This book makes an original and important contribution to Deleuze studies. "Deleuze and the Genesis of Representation" argues that Deleuze's thought, far from carrying out a critique of representation, is in fact an account of its genesis. Because an account of the genesis of representation is an essentially phenomenological project, Joe Hughes begins by clarifying what the expression 'the genesis of representation' means phenomenologically and describes the way in which Edmund Husserl theorized the production of meaning and representation. Hughes goes on to show how three of Deleuze's most important works - "Difference and Repetition", "The Logic of Sense" and "Anti-Oedipus" - continue this project. The book concludes by directly addressing Deleuze's complex use of language by situating that use in relation to a Heideggerian critique of Husserl.In a highly original and crucial contribution to Deleuze Studies, this book offers the first sustained argument against the 'virtual' as Deleuze's primary concept. Instead Hughes shows that it is produced and therefore refers to more fundamental concepts. He also offers the first reading of Deleuze as a systematic philosopher.