This paper is divided into four sections. The first sets the ground for the artistic

movements themselves. It situates them historically and gives the reader a sense of their

motives. The second section, focuses on the way Expressionist and Primitivist art was

received in German society-co-opted by the Right and argued about by the Left. The

third section introduces the debate about the art in more detail, discussing crucial essays

by the German Marxist school and introducing Deleuze and Guattari's reading of Kafka.

The final section brings these trains of thought together, illustrating how we can read

Expressionism itself as an attempt to "become-animal," to escape the enclosed system by

eschewing normal representative structures.

 It is by reading Expressionism as an attempt at becoming-animal that a new entry

to the Expressionist debate can be found. Now, the movement is not seen as without

praxis, it is intentionally obtuse. And its co-option by the fascist Right is evidence of the

re-encapsulating effect that Deleuze and Guattari predict. Expressionism becomes an

example of Deleuze and Guattari's system-in that light, must be reconsidered.