Dismantling the Face: Toward a Phenomenology of Boxing

Abstract

This article provides a critical study of violence in the intersubjective encounter through the sport of boxing. Employing a hauntological method first developed by Jacques Derrida, it uses the phenomenological work of Emmanuel Levinas and the poetically philosophical work of Guilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari to focus on the facial dimension of pugilism. Written as a series of aphorisms, alternating between theoretical reflection and personal recollection, this article examines the face of boxing as it uncovers an ethical understanding of the sport and how that understanding affects the larger culture.