Our Winter Lectures series kickstarted with a wonderful double guest lecture by Dr. Başak Ağin and Şafak Horzum. Başak kickstarted proceedings with a rhizomatic talk, which spiraled out of debates between ecofeminism and materialist feminisms. Talking about the problem of critique, and favouring the concept of diffraction, Başak argued for thinking about ecofeminism as a form of new materialism, suggesting that oneness doesn’t necessarily mean sameness. Şafak followed with a talk about posthuman bodies as eloquent story-telling bodies, arguing for a deconstruction of the credibility of of the written word in favour of the concept of matter-text.
The ways may vary but the road is one
Rumi
Session Recording:
Footnotes:
Below is a selection of texts talked about throughout the session:
Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Staring: How We Look (UK: Oxford University Press, 2009)Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Stone: An Ecology of the Inhuman (University of Minnesota Press, 2015)İnsandan Başka Öyküler (More Than Human Tales) (Transnational Press London, 2021)Fiction as Method, ed. by Jon K Shaw and Theo Reeves-Evison (Sternberg Press, 2017)
Join us online on February 1st 1-3pm when we will be joined by network member Christopher Griffin, who will be discussing New Labour, Neoliberalism, and the Multicultural Zeitroman
18th January 3-5pm *amended from 1-3pm* Dr. Başak Ağin and Şafak Horzum
Eloquent Natures, Ecofeminism, and Posthuman Materialities
We are delighted to welcome Dr. Başak Ağin and Şafak Horzum for their talk ‘Eloquent Natures, Ecofeminism, and Posthuman Materialities’.
Başak’s and Şafak’s research is concerned with the posthumanism, ecocriticism, and Speculative Realism, exploring worlds beyond the human. In this lecture-seminar, they will talk about their recent work in this area. Başak will open by challenging the opposition of ecofeminism and material feminisms, exploring how it paved the way for a defensive cases of new materialisms. She focuses on why such attacks have proved unfruitful for the development of feminisms as an overarching set of theories and practices that would otherwise benefit all. Drawing attention to the common points between ecofeminism and material ecocriticism, which she sees as the latest brainchild of new materialisms, she exemplifies these points by deriving her examples from the rewriting of Medusa myths in contemporary social networking platforms as well as Rumi’s poetry. In the second part, Şafak concentrates on posthuman materialities as eloquent, story-telling bodies, by referring to examples from various Western fictions ranging from Gulliver’s Travels to Alice series and twenty and twenty-first-century science fiction and fantasy novels. Moving towards an interactive talk with the audience, he will engage in conversations by thinking and talking through various genres and what it means to be a posthuman agentic body that narrates stories.
Dr. Başak Ağın is an Associate Professor of English Literature, TED University, Ankara, Turkey
Şafak Horzum is a PhD Candidate in English Literature, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
There will be a chance for a Q&A with our speakers, followed by an open discussion on the topic. Please note, the opening talk will be recorded, but the Q&A and discussions which follow will not.
1st February 1-3pm Christopher Griffin
New Labour, Neoliberalislam and the Multicultural Zeitroman
8th February 10am Dr. Gregory Marks
Apocalypse Never: Walter Benjamin and the Deferral of the End
How to join
If you’d like to attend any or all of these lectures, get in touch via email (contemptheoryuob@gmail.com) or by DMing us on twitter (@Theory_UoB) and we’ll send you a Zoom link for each event nearer the time. Like all of our events, these lectures take place online, are completely free of charge, and all are welcome.
Guest Lecture: Who Stole the Future? Exploring Incel Victimisation
Henry Price and Emily Pratten, 7th December, 1-3pm GMT
Graphics by J. Lilley-Byrne
We began our winter programme with a delve into the fascinating but troubling world of Incels (or involuntary celibates) with our first guest lecture from Henry Price and Emily Pratten: ‘Who Stole The Future? Exploring Incel Victimisation’. For those who missed this excellent event, the recording is now available to watch! Please see a link below and a list of recommended reading from our group chat.
Watch It
Further Reading
How to Philosophize with a Hammer and Sickle: Nietzsche and Marx for the 21st Century, Jonas Ceika
Waypoint: Timenergy, Critical Media Theory and Culture War, Theorypleeb
Men Who Hate Women, Laura Bates
Popular Feminism vs Popular Misogyny, Sarah Banet-Weiser
