French Studies Program (cont.)

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The second event was the  Deleuze Conference. It was by all accounts a great success. This conference was very well attended and the papers presented can now be found on the following web site: gavinwit.googlepages.com/deleuzeconference. One of the most delightful aspects of the conference was the surprising amount of coherence that the presentations seemed to take on. In the second presentation of the day, Professor Richard Doyle described Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of refrain in terms of synchronicity. He said that we should not be surprised at all by the happy coincidences and connections that we see in phenomena since that is how the dynamism of life works at its most fundamental level. The argument that he was making had not only ontological, but also religious, overtones. This is not surprising, but what is surprising is the fact that these spiritual overtones would keep recurring in at least five of the eight papers that day. Jean Paul-Cauvin commented upon possession and St. Augustine, Christopher Salter spoke of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Dorothea Olkowski talked about death and dying, Trinh T. Minh-ha spoke of male versus female spirituality, and Alphonso Lingis talked about Deleuze’s suicide and the necessity of living a passionate life. Professor Lingis’ presentation was the last one and as he was finishing, the hymns from next door penetrated into the room. A large memorial service was going on right across the hall. While the conference was certainly well planned, this particular theme that emerged during the day was absolutely accidental.