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Root number
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469820 |
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Semester
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FS2021 |
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Type of course
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Lecture |
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Allocation to subject
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Art History |
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Type of exam
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not defined |
| Title |
VL MG: “Contamination” – A Key Term in Modern and Contemporary Discourses (graded) |
| Description |
The term contamination (from Latin contaminare, “to stain”, “to pollute”) has come to serve as a key term in central discourses of modernity and the present day. Substances and environments are described as “contaminated” whenever they have been tainted or polluted by what are usually undesirable incidents. This connotation – although deficient and pejorative – is palpable throughout the history of the term and is accompanied in many cases by ideological preconceptions. In this respect, “contamination” is held in dialectical tension with conceptions of the pure, the untouched and the immaculate. As a process, contamination damages notions of purity. Conversely, contaminated materials, environments or situations can also be “cleaned”, as is the case in the example of radioactive decontamination.
It is often difficult to make moralizing or normative judgements about the status of contamination in regard to concrete materials, texts or circumstances. Spolia, remnants, ruins and objets trouvés emerge from complex historico-semantic traditions and have found their way into the visual arts and literature. From the 20th century onwards, artists have sublimated and reevaluated even waste and garbage. In literature, different forms of contamination are imagined and integrated into dystopian and apocalyptic narratives and visions. The concepts of hybridity, ambivalence and dissemination developed by scholars in postcolonial studies help to decipher and highlight notions of purity in racist and colonial discourses and systems of classification. Social anthropology has called to mind various conditions (such as AIDS, toxicity, disability) along with their “embodied ethics” in the name of an ethics “against purity” (Shotwell).
Using the idea of contamination, this lecture series will examine art histories as well as literary histories and assess critical discourses of “contamination” in modernity and the Anthropocene from an anthropological perspective.
The organizers and guest lecturers will discuss literary perspectives, art historical analyses and social anthropological methods. It is possible to receive credits for this lecture series in all three participating subject areas.
Please note that the lecture series will start in the second week of term, i.e. 2 March 2021. The individual lectures will be held in English and German. |
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ILIAS-Link (Learning resource for course)
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Registrations are transmitted from CTS to ILIAS (no admission in ILIAS possible).
ILIAS
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Link to another web site
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| Lecturers |
Prof. Dr.
Gabriele Rippl, Institute of English Languages and Literatures, American Studies ✉
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Prof. Dr.
Michaela Schäuble, Doctoral Program Studies in the Arts (SINTA) ✉
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Prof. Dr.
Peter Johannes Schneemann, Teaching Staff, Faculty of Humanities ✉
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Dr.
Toni Hildebrandt, Institute of Art History ✉
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ECTS
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3 |
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Recognition as optional course possible
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Yes |
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Grading
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1 to 6 |
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| Dates |
Tuesday 14:00-16:00 Weekly
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Rooms
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| Students please consult the detailed view for complete information on dates, rooms and planned podcasts. |
User:
Öffentlicher Bereich
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