Random affect-collages become necessary through repetition and desire

Evidence

The lyrical power of Burroughs’ writing — especially in the early cut-up novels, which are consensually dismissed as difficult and boring — is often overlooked. But much of its mechanical melancholia is generated from its displaying of the “foolish things” of desire, the heroin-hacceities of train whistles, radio jingles, billboard images and sexual contact. Although initially random, these affect-collages, when repeated and remixed by memory and desire, become necessary. Thus only THAT shade of blue for Madeleine’s suit, only THAT shade of lipstick on the cigarette tip, will do. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 130

Categorization

• SEED: Angle for an essay/defense on Burroughs’ cut-up novels as misunderstood, arguing ‘difficult and boring’ obscures the accomplished mechanic melancholia.
• XREF: connects to: A repeating rise-and-fall life pattern reveals the Freudian compulsion to repeat. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 585; The experience of structure is produced by repeated acts of distribution — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 277; Videotexts present a ceaseless random interaction of narrative signals contesting mental compartmentalization — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 234 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• A repeating rise-and-fall life pattern reveals the Freudian compulsion to repeat. #complicates (0.80) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 585
• Videotexts present a ceaseless random interaction of narrative signals contesting mental compartmentalization #expands (0.80) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 234
• The experience of structure is produced by repeated acts of distribution #expands (0.75) — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 277
• Postmodern art severs images from meaning into random nonrelational fragments #corroborates (0.75) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 67