Machinic Deconstruction : literature/ politics/ technics

Taking its cue from Jacques Derrida’s concept of différance, Machinic Deconstruction: Literature / Politics / Technics addresses the question whether it is possible to conceive of a work of technics that is operative at the same quasi-ontological level as différance itself. To do so, this study develops a concept of technics that is inscribed with multiplicity and heterogeneity from the very outset, while at the same time defying rigid order and origin. This leads to a deconstruction of the difference between natural and technical, and to a new conceptualization of the machine. In the wake of technics, machines emerge in an attempt to impose order, calculation and origin. The author distinguishes between three different machines: a literary machine, a metaphysical machine, and a political machine. These three machines constantly interrelate, but while the metaphysical machine plays a decisive role in structuring the interrelation between these three machines, the literary machine plays a decisive role in deconstructing the interrelations.LEI Universiteit LeidenOnderzoeksinstituut PallasModern and Contemporary Studie

Machinic Deconstruction: Literature / Politics / Technics

Taking its cue from Jacques Derrida’s concept of différance, Machinic Deconstruction: Literature / Politics / Technics addresses the question whether it is possible to conceive of a work of technics that is operative at the same quasi-ontological level as différance itself. To do so, this study develops a concept of technics that is inscribed with multiplicity and heterogeneity from the very outset, while at the same time defying rigid order and origin. This leads to a deconstruction of the difference between natural and technical, and to a new conceptualization of the machine. In the wake of technics, machines emerge in an attempt to impose order, calculation and origin. The author distinguishes between three different machines: a literary machine, a metaphysical machine, and a political machine. These three machines constantly interrelate, but while the metaphysical machine plays a decisive role in structuring the interrelation between these three machines, the literary machine plays a decisive role in deconstructing the interrelations.LEI Universiteit LeidenOnderzoeksinstituut PallasModern and Contemporary Studie

Prevalence and mechanisms of resistance to carbapenems in Enterobacteriaceae

Objectives: To determine the point prevalence of carbapenem-non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae (CNSE) and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) isolates among hospitalized patients in Belgium. Methods: Twenty-four hospital-based laboratories prospectively collected 200 non-duplicated Enterobacteriaceae isolates from clinical specimens of hospitalized patients over a 2 month period. All isolates were screened locally for decreased susceptibility to carbapenem drugs using a disc diffusion method according to CLSI interpretative criteria. CNSE strains were referred centrally for confirmation of carbapenemase by phenotypic and molecular testing. Results: From February to April 2012, 158 of the 4564 screened Enterobacteriaceae isolates were categorized as non-susceptible to carbapenems, resulting in a point prevalence of CNSE of 3.5% (95% CI: 2.9%–4.2%; range per centre: 0.5%–8.5%). Of the 125 referred CNSE isolates, 11 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates [OXA-48 (n=7), KPC type (n=3) and NDM type (n=1)], 1 OXA-48-positive Escherichia coli isolate and 1 KPC-positive Klebsiella oxytoca isolate were detected in eight hospitals. None of the 72 carbapenem-non-susceptible Enterobacter spp. isolates were confirmed as CPE. The minimal estimated point prevalence of CPE isolates was 0.28% (13/ 4564; 95% CI: 0.13%–0.44%) overall (range per centre: 0%–1.5%). Conclusions: Despite the overall low prevalence of CNSE found in this study, the detection of CPE isolates in one-third of the participating centres raises concerns and highly suggests the spread and establishment of CPE in Belgian hospitals

Een Nederlandse calvinist in Amerika: Postseculiere kritiek in The Blood of the Lamb (1961) van Peter de Vries

Modern and Contemporary Studie

Searching for new weapons?: Dutch studies under late modern conditions

In this article we argue for a study of Dutch literature that adjusts the ‘what’ (research domain) and ‘how’ (research method) to the time in which we currently find ourselves. We refer to the conditions of our era as late modern conditions (Giddens), which means that they can be traced back to earlier, modern conditions; we can therefore examine the historical and cultural background and causes. The fact that these are conditions means that if we take these conditions seriously they are changing the nature and design of our field. We argue that the study of Dutch literature can help us to trace the concrete affective, emotional and imaginary patterns and routines that both characterize and uphold late modernity. Our argument will take shape through a reading of two contemporary novels: Maxim Februari’s Klont (2017) and Lieke Marsman’s Het tegenovergestelde van een mens (2017). Modern and Contemporary Studie