Complicity, Affect, and Non-Representation – Reading Deleuze in Japanese Aesthetics

In her thesis, Complicity, Affect, and Non-Representation – Reading Deleuze in Japanese Aesthetics, Elisabet Yanagisawa explores the knowledge that can emerge through sensory experience. Her starting point is that knowledge does not necessarily have to be something that can be expressed in words, measured or taught through theory. Instead, she proposes a broader understanding of knowledge, in which aesthetics and the value of intuitive knowledge are given greater prominence. Traditional Japanese aesthetics is an important point of departure for her research. Yanagisawa has a longstanding personal connection to the field. Her father is from Japan, and even before beginning her doctoral studies, she had noticed differences in how aesthetic qualities are valued in Japan and Sweden. In a Swedish context, the word aesthetics is often associated with appearance, products and consumption. Yanagisawa instead wants to draw attention to aesthetics as sensory experience. The word aesthetics comes from Greek and relates to what is perceived through the senses. In a way, I want to reclaim that meaning. A sensory experience does not have to originate in a work of art. Elisabet Yanagisawa points to the Japanese concept of yugen – roughly translated as mysterious or profound beauty – as an example. It might be experienced when looking at the moon or stars against a pitch-black night sky. But it can also be found in small, everyday moments, such as the experience of sharing a piece of fruit. An aesthetic experience can give us a powerful sense of meaning. This is where we arrive at the value of aesthetics. It is not simply about products or status, but about experiences that enrich our lives. It is a form of knowledge that enriches our existence. Rather than focusing on a particular art form, the thesis examines artistic processes more broadly – and, more specifically, how the knowledge embedded within them can be articulated from within art itself. One of the thesis’s methodological contributions is the concept of complicity. Yanagisawa uses the term to describe an approach to the artistic process from within: the researcher stands, as she puts it, “on the same side” as the process and the material, rather than adopting an exclusively detached, analytical position. She uses a flower to illustrate the difference. To understand a flower, a researcher does not necessarily need to remove all its petals and dissect it. Complicity offers another way of approaching the whole and of “unfolding” knowledge from the experience, material and process. It is not a question of either logic or intuition. Some forms of knowledge can only be conveyed through an individual’s inner insight. But that does not mean that such knowledge is merely subjective. In her thesis, Yanagisawa brings traditional Japanese aesthetics into dialogue with the philosophy of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Although they emerge from different periods and cultural contexts, she identifies points of connection in their approaches to intuition, the body, matter and knowledge. Yanagisawa argues that these questions extend beyond art and design. Our ability to use our bodies and senses to perceive and understand our surroundings is significant both for individuals and for society. Embodied knowledge is knowledge that comes through the senses, matter and the body. It is enormously valuable for our individual development and for the culture of society. Recognising the importance of aesthetics rather than placing it at the margins is a fundamental form of knowledge. Beauty is important to our quality of life in many ways. It is knowledge.