Sublimation, Culture, Art and the Unconscious – Starting Points for a Critical Analysis
Workshop, May 22nd till May 23rd 2023, online
Dear All,
The working group On the Edge is delighted to invite you to the online workshop Sublimation, Culture, Art and the Unconscious – Starting Points for a Critical Analysis on May 22nd and 25th from 2 to 6 PM on Zoom hosted by Jonas Dornelles.
How could the tradition of psychoanalytical interpretation of the sublimation help in the contemporary analysis of society and culture? Considering psychoanalysis as a critique of culture, the workshop will first focus on Freud and Lacan and their deliberations on the relationship between sublimation, ideals, culture, and the unconscious. In the second part, we will turn to Jean-François Lyotard and Slavoj Žižek and their views on the sublime and sublimation. For them, the 'product of art' shows unpresentable characteristics producing an experience of shock in the subject. Furthermore, it is an ideological product disguising deep social violent antagonisms. To conclude, we will relate the notions above with the Lacanian Real and its multiple manifestations in culture and art.
The workshop will take place online on the 22nd and 25th of May, from 2 PM to 6 PM (German time zone). Each meeting is divided into two sessions, each with approximately 45 minutes dedicated to introducing the main arguments of an author and 45 minutes to discussions and remarks. Reading materials will be made available after registration.
Agenda (all times are CET)
May 22nd
- 14h15 - 15h45: Introduction & Freud's discussion on sublimation
- 15h45 - 16h15: Coffee Break
- 16h15 - 17h45: Lacan's discussion on sublimation
Readings: Excerpts from Freud (t.b.a), excerpts from Lacan's Seminar 7 (1997)
May 25th
- 14h15 - 15h45: Recap: Freud & Lacan; Lyotard on the post-modern sublime
- 15h45 - 16h15: Coffee Break
- 16h15 - 17h45: Žižek on the sublime object; Wrap-up discussion.
Readings: "Answering the Question, What is postmodernism," Jean-François Lyotard, 1984. "The ideological anamorphosis," Slavoj Žižek (2009).
Please register through this form, and feel free to contact gratz.mandy@gmail.com for any questions.
We are looking forward to seeing you!
All the best,
On the Edge: Mandy Gratz, Brandon Kaaz, Charlotte Birkner-Behlen, Jonas Dornelles, Kerstin Kessler, Sophia Bauer.
On the Edge is an international graduate working group trying to bridge psychoanalysis and modern philology at the Department for Comparative Literature at Goethe University Frankfurt. We read, discuss, organize and host public lectures, workshops, and events, and sometimes we wine and dine together.