'Becoming' in Jane Eyre: Charlotte Brontë through the Eyes of Gilles Deleuze. (November 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Posman, Sarah
• Is Part Of: Brontë studies. Volume 39:Number 4(2014)
• Page Start: 307
• Page End: 318
• Publication Date: 2014-11
• Subjects: Periodicals; Criticism and interpretation -- Periodicals; Criticism and interpretation -- Periodicals; Criticism and interpretation -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 823.8
• DOI: 10.1179/1474893214Z.000000000126
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1474-8932

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>In four of his books Gilles Deleuze makes a reference to the Brontës. In <italic>Dialogues</italic> and <italic>A Thousand Plateaus</italic> he mentions Charlotte Brontë as an example of literature that surpasses a subject-centred narrative, a literature of what he calls a 'haecceity' or 'thisness', in which events take precedence over subjects making life choices. This essay concentrates on <italic>Jane Eyre: An Autobiography</italic> in teasing out Deleuze's surprising mentioning of Charlotte Brontë and explores how a Deleuzian 'haecceity'-vantage point can change our understanding of life narratives and authorship.</p> </abstract>