Title:  Mysticism as Revolt: Foucault, Deleuze and Theology Beyond Representation Author:   Petra Carlsson Redell Imprint:  The Davies Group, Publishers soft cover 230 pp. USD 24.00 ISBN 978-1934542316 2014 What if there is no God out there, but a divine creativity down here? Through philosophers Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze, Mysticism as Revolt explores faith without the transcendent God of Christian orthodoxy. Foucault and Deleuze address some of the most frequently debated issues in contemporary theology; their thoughts on representation, however, deserve an exhaustive exploration. The author allows the most anti-religious aspects of Foucault’s and Deleuze’s thinking to encounter Christian theology, and examines what Christian theology could be without the oppressive features of representational logic, suggesting that contemporary theology should perhaps not leave its metaphysics behind but understand its task differently. A “post-representational theology” would note the creative force of form, dogma, truths, authorities, eternal gestures and church buildings, but it would not believe in their final power. A post-representational perspective, the author argues, could open up a playful yet serious form of Christian resistance: mysticism as revolt. To repeat, parody and play with whatever comes to the fore as eternal, or as the truth of concrete experience – both when reading and when doing theology – in order to make room negatively for those realities, actual but unknown, unthinkable yet possible, that no language could ever capture. Mysticism as Revolt contains unique analyses of Thomas Altizer, Graham Ward, and Katherine Keller and introduces the theology of Emilia Fogelklou for an English-speaking audience.

Contents Preface 1  Introduction Christian representation and its critics Theology and representation After the death of God Derridean representation in theology Post-representation and theology Exclusivism versus inclusivism Commentary versus critique Representation and post-representation Theological encounters 2  Foucault and Deleuze beyond representation Michel Foucault From materialism to materialism Commentary and critique The force of words and things Asymmetrical knowledge Gilles Deleuze The four iron collars The univocity of being With God, everything is permitted The repetition of difference Approaching theology Post-representation and theology 3  Graham Ward: A crack in the commentary Introducing Ward Doing the impossible The commentator Ward’s discursive formation The commentator Discursive negotiations Undermining authority Radically orthodox Postmodern vigilance Two voices Transgression Derrida versus Foucault Deferred representation What is writing? Post-representation

4  Deleuze beyond inclusion and exclusion Deleuze in theology Deleuze in Ward and Keller Beyond inclusivism and exclusivism Escape the domination of identity Not to name The recurrence of difference “Phantasmaphysics” The phantasm The science of nonexisting entities The phantasm and the event A negative motion 5  Thomas J. J. Altizer: the bottom of repetition Altizer Is God dead? Repetition in Altizer Stuck in repetition? The Self-Embodiment of God Deleuzian repetition The singular and the particular Altizerian repetition Non-simple identity Altizerian repetition The singular and oracular voice Voice speaks Metaphysical claims A life

Author Petra Carlsson Redell (PhD in Theology, University of Uppsala) is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church of Sweden.

6  The repetition of phantasms in Foucault Affirmation and negation in Foucault The negative in Magritte The affirmative in Wassily Kandinsky “Post-representational theology” 7  Emilia Fogelklou Emilia Fogelklou Indirect speech Where is the meaning? Form and radiance Burst form Beyond common sense 8  Conclusions Theological self-critique Theological encounters Broken theology Talk about God Notes Bibliography Index