The rhizome has perennial crown and rootstock. In addition to the true roots and aerial stems, the crown also produces underground rhizomes which push through to the surface. Almost all varieties rarely ever produce seed for dissemination of the species. Rhizomes possess numerous buds and are used for propagation. Rhizome Hops are native to many parts of the world and different varieties have been found growing anywhere from desert locations to 7000 ft. elevations. The most common usage of the rhizome is as hops in brewing beer. However the rhizome is essentially a weed made up of many individual parts. It is a root with no centre, and thus as no part of the weed is superior to another, it is a true non-hierarchical system.

Traditional models of knowledge are hierarchical like a tree, with higher and lower levels of knowledge according to their position in the tree of knowledge. Higher up is more important, and vice versa. The reader must grasp one branch before he can move up to the next. Moulthrop's model was based on the rhizome. There is no centre of knowlege in the rhizomic model, it can be made up of fragments that we believe connect. Not even a logical connection is required. It is up to the writer to determine what he believes connects whithin the text.

Moulthrop's theory was based on four major points; Firstly, the principle of connection, which means that any point in the system can be connected with another. Thus the model is anti hierarchical, because no place is higher than another. Secondly, is the concept of multiplicity, where there is no absolute agency. A good comparison is the puppet master and the puppet. Whilst the puppeteer controls the puppet through strings, etc. the puppeteer is himself controlled by a series of nerve endings and electrical impulses. Thirdly, no signifying rupture exists in the rhizome. Each way into the knowledge structure is an equal way in. There is no better way or no worse way to access the information. Fourthly, is the principle of cartography and mapping. A rhizome is not a tracing mechanism but a mapping mechanism with a number of entry points. Whereas tracings can only exist as representations of other things, mapping stands alone as it is created by the reader. Thus mapping becomes like a voyage of discovery, making a non-existent map. Thus rhizomes do not force a logical connection but rather assume a connection of association.The theoretical aim of the rhizomic structure is to create an environment of information and it is the reader who puts connections between topics in place.

INDEX

The Simpsons	Ulysses	John Wayne	Facial Recognition	Post Structuralism	1950's Pulp Novels
Copyright	Sampling	Pulp Fiction	Salvador Dali	Rhizomes	Post Modernism