Exploring the double dynamic of Artaud’s writings on breath (both practical and conceptual), this essay reflects on the transformation of ‘atmosphere’ into ‘semiosphere’ with the particular sense of a death-inducing magic which Artaud identified with the normative expectations of society. Besides the famous examples of his essay on Plague and the radio project To Have Done With the Judgment of God, Artaud opposes this malign magic, especially in letters to friends, with resistance from his own practices of breath. As it also broaches a question of relations between madness and reason, concerning claims to a ‘universal right to breath’, the essay ends with comparative citation from Artaud and Achille Mbembe.
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Mischa Twitchin (2024) studied this question.
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