Matter that Bodies

Philosophy in the Age of a Complex Materialism

Abstract

If there is one formula that has characterized most of poststructuralism|cultural studies it has been the formula 'always already.' Its Freudian logic [Nachträglichkeit] has been a favourite of writers as diverse as Lacan, Derrida, Baudrillard, Butler or Bhabha. Often unspoken, but therefore all the more powerful, has been the qualification 'text|discourse|culture. Most branches of gender studies, especially those that operate at the interface between poststructuralism and cultural studies, have embraced this logic, which has caused many crucial insights into the logic of cultural productions and positionings. In the last years, however, a number of scholars, many coming from within gender studies themselves, have noted a certain blindness in and of this logic.