Paff! Intensität in Terézia Moras Roman Alle Tage

Abstract

The concept of intensity arises as a scientific paradigm in the 18th century. It describes phenomena which cannot be represented in the system of classical logic because these phenomena rely on internal differentiations that cannot be grasped cognitively. Intensity refers to a structure of multiple, very fine gradations within the very object that is approachable primarily by the senses. Therefore a phenomenon being labelled as intensive evokes closeness to the recipient by speaking directly to their senses.

Terézia Mora argues that art has to function as a drastic action in touching the reader directly. Her concept of the »drastic« actually describes the model of intensity and confirms Gilles Deleuze’s thesis of intensity as closeness to the material level of a phenomenon. In Mora’s novel it becomes evident how a suppositional material level can be approached and how this very material comes to (wilful) expression.