The Misinterpellated Subject

341 Pages·2017·5.6 MB·English

by  James R. Martel

the misinterpellated subject
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james r. martel
the misinterp ellated s ubject

Duke University Press Durham and London 2017
© 2017 duke university press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca on acid- free paper ∞
Text designed by Courtney Leigh Baker
Typeset in Quadraat Pro by Westchester Publishing Services
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Martel, James R., author.
Title: The misinterpellated subject / James R. Martel.
Description: Durham : Duke University Press, 2017. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2016035967 (print)
lccn 2016037767 (ebook)
isbn 9780822362845 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn 9780822362968 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn 9780822373438 (e- book)
Subjects: lcsh: Authority. | Anarchism— Social aspects. | Po liti cal
sociology. | Po liti cal culture. | Identity (Philosophical concept)
in lit er a ture.
Classification: lcc hm1251.m375 2017 (print) | lcc hm1251
(ebook) | ddc 306.2— dc23
lc rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2016035967
The introduction was originally published as “When the Call Is Not
Meant for You: Misinterpellation, Subjectivity and the Law” in
Philosophy and Rhe toric 48(4): 494–515, 2015. It is republished with
permission from Penn State University Press.

cover art: Photo by Trent Parke / Magnum Photos
For Nasser
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contents
Acknowl edgments / ix
Introduction. Unsummoned! When the Call Is Not Meant for You / 1
part i. subjects of the call
1 From “Hey, You There!” to “Wait Up!”:
The Workings (and Unworkings) of Interpellation / 35
2 “Men Are Born Free and Equal in Rights”:
Historical Examples of Interpellation and Misinterpellation / 58
3 “Tiens, un Nègre”:
Fanon and the Refusal of Colonial Subjectivity / 96
part ii. the o ne(s) who showed up
4 “[A Person] Is Something That Shall Be Overcome”:
The Misinterpellated Messiah, or
How Nietz sche Saves Us from Salvation / 133
5 “Come, Come!”:
Bartleby and Lily Briscoe as Nietz schean Subjects / 163
6 “Consent to Not Be a Single Being”:
Resisting Identity, Confronting the Law in Kafka’s Amerika,
Ellison’s Invisible Man, and Coates’s Between the World and Me / 198
7 “I Can Believe”:
Breaking the Cir cuits of Interpellation

in von Trier’s Breaking the Waves / 243
Conclusion. The Misinterpellated Subject:
Anarchist All the Way Down / 266
Notes / 275 Bibliography / 309 Index / 317

viii / Contents
ac know ledg ments
While Mark Antaki should get first mention for having come up (spontane-
ously, although I’ve heard the term since) with the term “misinterpella-
tion” right before my eyes, the person with the biggest impact on this book
is Bonnie Honig, with whom I have a running conversation throughout the
book (as in life). She read several versions of many chapters and read the
whole manuscript carefully in ways that often superseded and improved
upon anything that I had to say. One of the greatest joys of writing this book
was to have that conversation with her.
I also had a great deal of help, guidance, and close reading by Sarah Bur-
gess and Keally McBride, both of whom read several chapters, sometimes
a few times over. It has been a true plea sure to watch each other’s writing
proj ects develop and grow.
Several venues helped me refine and rewrite key chapters of this book.
In September 2014 I discussed parts of chapter 6 at a conference at the
University of Alberta, Edmonton. Thanks to George Pavlich for inviting me
and thanks to Richard Westerman for his very helpful commentary, Thanks
also to my fellow panelists, Matthew Unger, Renisa Mawani, Keally Mc-
Bride, Jennifer Culbert, and Mark Antaki.
I presented parts of chapter 5 at the Western Po liti cal Science Associa-
tion in April 2015. I got g reat commentary from the audience— especially
George Schulman—as well as my co panelists and dear friends, Jodi Dean
and Jennifer Culbert.
In March of 2015 I presented parts of chapter 1 to a group at Williams
College. My thanks to Mark Reinhardt for inviting me. Thanks also to those
pres ent for their deeply insightful commentary and criticism: Anita Sokol-
sky, Laura Ephraim, Nimu Njoya, Christian Thorne, Seulghee Lee, and Walter

Johnston.