Abstract

[The aesthetics of the floating world: Deleuze’s “japonism”]. Gilles Deleuze’s thought echoes beyond European or Western cultural domain; indeed, in Deleuze’s work, there is place for a privileged relationship with Asia, Far East, and Japan in particular. The present study highlights the variety of Deleuzian references to Japanese cultural universe, within an essentially aesthetic and cultural framework. In the first instance, this study observes Deleuzian affinities with japonisme as a “cultural fashion”, with a specific focus upon the link between aesthetics of simulacra and Japanese prints of the ukiyo-e genre. Secondly, to be taken into account is the connection between the Deleuzian Ethics of the Event and Zen practice, with reference to the philosophers of the Kyōto School. A comparison between Deleuze’s notion of surface, the artistic tradition of emakimono and Japanese cinema is attempted in the conclusion.