Performative fragments: Bartleby and the other

Authors

  • Suely Aires

Keywords:

Melville, Bartleby, Deleuze, Lacan, Performativo, Outro, Bartlebly, Performative, Other

Abstract

Melville’s character, which entitles the novel Bartlebly, the Scrivener: a story of Wall Street, pronounces an enigmatic sentence whenever inquired: I would prefer not to. According to Deleuze, that sentence has a character of formula by its strict and solemn grammaticality, as well as devastating the double system of language reference – performative and constative. This paper is aimed to discuss the relation among the performative, the other and I, through Bartlebly’s sentence and Deleuze’s assertions in his essay Bartlebly, or the formula.

Published

20/12/2007

Issue

Section

Contributions