the rules of operation
Mark C. Taylor’s (1945) essay Interfacing (1997) argues that existing analytical tools are grossly insufficient in the networked or webbed existence of the postmodern world. Like a mirage retreating into the haze of desert heat as one approaches, the network/web structure resists absolute classification. Taylor posits ten characteristic rules of operation for a web or network. Though each of the rules of operation manifests within the text of Chuck Palahniuk’s (1962) novel Fight Club (1996), the Rule of Allelomimesis is perhaps best illustrated in the narrative’s cycle.
The Rule of Allelomimesis suggests the possibility of cooperation without the necessity of proximity. The network/web itself maintains both the closeness and the separation that allow mingling without unification, presence and simultaneous absence. Open source software is often developed using this model. Developers scattered around the globe collaborate to produce a functional product without the need to assemble in a single location. They work together while they work apart. Instant messaging, chatting, texting, and email are also prime examples of allelomimesis wherein those involved may or may not be physically proximal, but communication is facilitated.
In the beginning, the fight club is just the narrator and Tyler Durden (46). They/he devise rules of operation and expand. As the weeks pass, attendance skyrockets and the number of local clubs increases, eventually assimilating the cancer support groups at which the narrator previously found refuge. Only Big Bob remains behind to inform late comers of absence and the presence of the replacement group. Eventually, Tyler establishes clubs in each of the cities the narrator visits. Each club is connected by the set of rules and by Tyler Durden.
Tyler’s control is maintained by his present absence. The unnamed narrator is often searching for the absent Tyler. They communicate via written messages most often. Tyler scrawls out instructions or messages and the narrator types, copies, and distributes Tyler’s will. In this way, Tyler is both kept at a distance and kept very close to increasing members of the fight clubs and to the space monkeys.
When Big Bob dies, a significant change occurs in the operation of the fight clubs (178). In the beginning, the manager of the club would stand beneath the single source of light and announce the rules. The manager assumes a Tyler-like role of present absence in circling the ring of attendees in the darkness of the outer circle. When the narrator attempts to shut down the clubs and Project Mayhem, his present presence is rapidly and forcibly corrected. His breach of the critical distance of allelomimesis results in his eviction from the club and with the threat of emasculation from Tyler’s space monkeys.
Even the stolen moments when the narrator and Tyler interact with one another are absences of conscious control. Only while the narrator is sleeping, while he is unconscious, can interaction occur. This necessary distance is the trick of the story. Neither the narrator nor Tyler can physically exist without the absent presence of the other.