Description:

Recently we witnessed an increasing interest among students in situated writing and thinking and in exploring academic texts that are written from a particular positionality. Situated knowledge has a long tradition in critical theory, particularly in feminist theory but also in Black Studies, Queer and Trans* Studies, and is currently also discussed as autotheory, e.g. by Lauren Fournier in the book Autotheory as Feminist Practice in Art, Writing, and Criticism, published in 2021.

In this seminar, we will read a number of key theoretical texts, starting from critical reflections to essayistic writing (Theodor Adorno, James Baldwin) and technologies of the self (Michel Foucault) before we move to Donna Haraway's seminal text on situated knowledge and Paul Preciado’s more recent Testo-Junkie as an example of autotheory and Fournier’s work. We will discuss these texts alongside artistic practices and media works in which the audience/participants are addressed in their respective situatedness and often placed in relation to one another. As we will see, the works do not necessarily create a closed artificial world for a seemingly neutral subject, but rather activate the respective and multiple positionalities and the corresponding affective knowledge of the participants.

As such, the seminar is dedicated to situated knowledge as it is articulated in writing and various media projects and combine this theoretical engagements with practical exercises in situated academic writing.

Time: Monday, 10 – 12 h, Location: GB 1/144 (exception: 06.05.2024)

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Henriette Gunkel,
Room: GB 1/134
Phone: 0234 / 32 – 25073
Mail: henriette.gunkel@rub.de
Secretary's office: Petra Köhne
If you need a consultation, please register using this link: https://tinyurl.com/Sprechstunde-ProfGunkel

Semester: ST 2024