Becoming-evolutionary?: Animal Transformations in Kingsley’s Alton Locke
Focusing on Chapter 36 of Charles Kingsley’s novel Alton Locke (1850), where the hero recounts a dream during which he undergoes a series of transformations into various animals, beginning at ‘the lowest point of created life’ as a madrepore or coral, and culminating with the early history of humani...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2017-03-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/3176 |
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| author | Ben Moore |
| author_facet | Ben Moore |
| author_sort | Ben Moore |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Focusing on Chapter 36 of Charles Kingsley’s novel Alton Locke (1850), where the hero recounts a dream during which he undergoes a series of transformations into various animals, beginning at ‘the lowest point of created life’ as a madrepore or coral, and culminating with the early history of humanity, this article explores the relation between Kingsley’s text and Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of ‘becoming-animal’. It argues that the evolutionary fantasy Alton Locke recounts plays out a tension between the restoration of fixed, ‘molar’ identity and the ‘molecular’ disruption of identity. The relevance of the dream’s origin in pestilence and fever is also considered, as is the repetition of death within the dream. The article concludes by considering the possibility that Kingsley’s text might help formulate a concept of ‘becoming-evolutionary’, building on Deleuze and Guattari. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ff3360e8941f4a629884a4e98bc5b797 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| spelling | doaj-art-ff3360e8941f4a629884a4e98bc5b7972025-01-30T10:20:44ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492017-03-018510.4000/cve.3176Becoming-evolutionary?: Animal Transformations in Kingsley’s Alton LockeBen MooreFocusing on Chapter 36 of Charles Kingsley’s novel Alton Locke (1850), where the hero recounts a dream during which he undergoes a series of transformations into various animals, beginning at ‘the lowest point of created life’ as a madrepore or coral, and culminating with the early history of humanity, this article explores the relation between Kingsley’s text and Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of ‘becoming-animal’. It argues that the evolutionary fantasy Alton Locke recounts plays out a tension between the restoration of fixed, ‘molar’ identity and the ‘molecular’ disruption of identity. The relevance of the dream’s origin in pestilence and fever is also considered, as is the repetition of death within the dream. The article concludes by considering the possibility that Kingsley’s text might help formulate a concept of ‘becoming-evolutionary’, building on Deleuze and Guattari.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/3176evolutionDeleuze and Guattaribecoming-animaldreamsKingsley (Charles) |
| spellingShingle | Ben Moore Becoming-evolutionary?: Animal Transformations in Kingsley’s Alton Locke Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens evolution Deleuze and Guattari becoming-animal dreams Kingsley (Charles) |
| title | Becoming-evolutionary?: Animal Transformations in Kingsley’s Alton Locke |
| title_full | Becoming-evolutionary?: Animal Transformations in Kingsley’s Alton Locke |
| title_fullStr | Becoming-evolutionary?: Animal Transformations in Kingsley’s Alton Locke |
| title_full_unstemmed | Becoming-evolutionary?: Animal Transformations in Kingsley’s Alton Locke |
| title_short | Becoming-evolutionary?: Animal Transformations in Kingsley’s Alton Locke |
| title_sort | becoming evolutionary animal transformations in kingsley s alton locke |
| topic | evolution Deleuze and Guattari becoming-animal dreams Kingsley (Charles) |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/3176 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT benmoore becomingevolutionaryanimaltransformationsinkingsleysaltonlocke |