Preliminary Materials for a Theory of the Young-Girl

Maybe I had too high expectations for this "book" (really, the scattered fragments and aphoristic theorizing is something wholly different, more like a peek inside the laboratory of a gang of anarchists experimenting with exotic explosives that sometimes fails and sometimes succeeds in conjuring up great potential).

But I would be lying if I was saying that I was not disappointed. A friend told me, before I read it myself, that it would be good toilet reading. Which of course has more to do with its fragmented form than the esoteric terminology (it's possible to read two or three sentences and then close the book again, it may even be the best way of reading this book).

I almost found Ariana Reines' "translator's note" more touching than the book itself (see canopycanopycanopy.com/16/preliminary_materials_for_a_theory_of_the_young_girl ). It's really too bad they did not include that note in the publication, it would have put it into context somehow, made it more corporeal (ice cubed puke, wtf?) ... Anyway, I won't waste energy on criticizing a text for something is does not claim to be. Instead, I will point at some other entrances in the world of Tiqqun, that might prove more giving and simultaneously make this text more usable.

The theory of the Young-Girl deals more with "marking out the battlefield", that is, making the Young-Girl visible as one party among many. Peculiarly, the Young-Girl party is the party that wages war on ethical differences itself. That's why one can read the book as so many examples of how the Young-Girl tries to blur ethical differences, deny that there are any parties in conflict at all. This "marking out" of the Young-Girl party is important, because acquiring a gaze where we might be able to detect her within ourselves and in others is the first step to move onto annihilating her. Beyond this, the text does not share much about means to get rid of the Young-Girl.

Remember that the propagation of the Young-Girl is a sign of the failure of feminism. That's why new (radical "feminist") weapons must be invented. Another Tiqqun text that goes more on the offensive would be 'Sonogram of a Potential' (it can be found online, but could need a more thorough translation). 'Sonogram' chronicles some of the suffering found in the Young-Girl, but only as a starting point to try to forge offensive tactics – what they call "the mixed hypothesis" (i.e. feminism not only for women) and "ecstatic feminism". The text is also an interesting look into some of the discussions that went on in the radical feminist circles in Italy around 1977: like striking in the home sphere ("preferring not to" cook dinner, clean up, take care of the kids etc.).

Second, if the text confuses you with it's impenetrable language (as it did too me at some points), there is really no better place to begin with Tiqqun than the text 'Introduction to Civil War'. It is something like a catechism for Tiqqun, totally axiomatic in nature (and thus also painfully difficult) and can be read many times, each times revealing so many crucial ideas, at least that's what it does for me. In ICW, such concepts as forms-of-life, ethical difference, war, annihilation, hostility, Bloom etc. are clearly defined. It's the skeleton key to the world of Tiqqun.