustswice ver oth pace ndthe mage.Beckett as less and ess able totolerate ords.And heknewthereasonfor hisgrowingntoleranceromhebeginning:he pecificdifficultyf"boringholes"in thesurface f anguageso that, what urksSubStance#78,995


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22 Gilles eleuzebehind t"might ppear t last.You can do thison the surface f thepainted anvas,ikeRembrandt,ezanne r VanVelde; r onthe urfaceof ound, ikeBeethovenrSchubert,oallowthe udden ppearancefthevoidorthe isible er e, ilence rthe udible er e;but, Istherenyreasonwhythat errible aterialityftheword surface houldnotbecapable fbeing issolved. .?53 t s notonly hatwords ie;theyre oburdenedwith alculationsnd significations,ith ntentionsndper-sonalmemories,ith ldhabitshatementhem,hat heirurface,arelybroken,ealsover gain. t sticksogether.t mprisonsndsuffocatess.Music rrives otransformhedeath f omeyoung irlnto dead ounggirl;toperates his xtreme eterminationfthe ndefiniteikea pureintensityiercinghe urface,sinthe ConcertonMemoryf nAngel."Butwords,with heir dherenceshatkeepthemn thegeneral r theparticular,annot othis. heyack hat punctuationfdehiscence,"hat"disconnection"hat omes from groundswelleculiar o art. t istelevision hich,n part, llows Becketto surmounthe nferiorityfwords: itherydispensing ith pokenwords,s inQuad ndNachtndTrdiume;rbyusing hem oenumerate,opresent,r tobecomedecor,which llowsthem o be loosened ndallowsthe ntroductionfthingsand movementsetweenhemGhost rio,..buthe louds...);rbyem-phasizingertain ords ollowingn ntervalr bar, he est assingn abarelyudiblemurmur,s atthe ndofEhJoe;rbytakingomeof hemalongwith hemelodywhich ives hem he ccentuationheyack, s inNachtundTrdiume.n television,t is always somethingther hanwords-musicrvision-thatome o oosen hegrip fwords, o eparatethem r evencompletelyutthem side. s there henno salvation orwords-like new tyle,t ast,wherewordswould tep utside f hem-selves,whereanguage ecomes oetry,o as toproducehevery isionsand sounds hat emainmperceptibleehind heformeranguage"theoldstyle""4)?isions rsounds, owdo you distinguishetween hem?They re so pure ndso simple,o strong,hat hey recalled ll een,llsaidwhenwordsburst nd backfiren themselveso reveal heir wnoutside. heverymusicofpoetryead aloudwithoutmusic. rom hebeginning,eckettlamorsor style hatwouldproceed hrough per-forationndproliferationftissue"a breakingown ndmultiplicationoftissue"Englishnthe riginall).t selaboratedhroughouthenovelsand the heater,evels ut nHow t s,andbursts orthnthe plendorfhis asttexts. nd t's ometimesriefegments,easelesslydded totheinteriorfthephrase,norder o lead to thecomplete reakingfthesurface fwords,s inthe oem,Whats theWord:

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The Exhausted 23

folly eeingall this-this-what s theword-this his-this hishere--all this hishere--folly ivenall this-seeing-folly eeingall this hishere-for o-what s theword-see-glimpse-seemtoglimpse-need to seem toglimpse-folly or o need to seem toglimpse-what-

(inAsthe toryasTold,32)Andsometimest'sthroughonnections hat iddle hephrasetoceaseless-lyreducethe urface fwords, s in thepoemWorstwardo:

Less best.No.Naught est.Bestworse.No. Notbestworse.Naught otbestworse. essbestworse. o.Least. east estworse. eastnever obenaught. ever onaughtebrought.ever ynaughtenulled. nnull-able east. ay hat estworst.Witheasteningordsay east estworse.Blanksorwhenwords one.

(118,124)

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24 GillesDeleuzeABBREVIATIONSSED

CDW CompleteramaticWorksCSP CollectedhorterroseNO NohowOnWORKS ITED

Beckett,amuel,As the tory as Told. ondon:Calder, 990.. Collectedhorterrose945-1980.ondon: alder,984.-The ompleteramatic orks.ondon:aber,986.-Disjecta. iscellaneousritingsnd Dramaticragment.d.Ruby ohn. on-don:Calder, 983.. HappyDayslOlesbeauxours.Bilingual dition d. JamesKnowlson.London:Faber, 978.--. How t s. NewYork:GrovePress, 964.- .MaloneDies.New York:GrovePress, 956.- . Molloy. ewYork:GrovePress, 955.

-. Murphy.ondon:Picador, 973.- .NohowOn. London:Calder, 989.-. Nouvellesttextesour ien. aris:Minuit, 991.

. Tetesmortes.aris:Minuit, 967.

. TheUnnamable. ew York:GrovePress, 958.- . Watt. ondon:Picador, 988.Beckett,amuel, nd GillesDeleuze. Quadet TrioduFant6me,.. que nuages..,Nachtund rdiume,raduite 'anglaisarEdithournier,uivi eL'EpuisearGilles eleuze.Paris:Editions eMinuit, 992.Bresson, obert. otes ur ecinematographe.aris:Gallimard,1975].Parain,Brice, ur adialectique.aris:Gallimard,953.

NOTES1. [TranslationfL'Epuisd,opyright992byLesEditions e Minuit. ermissiontopublish his ranslationranted ythepublisher. eleuze's essaywas firstublish-ed in France s an afterwordo fourplaysfor elevision ySamuel Beckettwhich,havingbeentranslated rom nglishntoFrench yEdithFournier, erepublishedfor hefirst ime nFrenchnthis ditionBeckett,amuel, tGillesDeleuze. Quadet

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TheExhausted 25Trio uFantome,..que uages...,achtnd rdume.raduite 'anglaisar dithournier.SuivideL'6puis" arGilles eleuze. aris:Editions eMinuit. 992).Deleuze uses thepast participle,puis6exhausted), s a noun l'ipuise). haveattemptedo reflecthiswherever ossible.Translator's otes re nsquarebrackets,eleuze'soriginal otes re not.WhereDeleuze gavereferencesotexts ndpages intheir rench ersions, havegiven hereferenceso thepublished nglish ranslations.]2.Beckett,amuel,Texts orNothing,SP,72.3. [Cf.Beckett, orTo EndYetAgain, SP.]4. [Cf.Beckett,GaveUpBeforeirth,SP.]5. Cf.Parain,Brice, ur a dialectique,aris:Gallimard, 953: anguage"does notsaywhat s, t sayswhatmight e... You say there s thunder,n thecountry neresponds:t'spossible, hatmight ethe ase. . When saythat t sdaytime,t s notatallbecause t sdaytime.. [but] ecause havemy ntention,hich sparticularome,toaccomplish,owhich heday servesonly s an occasion, fpretextrargu-ment" 61,130).6. ["unite es contradictoires."ith egard o"identifiedontraries,"ee Gior-dano Bruno ndBeckett'sssay, Dante...Bruno.Vico...Joyce,"nDisjecta 19.]7. [Cf.The famousbeginningnd endingof Moran's narrativenMolloy: It ismidnight.he rain sbeating n thewindows. . . Then went ack nto hehouseandwrote,t smidnight.he rain sbeating n thewindows. t was notmidnight.t wasnotraining" 25,241.]8. [Beckett,exts orNothing,SP,74.]9. FrancoisMartelhasmade a very igorous tudy, singcombinatorialcience,of he eries nddisjunctionsnWatt:Jeux ormelsansWatt,"oItique, o. 10,1972.Cf.MaloneDies:"Everythingivides nto tself"4).10. Blanchot, e livreAvenir Paris:Gallimard, 11). The exacerbation fthemeaning fthepossible s a constanthemenL'hommeansqualites.11. [Thebracketede' here ndicates hat heexhausted ne might in this n-stance)be eithermale or female.This is probably referenceo theuncertaintysurroundinghegender fthenarratorfEnough, hom ertain riticsonsidermaleand certain due to the sexual natureofhis/her elationship iththe older malecharacternthe tory) avesuggestedsfemale.]12.Beckett,nough,SP,140. IntheFrench ersionAssez) his eads, I'artdecombiner u combinatoire'estpas ma faute, 'estune tuiledu ciel. Pour Le rest ediraisnoncoupable."My talics. eckett,htes-mortes.aris:Minuit. 967.p. 36.]13.Quotedfrom'"TheTower"byW.B.Yeats, hepoemthat nspiredBeckett'spiecefor elevision,..but he louds...14. [Beckett,acht ndTrdume,DW,465.]15. [Forcrawling f.Molloy nMolloy,or olling,Macmann nMaloneDies,foroneplanted na jar,MahoodinTheUnnamable.]16.Beckett, orstwardo, nNohown 103), tirringstill,nAsthe toryWasTold,113,118),For oEndYetAgain, SP (179),Afar Bird,bid., 195).17. ["La berceuse" s a referenceoBerceuse,heFrench ersion fBeckett's layRockaby.nDeleuze as inBeckett,hewordreferstonce toa rockinghair, lullaby,and thefemale rotagonistftheplay, ockingnher hair.18.Cf.EdithFournier,nSamuel eckett,evue 'esthitique,aris:Ed. Privat, .24:"Beckett reaks henecessary one,not hephrasenor heword, ut their tream; isgreatnesss inhavingknownhow todry tup."

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26 GillesDeleuze19. t s here hat hegreat theory"fTheUnnamableeems tobecome ircular.The idea that hevoicesoftheprotagonistserhaps efer ack to"masters"who aredifferentromheprotagonistshemselves.20. [Cf.theopeningparagraph f TheUnnamable,. 3: "What m I todo,whatshall I do, whatshould I do, in mysituation, ow proceed?Byaporia pure andsimple? rby ffirmationsndnegationsnvalidatedsuttered,r ooner r ater?"]21.Cf. also a letter f 1937writtennGermanDisjecta, . 172):"As we cannoteliminateanguageall at once,we should at least eavenothing ndonethatmightcontributeo tsfallingntodisrepute. o boreoneholeafternothern t,untilwhatlurks ehind t-be it omethingrnothing-begins oseep through."Worstwardowouldsayonthe ontrary:No ooze then.")22.Often he magedoesn'tfully ucceed ndisengagingtself rom memory-image,notablynCompany.ndsometimes hevoice s animated ya perverse esireto mpose particularlyruelmemory,s inthepiecefor elevision,hJoe.23. [Cf.maginationead magine,nd AllStrange way, SP.]24. Concerninga little lue" and "a littlewhite," nd "the ife bove," ee Howit s,pp. 70,72,75.25. [InHappyDaysWinniepossesses smallmusicboxwhich playstheWaltzDuet I loveyouso' from heMerryWidow." nBeckett's rench ersion fthisplay,Oh lesbeauxours,Beckett ses the samepieceofmusic, ut the yrics otheFrenchsong L'Heure xquise) iffer romheEnglishyrics. his s the ongtowhichWinnierefershroughoutheplay, arefullywaiting herightime osing t.Shefinallyoessing t, t thevery nd oftheplay.Cf.HappyDays/Ohes beauxours, ps. 52-53 nd82-83.]26.Beckett,Lemonde t epantalon,"nDisjecta,.118 and egardinghe wotypesf magenBramndGeer anVelde,image igeet mage rissonnante"thecongealed ndthe hudderingmagel).27.Ping ctivates murmur ra silence, sually ccompanied yan image.28. Cf.the voice in thepiece for elevision, host rio, CDW]. In Catastrophe[ibid.] hevoiceoftheAssistantnd that ftheDirectorespond oone another o as

to describethe image to be made, and to make it. [Cf.also Cascando,bid.,for"Opener."]29. n WordsndMusic piecefor adio) CDW]wewitness he llwill ofWords,who,tooattached orehashing ersonalmemory,efuseso followMusic.30. The worksfor elevision onsist f Ghost rio, 975, ..but he louds..., 976,NachtundTrdume,982,Quad,1982, s well as EhJoe, 965 [CDW].WhyEhJoe sthoughtfseparatelyromheotherswill be discussed elow. EhJoes notrepublishednthe ollectionhat hepresentssayoriginallyccompanied.]31. [Cf.TheLostOnes,CSP,159.]32.Alreadywith nimals, efrains erenotonlymade ofcries nd chants utofcolors, ostures nd movements,s is seen nthemarkingfterritoriesnd matingdisplays. his s also true fhuman efrains.61ix uattari asstudied heroleoftherefrainn the workofProust L'inconscientachinique,les ritournelles u tempsperdu,"Ed. Encres):forexamplethe combination f Vinteuil's ittlephrasewithcolors, ostures nd movements.33. Cf.pp. 103-106.34. For toEnd YetAgain, . 182,Ping, . 151, "Bing ilenceHop achev6,"Bing(T&tes-mortes,inuit, 6)].35. nthe ovelsikeWatt,he eriesmightlready utmovementsnto lay, utinrelationoobjects rcomportments.

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TheExhausted 2736. [InherFrench ranslationquotedherebyDeleuze) EdithFournier ranslatesBeckett's hrase "all given"as "tous ainsi6puises,"or literally,all in thiswayexhausted."]37.MolloyndTheUnnamablenclude,neachof heir eginnings, editationsnthe oming ogetherftwobodies.38. Cf.Dream f air oMiddlingWomen,932, nd the etterf1937toAxelKaun[Both uoted nDisjecta; ream uoted nextract as now beenpublished nfullbyArcadePublishing, ewYork, 993].Beckett nderlinesnBeethovena punctuationofdehiscence,lottements,he oherence one opieces..." Disjecta,9].Andr6Bernoldhas commented n thesetexts f Beckett's n Beethovenn a verybeautiful rticle,"Cupio dissolvi,note sur Beckettmusicien," 6tail, telier e la Fondation

Royaumont,o. 3/4,1991.MusicologistsnalyzinghesecondmovementfBeethoven's rioemphasize henotationntremolo fthepianothat refollowed ya keynotewhichoars traightowardshewrong ey nd tayshere..."AnthonyBurton).39.P.A.Sitney,Le film tructurel"nCinema,hedrie,ectures,d. Kincksieck,.342:onthefilm ySnow.Beforenow,Beckett admadeananalogousoperation,utinpurely adiophoniconditions:mbers.heprotagonist,homwe hearwalking npebblesclose to thesea, evokessound-memorieshatrespondto his call. Buttheyquickly easeresponding,nd thepotentialityfthe uralspace being xhausted,hesoundof he ea engulfs verything.40. Cf.Disjecta,etter o AxelKaun,p. 172.And,on punctuation,he musicalconnectionf ilences ndthepassagefrommusic osilence, f.Andr6Bernold, . 26,28. 41.Thevoice-image isual scission an havecontraryonsequences:nBeckett,tis a matterf a depotentializationfthe pace, ut,ntheStraubs rMargueriteDuras, t s,onthe ontrary, potentializationfmatter. voice s raised ospeakofwhathappened nthe mpty pacepresented. oices re raised ospeakof n ancientballthat ookplace nthe ame hall as the ilent allputontoday.The voice s raisedto evokewhat s buried nthe arth ike still ctive otential.42."Testy elirium"ppears ntheYeatspoemquoted n ..but he louds..."'heTower"]. Thesmilehere,which snot ndicatednthewrittenext fGhost rio,s asupposition xplainednthenext aragraph.]43. [Deleuzediscusses heCheshire at'ssmile nTheLogic f ense.]44. Jim ewis,Beckett's ameraman or hepiecesfortelevision roduced nStuttgart,peaksoftechnical roblems orrespondingothese hree ases "Becketttla camera,"Revued'esth&thique,. 371 ff.).NotablyforEhJoe, eckettwanted thecorners fthe ipsto enter ya quarter f centimeternto he mage, nd not half.45. This is from hegreat ixth hapter fMurphy,Amor ntellectualisuoMurphye psummat," .63.46.Happy aysl h esbeauxours. p.74-75.t s a phraseorrowedrom eats(AttheHawk'sWell). imilar hrases re foundnKlossowski: ratherhannaming hespiritl'esprit]or oberte,t sthe ontraryhichsproduced... uddenlyobertebecomes he bject fpure pirit... (Robertee oir, d.deMinuit, . 31).Klossowski,forhispart, inks nvocation ndrevocationnrelationwith oices,breaths.47. Theproblem f hedissipationf he mage, r of heFigure,ppears nquitesimilar ermsnBacon'spainting.48.Cf.Worstwardo.49. ["Sur-marionnettes."eleuze is perhaps eferringere otheworkofHein-

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28 GillesDeleuzepassing similarityo Beckett'sworks.An Englishtranslationy RomanPaska ofKleist'sfamous ssay,"On the Marionette heater,"writtenntheearlynineteenthcentury,s to be foundn theZoneMagazinepublication,ragmentsor Historyf heHumanBody, artOne.New York:Urzone. 989.pp.415-420. raigdescribes is dealof theactor s "fiber-marionette"n hisbook,On theArt f heTheatre,heatreArtsBooks,New York,1956:"Theuber-marionetteill notcompetewith ife--rather,twill go beyond t. ts ideal will notbe the flesh nd blood but rather hebody intrance--itwillaim to clothe tselfwith death-like eautywhileexhaling livingspirit"84-85).]50. It is inFilm CDW] that hecamera cquiresthe maximum fantagonisticmovement;ut cinemahas moreneed of"trickery"han elevisionCf.thetechnicalproblem fFilm, . 331)and control f he magehere s muchmoredifficult.51. Blanchot, 'espace itte'raire,allimard, . 281: "night, he essenceofnightdoesnot etus sleep."52.Cf.Kafka, ranz. Wedding reparationsntheCountry,"rans. rnst aiserand EithneWilkins,nWeddingreparationsn theCountryndOther tories.ar-mondsworth:enguin. 978.p. 10:"I don'teven needtogo tothecountrymyself,tisn'tnecessary.'ll sendmy lothed ody. .. For myselfmmeanwhileyingnmybed,smoothlyovered verwith heyellow-brownlanket,xposed o the reeze hatis wafted hroughhat eldom-aired oom."And nthe dition fObliques edicatedtoKafka, f. he ext yGroethuysen:They emainedwakeduring heir leep; theyhadkept heiryesopenwhile hey lept... It s a worldwithoutleep.The worldofthewaking leeper. verything,ith frighteninglarity,s clear."53.Cf.the wo texts eprintednDisjecta p.172].54.Cf.HappyDays.

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