the fields of cultural transgression
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My original contribution to cultural theory is obviously a work-in-progress. Since 2012, I have been experimenting with the notion of cultural transgression, conceptualising culture as a closed perimeter of norms and paradigms that include fields of choice and creativity, hemmed by unyielding boundaries. This definition of culture as an defensive integument of man confronted with the world led me to the interrogation on the possibility of naked humanness, searching reintegration in the flow of non-human existence.
Around 2014-2015, I searched for new ideas and modalities of conceptualisation at the crossroad of humanities, art and contemporary mathematics, thinking about a topology of symbolic space. Such a multidimensional topology, including both the spheres occupied by culture and uncharted existential possibilities, would provide an abstract tool for the reflexion on the extracultural becoming of man, creating enough space for the entire landscape of symbol-making activities of man, both those that find their place in the cultural transmission, and those that may constantly be created by individuals, also the "neurotypical" ones or remain a part of human intimacy, transmissible, only as an exception, to the narrowest circle of other individuals. In this reflection, I build upon the legacy of postmodern philosophy. Among the thinkers that have exerted the greatest influence on my work are Félix Guattari (Chaosmosis, Schizoanalytic cartographies), as well as Giorgio Agamben with his thesis of insufficiency of language (Il linguaggio e la morte) and necessity of exploring the modalities of human not-knowing. |
selected essays in cultural analysis
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the coming humanities
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[in progress:] “An encounter on the brink of the cultural: Félix Guattari meets Min Tanaka”
The essay's pretext is the encounter of the Japanese dancer Min Tanaka and the postmodern philosopher and psychiatrist Felix Guattari. His thinking about phylum and the theory of subjectivity as a flux are associated with the performances of Tanaka. Their common interest in madness leads to the reflection on the humanness on the brink of the cultural condition, on the humanness that rejects culture, the dominant defensive strategy of man in front of the world. The stake is the reintegration of man in the universe, a new solidarity with plant, animal, rock and the turbulent atmosphere that fills the empty place where bulking human subjectivity is no more. “Krenelaże. Próba nomadyzmu krytycznego” [“Battlements. Essay in critical nomadism”], Anthropos?, no 24/2015, p. 22-31. ISSN 1730-9549
http://www.anthropos.us.edu.pl/anthropos13/texty/lukaszyk.htm The essay is built around a basic architectonic pattern: that of battlements, alternating cubicles of stone and void. This image is treated as a synecdoche of the city, understood here not as a permanent settlement, but rather, paradoxically, as an empty space that is cyclically occupied by the nomads. The paradigmatic occupation by the newcomers can be found not only in Kafka, but also in Michał Paweł Markowski's book on travel, Dzień na ziemi. On the other hand, the notion of "critical nomadism" is taken from the Machinic Eros, a recent anthology of Guattari's writings on Japan. The problem of occupying space returns in his poem on a butoh dancer, published in this volume. Finally, the interconnection of nomadism and travel is traced back to the 7th century Arabian poet, Ka'b ibn Zuhayr, and his qasida Banat Su'ad. The battlements, architectonic element exploited in the building of Kirin Plaza in Osaka that Guattari compares with the medieval tower in Bologna, illustrates the problem of cyclophrenic rhythms of full and void, mass and empty form, as well as the experience of jet-lag, temporal suspension between 'too early' and 'too late' that is sought after not only by the postmodern tourist, but also by the Bedouin erotic subject, in love with a footprint: an arousing sign of bodily absence. “Topologia w humanistyce. Inspiracje matematyczne a nauki o kulturze” [“Topology in humanities. Mathematical inspirations for cultural studies”], Więcej niż obraz, vol. 1, Eugeniusz Wilk, Anna Nacher, Magdalena Zdrodowska, Ewelina Twardoch, Michał Gulik (eds.), Gdańsk, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Katedra, 2015, p. 489-504. ISBN 978-83-63434-57-1
The visual turn, opening the way to some ground-breaking endeavours, such as the project of Nikolaus Gansterer, creates at the same time a propitious context for the integration of diverse mathematical inspirations in humanities, tradition already well established by the postmodern philosophers, such as Deleuze, Derrida, Baudrillard, Agamben, Sloterdijk and Žižek. They come close to abstract, topological thinking or explicitly introduce mathematical concepts, such as fractal, sphere, Möbius strip and Klein bottle. Topological inspirations serve as a basis for reshaping some crucial concepts in humanities, such as the notion of community, permit to see in a new light some elementary cultural facts, such as the significance of a can of coca-cola, or become models for all-encompassing, holistic approaches to cultural landscapes. "Pokusa geometrii. O inspiracjach topologicznych w humanistyce" ["Temptation of geometry. On topological inspirations in the humanities"], Tematy z Szewskiej, nr 1(7)/2012, p. 9-18. ISSN 1898-3901
The main phenomenon discussed in the article is the presence of mathematical inspiration in contemporary humanities. The essay brings together various strands of reflection by Baudrillard, Agamben, Sloterdijk and Žižek, in which certain topological objects or concepts belonging to topology and the mathematics of chaos (fractal, sphere, the Möbius strip and so on) play an important role. The mathematical components introduced into the philosophical reflection serve as models of conceptualisation of the world and of different phenomena occurring in the symbolic spaces created by man, helping to describe and analyse analogies and non-obvious similarities between objects of culture. Conceptual and methodological borrowings puncture the boundaries of schematised reflection and interpretation. 
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international journals in cultural theory & cultural analysis
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Founded in 1995, parallax has established an international reputation for bringing together outstanding new work in cultural studies, critical theory and philosophy. parallax publishes themed issues that aim to provoke exploratory, interdisciplinary thinking and response. Each issue of parallax provides a forum for a wide spectrum of perspectives on a topical question or concern. parallax will be of interest to those working in cultural studies, critical theory, cultural history, philosophy, gender studies, queer theory, post-colonial theory, English and comparative literature, aesthetics, art history and visual cultures.
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tpar20/current |
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Cultural Studies publishes articles, reviews, critiques, artwork, and other forms of cultural and intellectual production from across the humanities and social sciences. Cultural Studies welcomes empirically-rich, politically-engaged research that critically engages: Techniques, institutions, and systems of power; Formations of resistance, activism, and intervention; The history, politics, and philosophy of media/technology; Feminist, gender, and sexuality studies; Theories and practices of globalization; The histories and long-term effects of colonialism; Race theory and ethnic studies; The cultural politics of language/communication/keywords; Science, technology, and environmental studies; Cultural traditions and creative industries; The histories and definitions of the word “culture”; The histories, politics, and global formations of cultural studies.
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Junctures: The Journal for Thematic Dialogue is a multidisciplinary academic journal founded by Otago Polytechnic Te Kura Matatini ki Otago in 2003 as a forum for trans-disciplinary discussion, analysis, and critique. Junctures encourages discussion across boundaries, whether these are disciplinary, geographic, cultural, social or economic. Junctures embraces the long established fields of the humanities, arts, science, law, medicine and philosophy, as well as engaging with the challenges of more recent disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields. Each issue of Junctures is organised as a site of encounter around a theme. With New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region as a backdrop, but not its only stage, Junctures seeks to address the matters which concern us all as we negotiate the contemporary environment.
https://junctures.org/index.php/junctures |
