Sixth Series on Serialization

Page 36: For sense to crop up, there must be at least two series (e.g. the two sides of the piece of paper or Mobius strip).

Page 37: Deleuze clears up some confusion by explicitly saying that there are two possible dualities: between actual things and propositions (corporeal, incorporeal), and within propositions themselves (incorporeal to incorporeal). The difference between the two is that the first duality has a cause and effect, whereas the second only has "quasi-causes", such as the paranoiac believing that his/her thoughts are influencing world events. Voodoo would be another example of a quasi-cause -- propositions influencing propositions.

Page 37-38: Deleuze explicitly cites signifier/signified as an example here. The important takeaway is that this duality is axiomatic -- though series may "interchange", one series is always the signifier and one series is always the signified in the production of sense. He repeats this on page 40.

Page 39-40: Deleuze uses the term "perpetual relative displacement" in reference to two series. Again, this is analogous to the shifting of the Fifteen puzzle. See comments on the Fifth Series. This displacement is "the primary variation without which neither series would open up onto the other." (40)

Page 40: When one series interacts with another to produce sense, there is always an excess, a remainder. This excess is always vacuous, it has a hole in the middle, it is signifying without substance. In Poe's story, The Purloined Letter, it is the letter which is never read. In Pulp Fiction, it is the briefcase (which gets even more interesting, as Marcellus Wallace's soul may reside inside). It is a MacGuffin. In Kafka's The Castle, it is the castle that K circles and circles but can never enter, and may in fact hold nothing at all. "It is the mirror." (40) It is paradoxical because this excess is also a deficit -- i.e. the excess with nothing inside. It can be a place without content, or content without a place (i.e. constantly moving, impossible to pin down). Again, this is analogous to the electron. I can replay this kind of behavior by looking at a light with my eyes closed, then trying to focus on a colored dot. As soon as my vision begins to dial in, the dot or line moves and eludes me.