Saying Oneself, Saying about Oneself: Logic and Politics of Subjectivation

The chapter examines the question of the constitution of subjectivity, focusing on the possible sources of intelligibility of the self. By putting literary suggestions and philosophical categories into dialogue, it shows that the place of construction of the subject is to be found precisely in the gap between life and discourse – that is, in the dimension of narratability. Through this theoretical move, the nature of the “I” is profoundly rethought, and the classical definition of “agent identity” is replaced with a new understanding of the “impersonal,” in line with the approach inaugurated by Roberto Esposito. It is indeed in the order of the political that the implications of this impersonal connotation of subjectivity are conclusively assessed.