The Generic Xenovictim: Toward a Formalistic Nonpraxis

Description

[Author: Warren Goff. Supervisor: Luciana Parisi]  This paper proposes a "formalistic nonpraxis" for leftist political theory by synthesizing François Laruelle’s non-standard philosophy with contemporary critiques of digital capital and cinematic representation. Addressing the academic tendency toward a "flippant" treatment of victimhood, the project argues—following Laruelle—that the victim has not yet been abstracted enough. By pursuing the "Generic Victim-in-person" through the lens of Christo-fiction, the study establishes an ethically universal subject—the "Man-in-the-last-instance"—capable of resisting the "Obscene" transparency of hyper-capitalism described by Jean Baudrillard.

The core of the argument centers on the strategic utility of the masochistic contract, as defined by Gilles Deleuze, to navigate the current crisis of the "Scene." Through a comparative analysis of contemporary cinema—specifically Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid—the paper distinguishes between the sadistic institutions of "Recursive Colonialism" and a masochistic, formalistic resistance. It is argued that while the sadistic logic of capital commodifies the victim as a "pure exchange value" (the first cryptocurrency), the masochistic contract utilizes the "letter of the law" and a contractual suspension of the symbolic order to restore a space of secrecy and seduction.

Ultimately, the paper posits the "Generic Xenovictim" (or the "Xenoblack Hermaphrodite") as a nodal subject of quantum superposition. This figure does not seek a traditional politics of identity but rather a viral, insurrectionary nonpraxis that parodies and parries the coloniality of power through the creation of a "Christic Antichrist"—a collective, formal bond rooted in the acceptance of victimization as a site of radical, alien interiority.

Team

Members

Student: Warren Goff

Supervisor: Luciana Parisi