Figurae archaeologiae

Genealogy and Archaeology in the Thought of Giorgio Agamben

Abstract

This article analyzes the intersection between genealogy and archaeology in the thought of Giorgio Agamben, highlighting their differences, complementarities, and epistemological implications. It argues that, although Agamben often interchanges the two terms, they refer to distinct procedures within his work. In this regard, genealogy operates with documents in a broad sense, aiming to dismantle reified traditions and identities. Archaeology, in turn, emerges as an an-archic regression that, beginning with a contemporary problem or dispositif, seeks out points of insurgency that have been obscured by these operations. The article is organized into four sections: it begins by (1) mapping the genealogical and archaeological practices in Nietzsche and Foucault, and then turns to (2) Agamben’s reconfiguration of these methods, with particular attention to Benjaminian influences. The third section presents (3) the central figures of Agamben’s archaeology, followed by (4) an analysis of the apparatuses or machines, culminating in the proposal of a profane redemption of history. The article concludes that Agamben articulates an an-archic and in-disciplinary epistemology which, by profaning the foundations of the canonical tradition, opens the possibility for new uses of thought and history.