Feral Consciousness: Deconstruction of the Modern Myth and Return to the Woods

192 Pages·2016·2.55 MB·English

by  Julian Langer

Feral
Consciousness
Deconstrucotfit ohneM odernM ytha nd
Returtno t heW oods
Julian Langer
Feral Consciousness:
Deconstruction of the Modern Myth and
Return to the Woods
by Julian Langer
I know the human being and fish
can coexist peacefully.
George W Bush
Feral Consciousness: Deconstruction of the Modern Myth and
Return to the Woods
Julian Langer
2016
all drawings by Noel Regachuel
licensed under creative commons
@�Siftfh"8ns
Repartee
(an imprint of LBC Books)
Published by Aragorn Moser
Layout by Leona Benton
Printed at "The Compound"
1818 Carleton St. Berkeley, CA 94703-1908

Acknowledgements
I want to thank Katie for being a constant source of love and
support throughout writing this book. I want to thank Carlus
for nerdy anarchist/post-structuralist help. I want to thank
Nickie for her help at various stages in writing this. I want to
thank Sam for listening to my long rambling rants through
developing these ideas and for his reflective insights. I want
to thank the team at Little Black Cart, who have helped
develop this work and make this book actually happen.
Contents
Some Relevant People and Concepts
Introduction xi
Psychosis: Civilisation and Ontology 1
Reality vs. Real: Aestheticism 29
Imperialism as Ideology 64
The Tragedy 78
Feraling, Rewilding and Anarchy:
Authentic Being Post-Oedipus 94
Post-Civilisation:
Non-Domestic Creativity 108
Some Writings on the Wild 117
A Reading List 165

Some Relevant People and Concepts
Abram
The natural metaphysics that were first described
in this text through Heraclitus's notion of flux
are developed through Abram's existential-phe­
nomenological arguments regarding wildness, as
a pervasive, ever-present aspect of a Being, that
civilization cannot escape.
Adorno
Adorno's concept of the culture machine is being
used here to identify that in-and-of-itself, civili­
zation functions as a mechanical entity, that con­
sumes and produces waste like machines do,
through its hyper-realism, which is violent to­
wards the natural Real in all the way that ma­
chines are, by their very functioning.
Althusser/Materialization of the
Symbolic into Ideology
Althusser's materialization of the Symbolic into
Ideology brings together the social constructionist
arguments regarding technology, presented by Vy­
gotsky and Lacan's three registers, in an account
that expands upon Kristeva's arguments regarding
monumental time through historical materialism.
Baudrillard
In his concept of hyper-realism, Baudrillard's so­
ciological work reveals how civilization attempts
to reproduce the world that it flees from, in arti­
ficiality, inauthenticity, and bad faith.
Bern
Bern's research of gender and schematic objects
within socially-constructed consciousness en­
ables us to identify civilization's production
within consciousness of psychic objects that are
purely arbitrary, but that lead to the social narra­
tives of our daily lives.
Bey/Temporary Autonomous Zone
As a means of finding an immediate metaphysi­
cal freedom within this repressive social-ontolo­
gy, Bey's concept of the Temporary Autonomous
Zone (T.A.Z.) is highly valuable for this text's ap­
proach for overcoming civilization.
Camus
I expand upon Camus's notion of the Absurd to
include epistemological features, as the Absurd
doesn't deny nihilism but seeks to overcome it in
defiant revolt. This is important for this text, as I
argue that, while we can overcome a great deal of
ii
our domestication, now that we are socialized
into this culture and have its narratives so em­
bedded in our unconscious minds, it seems al­
most impossible to return completely to a wild
consciousness and the Real.
Debord
Debord's society of the spectacle presents the
idea that through material-ideological means,
capitalist culture has produced a social-ontology
dominated by processes of alienation and an in -
authentic life.
Derrida/Linguistics
Through Derrida's arguments on linguistics we
find the greatest flaw in the Symbolic of civiliza­
tion; that through deconstruction the Symbolic
never arrives at Being.
Diogenes
Diogenes is an example of a feral being, whose
consciousness has deconstructed and transval­
ued the narratives of civilization to arrive at pure
animality.
Feyerabend
Feyerabend presents a workable approach to
iii