Rhizome (philosophy)

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

The term is derived from the name of root systems ( 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, the elderly, represented by a tree metaphor, hierarchical structures replaced. The philosophical concept of rhizomatic aroused great interest in the philosophy of science, philosophy of media and cultural studies.

Rhizome and tree model

The metaphor of the rhizome is a counter-proposal to the metaphor of the tree of knowledge. The Tree of Knowledge is a traditional organizational model to describe the hierarchy of knowledge and science, and whose tradition dates back to ancient Greece. According to this tree model, for example, taxonomies, classifications, classical encyclopaedias and libraries are organized. Tree models are hierarchically structured and dichotomous, ie: each element is positioned on one (and only one) order level, a higher level is subordinate and can be the parent of one or more elements. There are no cross-connections, skip the hierarchical levels or connect elements that are superior to two different higher elements. Diderot and d' Alembert were early recognized the deficit of the model from the tree of knowledge in their préliminaire Discours de l' Encyclopédie ( 1749) and corrected this by referenced by cross-referencing among the lemmas to other entries and any other knowledge domains.

Deleuze and Guattari maintain the dichotomous tree model for epistemologically inappropriate because it is not open for possible changes in vision such as shifts in the research and understanding perspective. In hierarchical order structures such as the tree model, there are no intersections or overlaps. Neither can an element belonging to several levels of order, nor are cross- connections to elements of other " branches " allowed. But is exactly what appears to be inevitable in the modern world of knowledge. The authors consider the tree model for politically dangerous because they see, for example, in dictatorships the same tree structure into rigid political hierarchies implemented.

As an alternative to tree model pull Deleuze and Guattari rhizomatic plant structures approach. Other examples are the buildings of ants and rats, they also describe as " rhizome ". Thus, the authors remain in the field of biological metaphors, but find a metaphor that their idea of a closely interwoven structure:

" A rhizome as subterranean strand fundamentally different from large and small roots. Bulbs and tubers are rhizomes. Plants with large and small roots can be rhizomorphic in a completely different way, and one might wonder whether the specificity of Botany is not exactly the rhizomorph. Even animals are there, when they form a pack, such as rats. The construction of the animals is rhizomorphic in all its functions, as a dwelling, storehouse, exercise room, hiding and starting point. The rhizome itself can take many forms, from ramified spread in all directions at the surface to the compression in bulbs and tubers. "

A rhizome is therefore a " vielwurzelig " interwoven system that does not burst into dichotomies: "A rhizome may be broken at any point and destroyed, it sprawls along its own lines or other on. "

Regardless of the meaning of what is meant often leads the metaphorical concept of " rhizome " to irritation due to an incorrect botanical formulation with the authors: Plant rhizomes are currently no roots.

In the reception by poststructuralism especially Deleuze and Guattari critique of the logic of identity has been taken:

" Post-structuralism thinks both, in various multiplicities as in contexts. The resulting image of unity and multiplicity assigns the multiplicity of the unit identity not logically or she does not fall into mere nominalistic opposition, the tree scheme ... nothing changes. Rather, unity and multiplicity interweaving and neither does the one before or above another nor the one cancels the other. None of it is without the other. "

Order in the rhizome

Individual points in rhizomes can and should be interconnected ( " Konnexion "). Different situations can contact each other ( " heterogeneity "). Fixed structures and regulatory systems are " rhizomatic " in a world of knowledge possible, but not exclusively.

"Every rhizome contains lines segmentation, according to which it is stratified, territorialized, organized, designated, assigned, etc.; but also Deterritorialisierungslinien where it flees unstoppable. "

Instead of " units " are preferred " multiplicities " observed by the authors called " plateau ":

"Every multiplicity, which can be connected with others by extending to the surface underground stems, so that a rhizome and spreads, we call plateau. "

Although the plateau may be interconnected, but they are not organized so that as an element to the " tribe" is explained in the tree model, all others depend. Depending on the viewing perspective, the center of a rhizome can be everywhere and nowhere. As rhizome understood the value of seemingly chaotic links is understandable:

"The tree and the root paint a sad picture of thinking incessantly, starting from a higher unity [ ...] that many imitated. [ ... ] Hydras and jellyfish we can not escape. "

Rhizome imply freedom from the defined power structures: many perspectives and many approaches can be freely concatenated.

Reception

Especially in the philosophy of postmodernism and media theory, the " rhizomatic " discussed, because the concept seems to offer a starting point for many problems of orientation within modern worlds of knowledge. So it is not possible to organize modern worlds of knowledge according to the classical tree model and want to categorize. Although certain order structures can be created, but these are undermined by internal links and connection lines again.

From the perspective of every science, every new approach, each subject area, the system and the order of the existing knowledge in their own way to build on. " In a rhizome there are no points or positions such as in a structure, tree, or root. There is nothing but lines. "Many modern media theorists seems the metaphor of the rhizome therefore suitable to describe structures of hypertexts, social networks or computer networks such as the Internet.