Abstract Dr Niall Kennedy

Multiplicity and Creativity: a response to Deleuze, Guattari and the Art of Multiplicity

This new edited volume sets itself two tasks: to explore, philosophically, the notion of ‘multiplicity’,
as it is reflected in the work of Deleuze and Guattari, and to relate this notion to the process of
artistic creation. My recent work has also sought to explore creativity, both philosophical and artistic,
particularly in relation to the concept of ‘authorship’, or authority, in Deleuze and Guattari’s work,
though this discussion has often proven challenging to existing critical positions. Of necessity, the
question of whether the author is one, is multiple, or is somehow both at once is fundamental to this
project. In my talk, I will draw on my own research to present my response to this book. I will, in
particular, touch on Audrone Zukaiskaite’s chapter examining the instances of different/ciation in an
individual living being, Daniela Voss’ discussion of the ‘artisan’ in opposition to the concept of
‘nonorganic life’, and Mieke Bal’s discussion of imagination and creativity in the practice of
filmmaking. My response to these contributions and to the book as a whole will draw on the
argument I hope to develop in a future monograph, that Deleuze and Guattari relied on a clear and
strong conception of the ‘author’ as foundational to their views on literary, artistic, and philosophical
creativity.

Speaker Biography

Dr Niall Kennedy is a Teaching Fellow in the Department of French, Trinity College Dublin. He has also
been a guest lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London. He completed his PhD at the Centre for
Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP), Kingston University London. His recent
publications include a chapter on the philosophical relationship between Deleuze and Fernando
Pessoa, from Louvain University Press, and an essay on the fantastic in the films of Nacer Khemir,
from the Philosophical Society of Macedonia. He has also translated scholarly work on Pierre Boulez
for Cambridge University Press. He has an ongoing relationship with the annual Philosophical Film
Festival held in Skopje, North Macedonia where he has presented papers and introduced films, and
has also served on the Feature Film Jury. He is presently working on a book on Deleuze and the
author. He campaigns against academic precarity in Ireland and is a founding member of the Irish
Precarity Network.