To coincide with the conference title and theme for PSi 19 at Stanford, “Now Then : Performance and Temporality,” the Performance and Philosophy Working Group (PPWG) would like to curate two panels and a “praxis session” that interrogate, theorize, and re-think the domain of Philosophy of History.
lien au site "Now Then," invokes a specific dilemma : what are the stakes of representing past events in the present moment ? Walter Benjamin turns this question into a declaration in “Konvolut H” of the Arcades Project where he writes, "The true method of making things present is to represent them in our space (not to represent ourselves in their space)." Following Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno has advocated for a materialist historico-philosophical procedure that understands history as profoundly discontinuous, “in the sense that it represents life perennially disrupted.” Far away from the (negative) dialectical side of the philosophical spectrum, one might locate a Deleuzian perspective on the philosophy in his affinity for becomings and events, which registers, as Jay Lampert has noted in Deleuze and Guattari’s Philosophy of History, an implicit critique of all historicizing projects. Between historical materialism and geophilosophy unfolds a complex web of discourse on the philosophy of history, from Nietzsche’s genealogies and Foucault’s historiographic interventions to Cornel West’s Jazz-inspired jam sessions within the terrain of African American history.
PPWG invites abstracts for papers or proposals for praxis sessions that address this eclectic assortment of philosophical thought. In addition to the specific topics named above, and any others that may come to your mind, papers/performances could address the following :
Culturally distinct philosophies of history and problems of Western hegemony (see, for example, Dipesh Chakrabarty’s notion of History II in Provincializing Europe)
Contemporary debates surrounding the discourse of Philosophy of History
The function of historical research and thought in the field of Performance Studies
How one embodies history and/or eludes the imprint of historically constructed identities upon bodies
Concepts of presence and articulations of those concepts through theatre, performance, performance art, and dance
The domain of re-performance in dance, theatre, and performance
Participants interested in delivering a paper should prepare a document containing a 250-word abstract, notice of institutional affiliation (if applicable), and any A/V requirements. Participants interested in the praxis session (as outlined on the conference website) should prepare a 500-word abstract indicating space, equipment and time requirements ; number of participants ; and name(s) and affiliation(s) of the proposer(s). Please send all proposals to Will Daddario (w.daddario@gmail.com) by November 11.
Once we have selected papers to populate the panels and selected a performance for the praxis session, we will formally submit our application to the conference organizers. Acceptance to PPWG sessions, then, does not necessarily imply acceptance to the conference (though, historically, we’ve had great success with our applications.)