Aesthetics of Nonduality: Genuine Transcendence, the Imperceptible Other, and Joker

Abstract

This paper develops the aesthetics of nonduality mainly with Deleuze’s “transcendental ontology” and Levinas’s poststructural “ethics.” Although Deleuze (and Felix Guattari) and Levinas’s thoughts were nourished in different philosophical lines, their ideas seem to be actually the closest ones in contemporary Western world. Deleuze’s notions of pure “desire,” “becoming,” and “affect” are very similar to Levinas’s ethical explication of “metaphysical desire” and “enjoyment.” Then Mahayana Buddhism is also brought not only to support but to complete the traits of “nonduality.” This paper begins with their views that are in contrast to binary opposition and the stable “transcendence” that had been the central idea in the tradition of Western metaphysics. Then it is argued in various ways that Deleuze actually explicates the same realm as Levinas elaborates in terms of genuine transcendence. Then I discuss Joker, the 2020 Oscar and the Golden Lion (the grand prize at the Venice Film Festival given to the film with the highest artistic value) winning film. Joker is one of the most shocking and self-deconstructive films from the perspective of truly poststructural meanings of nonduality. The aesthetic role of the violence in the film is discussed in great detail. I hope this interdisciplinary study would contribute to the development of critical theory of the present age.