[...]f a nostalgia industry


(ghost of ="trms">dictators in) humorous commercial context='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•Tito in post-Yugoslav republic commercials (as anti-capita="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list and anti-commercia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list hero)
="lsts lst1">•Ceausescu in commercials in Romania (old footage of him walking his dog in car tires ads)
="lsts lst1">•
='lgc'>}='lgc'>--Imre='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (blending) ='strcls'>*top-down ="trms">history lessons='strcls'>* ='lgc'>+ the work of ='strcls'>*popular ="trms">memory='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> punctuate contemporary continuities with the ="trms">communist regime that are taboo in official ="trms">narratives but prevalent in popular perceptions of ="trms">history
(='lgc'>==Georgescu='lgc'>='lgc'>==> counter-="trms">memory ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- does it assist coming to terms with the ="trms">past, processing the paralyzing ="trms">past and the humiliating ="trms">present of globalization coupled with reactionary state control)

="large lg2" stl="font-size:111%"> ="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list advertising (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> promoted products and services that had not competition in the absence of a real ="trms">market) ='lgc'>==now='lgc'>='lgc'>==> a sense of awkwardness (absurdity of an era) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> an oxymoron ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> (the ads’) appeal ='lgc'>==guarantee='lgc'>='lgc'>==> the authenticity of re="trms">membering ='lgc'>+ ="trms">mutual recognition (among ="trms">members of the nostalgic ="trms">community) ='lgc'>-='lgc'>-='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*longing for a bond ="trms">specific to an elusive era='strcls'>*


(for late ="trms">socialism ='lgc'>--Imre='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]nostalgia='lgc'>: a popular and essential compensatory ="trms">gesture to make up for the loss of a contradictory temporality
='lgc'>+
a mode of continuity with an era that was al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready nostalgic for the unrealized transformative potential (of real ="trms">socialism)


(Yurchak's) ='strcls'>*frozen ="trms">present='strcls'>*='lgc'> = the time of nostalgia
='lgc'>}='lgc'><='lgc'>== late ="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list culture itself lived in a nostalgic mode, at a certain ironic, knowing distance from what it was ="trms">supposed to be ="trms">according to the ="trms">memories of the heroic 40s-50s and the remnants of ="trms">socia="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list propaganda ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*a familiar ironic mode of experiencing ="trms">history vicariously='strcls'>* (in a way that is experienced in the ="trms">imagination through the actions of another person)


(looking at televisual nostalgia ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) late ="trms">socialism ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> an ="trms">affect ='and'>& ="trms">epistemology that can only access the “authentic” through contra="trms">diction ambivalence self-reflective irony
='lgc'><='lgc'>--Holdsworth='lgc'>-- expression of ="trms">present ="trms">anxieties about ="trms">history and ="trms">memory in general

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___='lgc'>[notes ="nms">Tehran 2023='lgc'>]___

="trms">semiotics='lgc'>: study of the differnce between “what you say ='lgc'>='lgc'>~/= what they understand”

(my fundamentals='lgc'>:)
='strcls'>*sharing ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">communicating='strcls'>*


آشپز دیو سپید
it is said that the White Div had a cook ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> exploring the ="trms">cosmology of Div (in Shahnameh) with food, hunting for eating, ="trms">bestiary, cooking ="trms">technology, taste
(inspired by anime JYfdfDU9JUY)
='at'>#short ="trms">story='lgc'>: narrartor describes the ="trms">story after the defeat of the White Div (Div-e Sefid) by Rostam. “rather than worring about the kingsmen X, he was more ="trms">interested in what is for dinner...”. there is another being. a baby ="nms">hayula (non-formity)... what other beings Div hunts for meat='qstn'>? (="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list, ="trms">bestiary) “he would think about the next hunt X and get ex="trms">cited about the kabab of X...”  “immediately asked for more”

dungeons and dragons ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a non-cartographic space, there are no maps and one only learns by dying many times
dungeon has nothing to do with the medieval prison, it is a deterritorialized habitat, defined precisely by not having a map (or guide) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> are we in a dungeon='qstn'>?

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journalism='lgc'>: professional discursive pursuit (of truth, of propaganda, etc.)
='lgc'>=/= journalism='lgc'>: proximity to the event ='lgc'>+ the risks that that entails

(Ghazzi's notion of) ='strcls'>*="trms">affective proximity='strcls'>* ='lgc'>: (a mode of consideration, a way) to make sense of local media practitioners’ reporting and witnessing of suffering in their country
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a media practitioner ='lgc'>=/= the event they are re="trms">presenting and participating in
="trms">affective proximity ='lgc'>: what locals navigate to reconcile their emotional and ="trms">embodied entanglement within events in their country ='lgc'>=/= discursive

='strcls'>*emotional labour='strcls'>* of media practices of local reporters and witnesses

what the word “revolution” mediates (in Syria, ="nms">Iran, etc.) ='lgc'>[='lgc'>~/='qstn'>?= civil war='lgc'>]
="lstsrd">1. an indication of commitment to a desired goal
="lstsrd">2. an identity marker based on a ="trms">past-oriented lament over what was sought but not achieved

study of ="trms">affect and emotion in global news ='lgc'>--(contextualized within)='lgc'>='lgc'>--> unequal power ="trms">relations (='lgc'>='lgc'>==> journa="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">listic roles ='and'>& modes ofre="trms">presentaiton)

user-generated-content
political economy of global war reporting
living with violence

journalism ='lgc'><='lgc'>--='qstn'>?='lgc'>-='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">affect

="trms">affective proximity
='lgc'>==shape='lgc'>='lgc'>==> the boundaries of journ0alism and activism
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> captures the feeling of being close to violence='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•fear for one's life and that of others
="lsts lst1">•having to deal emotionally logistically with deaths of ="trms">loved ones (escape, exile) ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='thdf'>that is why we need an ='strcls'>*="trms">anthropology of the exile='strcls'>*='lgc'>]
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> living-in-violence ='lgc'>=/= encounter, exposure

(Ghazzi is too fast in favoring “="trms">affective proximity ='lgc'>=/= western rationalism”, as an ="nms">iranian I am more exposed to an ='strcls'>*="trms">affective jurnalism='strcls'>* ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>~= activism='lgc'>: politically motivated and highly emotive role='lgc'>] ='lgc'>=/= journalism as a ="trms">modernist and rationa="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list institution)
“activism ='lgc'>='lgc'>~= jurnalism” ='lgc'>='lgc'>='lgc'>~=> they need to='lgc'>:
="lstsrd">1. project authenticity and emotion ="trms">onto news ="trms">narratives
="lstsrd">2. act as objective witnesses able to produce truthful accounts

(more and more i feel the ="nms">iranians need for ‘activism ='lgc'>=/= jurnalism’ ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> what one wants to happen ='lgc'>=/= understanding what is happening)='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">epistemology ='lgc'>[the ="trms">question of how one makes sense of one's practices ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> in the case of Syria (also ="nms">Iran)='lgc'>: ='strcls'>*="trms">affective proximity to violence='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> sense='lgc'>]

...negotiating the distance of mediation when viewers and producers in the Global North are witnessing the suffering of others

(in ="nms">Iran) activism ='lgc'>+ art='lgc'> = the human body as tool, medium, ="trms">symbol, ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphor

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]="trms">affect='lgc'>: circulation ='lgc'>+ stickiness of emotion (="trms">onto and between bodies, texts, objects, experiences) (="ppl">Ahmed)

journalism='lgc'> = re="trms">present ='lgc'>+ ="trms">narrate

(the ‘trick’ of) relying on the ='strcls'>*outsourcing of emotional labour='strcls'>* to non-journa="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">lists (by='lgc'>:)
="lsts lst1">•having them express their emotions
="lsts lst1">•having the journa="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list describe them

(Ghazzi conceptualising the emotional field in journalism ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) ='strcls'>***unequal power ="trms">relations ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> emotioal labor='strcls'>***

proximity (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> what i heard so much when i went back to ="nms">iran='lgc'>: to ke inja insti nemiduni تو که اینجا نیستی نمیدونی)

='strcls'>*="trms">aesthetic of authenticity='strcls'>* in news reports (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- mobile phones)
political economy of foreign reporting
politics of hope (with an ambition to inspire all Syrians to rebel)
...emotional attachment to political goals


='strcls'>*revolution='lgc'>: the event that changes people's lives and in ="trms">relation to which they locate themselves politically
="lsts lst1">•conflict in Syria began as an uprising, it ended up an ="trms">international war, which in 2020 appears to have mostly con="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">cluded in the favour of the regime ='lgc'>=/= revolution
="lsts lst1">•the word “revolution” means something else to activists in Syria (how the meanings projected on the term changed in ="trms">accordance to circumstances)
="lsts lst2">◦(most of the time, artists and activists) ='strcls'>****use a word to galvanise their emotions and bodies='strcls'>**** and inspired them to take actions they would not have ="trms">imagined to pursue ='lgc'>[use of words ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> what people hope ='lgc'>=/= descriptive='lgc'>]
="lsts lst2">◦word (for example “revolution”)='lgc'>: a marker of an ='strcls'>*inward-looking description='strcls'>* of belonging to a broad political ="trms">community defined by op="trms">position
="lsts lst1">•“the revolution” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">affectively ="trms">consumed the pursuit of truth
="lsts lst1">•an identity-marker (based on a political orientation) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> an inward-looking signifier to mark who one is ='lgc'>+ what political ="trms">community they belong to ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a politics of what one had wanted ='lgc'>=/= describe what one observes='lgc'>]
="lsts lst1">•(revolution='lgc'>:) personified and humanised as a well-meaning political ="trms">agent (that sometimes strays from its goals by committing errors)
="lsts lst1">•motivating people to get involved in activism
="lsts lst1">•

(Said's Orientalism ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) subaltern others (are typically considered) living within a constant state of violence ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- much older Western regime of re="trms">presentation perceived them as culturally close to violence

(Ghazzi > ="ppl">Badiou >) some events are felt as ="trms">historic as they galvanise the energies of political actors who ="trms">imagine themselves as ‘mounting the ="trms">stage of ="trms">history’ ='lgc'>--Koselleck='lgc'>='lgc'>--> acts of information dissemination are engulfed by the event and are aimed at bridging the temporal distance between the desired and experienced ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> “journalism ='lgc'>='lgc'>~= activism”

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collective ="trms">memory ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">historical victimhood ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> consolidating power
(="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta-="trms">history ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) a view of ="trms">history as a series of junctures where good fought evil ='lgc'>==Ghazzi='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">historical victimhood

global rise of popu="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list politics ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">tropes of self-victimisation
="lsts lst1">•revolutionary
="lsts lst1">•resistance
="lsts lst1">•nationalism
="lsts lst1">•populism
="lsts lst1">•neo-fascism
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> operationalize victimhood (by whom / against whom)

one is wronged, targeted, injured (by the elite, the media, external enemies)
="lsts lst1">•self='lgc'> = true underdog ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> victim
="lsts lst1">•opponents='lgc'> = inauthentic adversary ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> oppressor
= homogeneous ='lgc'>+ antagonistic
='lgc'>--="ppl">Laclau='lgc'>='lgc'>--> chain of equivalence='lgc'>: (from) corruptions ='lgc'>=/= o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigins ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> traitors ='lgc'>=/= patriots ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> intruders ='lgc'>=/= natives ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> faithless ='lgc'>=/= faithful ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*sub="trms">mission  ='lgc'>=/= heroism='strcls'>* and ...
='lgc'>}= ='strcls'>*populism='strcls'>* (political dialectic)

(="trms">storytelling)
="lsts lst1">•the ="trms">question of ='strcls'>*what='strcls'>* a ="trms">society re="trms">members ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>{highly ="trms">formulaic plot structures ='lgc'>--for='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">narrating the ="trms">past='lgc'>}
="lsts lst1">•the ="trms">question of ='strcls'>*how='strcls'>* a ="trms">society re="trms">members ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='lgc'>{powerful actors push for particular kinds of ="trms">story forms that shape the ways they tell all ="trms">stories='lgc'>}

zigzag structures of a rise and fall and/or fall and rise of the nation
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> future dramatically takes one of two routes='lgc'>: (in the direction of) either a golden age or the dark ages
='lgc'>}='lgc'>--Ghazzi='lgc'>='lgc'>--> forked ="trms">historical consciousness ='lgc'>: (an understanding ='and'>& speaking of) “="trms">history='lgc'> = a series of junctures scattered across time”


(the problem is) ='strcls'>***="trms">historical consciousness='strcls'>*** ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> orientational
“bestows upon actuality a temporal direction, an orientation that can guide action intentionally by the ="trms">agency of ="trms">historical ="trms">memory” (Rüsen)
="lstsrd">1. make ="trms">specific references to ="trms">historic events (compare them to the ="trms">present ='lgc'>[='lgc'>==guide='lgc'>='lgc'>==> political action='lgc'>])
="lstsrd">2. ='strcls'>*making references to “="trms">history” at large='strcls'>*

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]zigzag ="trms">memory structure='lgc'>: deploy mnemonic spins to reframe ="trms">historic events
="lsts lst1">•establish equivalent between the ="trms">present and the ="trms">past ='lgc'>[='lgc'>--!='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (fundamentally despotic='qstn'>?) ="trms">technique that i also use in ="trms">lecture performances='lgc'>]

="large lg14" stl="font-size:116%">
="trms">authoritarian populism


(="ppl">Hegelian) ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]action='lgc'>: pursue one aspect of ="trms">history ='lgc'>+ breaking away from away from another
="lstsrd">1. (="trms">modern) revolutionary='lgc'>: telling a new ="trms">story, (='lgc'>--popu="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list='lgc'>='lgc'>--> focus on) ='strcls'>*ex="trms">="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clusionary politics='strcls'>*, once the leader is in power the objective is to prolong ='thdf'>the idea of ="trms">historic juncture ='lgc'>--justify='lgc'>='lgc'>--> continued ex="trms">="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clusion

popu="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list ='lgc'>--="ppl">Laclau='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (invocation of)
="lsts lst1">•people='lgc'> = empty signifier
="lsts lst1">•leader='lgc'> = ="trms">embodiment of people's ="trms">agency

='strcls'>***="trms">rhetoric of resentment='strcls'>*** ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> victimhood
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]resentment='lgc'>: an emotional-moral framework ='lgc'>--aim='lgc'>='lgc'>--> continuously regenerate the felt intensities ='lgc'>--under="trms">write='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">demands for revenge ='lgc'>+ lamentations (of victimhood)


='strcls'>***nationalism ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> populism='strcls'>***

(many countries) national identity (& militancy) is ="trms">intertwined with='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•="trms">narrative of self-victimization ='lgc'>--
="lsts lst1">•invocation of trauma

victorious victimhood ='lgc'>==fuels='lgc'>='lgc'>==> aggressive militancy
for example ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Israel='lgc'>: nothing counts as evidence as one's own empowerment, one is always under threat, if Israel cannot maintain the omnipotent ="trms">position that its victory offered (1967) it would be under existential threat

anticolonial nationalism (or postcolonial populism)
="lsts lst1">•="trms">past injury (“We have been oppressed” ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> “re-empower ourselves again”)
="lsts lst1">•decades after independence ='lgc'>--still='lgc'>='lgc'>--> fixated on the anticolonial moment ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> perpetuate a sense of victimhood ='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to mask ="trms">authoritarianism

victimhood
="lsts lst1">•Hindu nationalism ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> re="trms">formulated ="trms">history from a focus on colonialism and postcolonial nation-building into a ="trms">narrative of victimhood that blames ="trms">historic Muslim invasions for the decline of Hindu civilisation and nationhood
="lsts lst1">•China ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> re="trms">formulated its school ="trms">history text="trms">books to stress victimhood and humiliation through ='thdf'>the idea of China's “100 years of humiliation” in reference to Western and Japanese invasions
="lsts lst1">•United States ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> nationalism often takes the shape of antipathy to government that is enmeshed with an ideology of liberal individualism
="lsts lst1">•
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>***logic of empowerment='strcls'>*** (='lgc'>--permeate='lgc'>='lgc'>--> economies of visibility)


='strcls'>***="trms">memory ="trms">narrative='strcls'>***


="nms">iran ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> shohada شهدا martyrs of ="nms">iran-iraq war ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> after the war became the picture of collective victimhood (“heroes='lgc'> = us”)

Erdogan's speech
“we have been tested by fire” (='lgc'>--='qstn'>?='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Siavash's fire trial is popu="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list='qstn'>?)
='lgc'>='lgc'>~= “we have been tested by enemy”
='lgc'>='lgc'>~= “evil forces”


(from) populism ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> neofascism
(from) generic ="trms">rhetoric of an unidentified enemy ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">articulation of an identifiable foe (who is met with political violence)

="trms">authoritarian state ="trms">apparatus ='lgc'>[= political ="trms">system ='lgc'>+ culture ='lgc'>+ institutions ='lgc'>+ ='qstn'>?='lgc'>] ='lgc'>--allow='lgc'>='lgc'>--> smoother way of operationalisation of ="trms">narratives (about the d="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">angers of adversaries)
="prgrph">-exactly what kind of state ="trms">apparatus we have in ="nms">iran='qstn'>?


="trms">historical victimhood ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> resurgent popu="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list discourse
="lsts lst1">•people have been enduring victimhood for too long
="lsts lst1">•fateful junctures throughout ="trms">history
="lsts lst1">•authentic great path
="lsts lst1">•urgency of message
="lsts lst1">•

animating ="trms">rhetoric with self-victimhood ='lgc'>==produce='lgc'>='lgc'>==> divisions (men ='lgc'>=/= women, us ='lgc'>=/= enemy, etc.)



ex="trms">="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clusionary politics ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- homogeneous ="trms">community (='lgc'>=/= alien intrusion, outside forces, immigrants, minorities, etc.)

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Kundera
is humor ="trms">modern='qstn'>?
='strcls'>*humor is not ancient='strcls'>* (='qstn'>?!)
“whatever humor touches it ambiguites”
humor='lgc'> = ambiguitor

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globalization ='lgc'>=/= cold war
globalization ='lgc'>=/= enlightenment (“universal humanism ='lgc'>+ rationalized tech ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> freedom for all”)

cold war='lgc'> = a meaningfull ="trms">relation between ideology ='and'>& power ='lgc'>[='lgc'>==give='lgc'>='lgc'>==> orientation ='lgc'>+ identity ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> normative approach to global ="trms">phenomena='lgc'>]
geopolitc ='lgc'>+ ideologic borders
='lgc'>=/=
globalization ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> completly ="trms">different political behaivor (de="trms">finitions of national goals, friend and enemy, etc.) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> p="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lura="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list democracy (="trms">differences ='lgc'>+ contrasts) ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">social democracy (erasing ="trms">differences)

globalization='lgc'> = attitude حالت ='lgc'>=/= meaning
='lgc'>[cold war='lgc'>: “="trms">world ='lgc'>='lgc'>~= (a ="trms">sort of) problem” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> behaviors had='lgc'>] meaning ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> (base for) power

cold war='lgc'>: war ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> identities
globalization='lgc'>: conflits ='lgc'>='lgc'>=/=> identities

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two points
="lsts lst1">•artistic research='lgc'>: a form of art that uses knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge as its main medium
="lsts lst1">•artistic research has no ="trms">relation to the unknown (='lgc'>=/= an idea of research im in which one faces something unknown or new therefore needs to research)
="lsts lst1">•='mywrk'>my work (in general) has been about the critique of engineering (the talent of engineering)


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thinking with ="trms">traps ='lgc'>[working title='lgc'>]
Allow me to make you a ="trms">trap. I think ="trms">traps and ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lures are ="trms">interesting to think with when one is oriented toward a nontransportive investigative work. What I mean by nontransportive investigative work is a mode of approach to “getting to know” something ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*call it research='lgc'>] where your subject does not speak plain to you, and you, nor your work, do not intend to transform them. The ="trms">question of “what is ="trms">interesting for them='qstn'>?” raises up immediately. This ="trms">question emerges in all ="trms">sorts of domains of ="trms">social life. As a bullshiter ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*a ="trms">technical term for performance-="trms">lecture='lgc'>: an art of ="trms">interweaving logos='lgc'>] and program-coordinator and educator in the art sector (ZUYD Toneelacademie ="ppl">Maastricht), I am permanently ="trms">positioned to ask this ="trms">question. For this I have found ='thdf'>the notion of ="trms">trap particularly useful to think with, especially in environments where participants entice each other in their subjects of knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge by means of an adaptable cunning intelligence.


Somewhere between fairytale findings, ="trms">animal as="trms">sociations, and ="trms">dictations from ="ppl">Benjamin ="ppl">Alberti, Eva ="ppl">="ppl">Hayward, Marcel Detienne, and ="ppl">Vinciane ="ppl">="ppl">Despret, I am thinking about ="trms">traps as ="trms">zoo-="trms">anthropo-bio="trms">morphic artifacts, made-up things that entice meaning across ="trms">species. ="trms">Trap-making is the forms of knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge of the back-tracking of a fox, of building a fishing net, ="trms">skills of a weaver, a carpenter, poly="trms">morphism of an octopus, and the ="trms">rhetorical tricks of a ="trms">crafty charlatan. The ="trms">trap-maker ="trms">imagines what is the perspective of a radically ="trms">different being. If you make a ="trms">trap for other ="trms">animals you are fully engaged in multi-="trms">species perspectival game. You think about their bodies engaged in a perspectival ="trms">communication. I argue, ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lures are needed to convey meaning. In this sense, ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lures and ="trms">traps are ="trms">mimetic devices, they are enticements of meaning, and we have ="trms">mimetic participation with them. ="trms">Mimetic is the op="trms">posite of ="trms">semiotic. In ="trms">mimetic participation, one does not ponder about the ="trms">symbolic ="trms">relations hidden in the game, but rather one is caught in its form. But this form can still be ="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta and not ="trms">literal. In my understanding and use of ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lure one is not necessarily fossilized by this seizure. It is a form of ="trms">figuration by trying to enact. It ="trms">demands enacting something outside of you. A ="trms">mimetic preoccupation is something that you cannot stop following. ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*The ="trms">fashion industry, ="trms">marketing, conspiracy theories, art, psychology, and hunting, are all about ="trms">mimesis.='lgc'>]


One ="trms">mimetic form that I have been caught in is an old figure of ="trms">children's fairy tale, ="nms">Cinderella='lgc'>--during her confinement with the evil step-mother and two step-sisters. ="nms">Cinderella is my ="trms">ancestor and ="trms">heritage. I was exposed as a ="trms">child to Disney’s version of Grimm’s recollection of the ="trms">story, which was the very last Disney movie that was officially dubbed in ="trms">Farsi before the ="nms">Iranian revolution. ="nms">Cinderella’s voiceover in ="trms">Farsi was the continuum of an actor-training that o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">riginated in the ="nms">Tehrani cabaret voice-performances. Her voice has a radically ="trms">different feeling than its English o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">riginal. In contrast to how “="trms">childish” the mice sounds in the movie, ="nms">Cinderella's ="trms">articulations are perceived much more “adult,” sexually textured, of how a young female sounded like in the ="nms">Iranian ="trms">consumer culture of the 1950s. Recollecting that ="nms">Cinderella now reveals something else that cor="trms">responds with ='mywrk'>my research, an attic ="trms">bestiary, a mini universe of meanings and beings with whom she is in conversation with and in a permanent collaboration of ="trms">worlding.


="nms">Cinderella lives with the precarity of a family who torment and insult her on a daily basis. I kept asking myself, why doesn't she become estranged='qstn'>? ="nms">Cinderella is circumscribed in all ="trms">sorts of ways, yet she is capable of knowing new things about the ="trms">animals she lives. She incorporates a form of transhumanity that lies in (1) the way she is inhabiting and ="trms">composing with a place that she is not a master of nor can she escape from, and (2) in the way ="trms">animals give her power and meaning. Can we think of ="nms">Cinderella as an amateur ethologist='qstn'>? A ="trms">skilled practitioner of attention to ="trms">animals, for whom the ways that attention is addressed ="trms">matters. A ="nms">Cinderella who does her job is bizarre. It engages us in a totally ="trms">different manner than a ="nms">Cinderella who is the victim of evil circumstances. Not considered as a victim, she becomes much more ="trms">present, inviting more ="trms">interesting ="trms">questions about her labor of knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge production. This opened for me a space to think about her inhuman ="trms">gesture of endurance, her know-how of being in a ="trms">world that proliferates with chaotic zones of improvisation with ="trms">animals. From ="nms">Cinderella one can learn cross-="trms">species politeness and exploring ways of ="trms">imagining what ="trms">animals are capable of, with and because of her labor. This is her mice-="trms">trap. Steeped in ="trms">routines of ="trms">schizo-="trms">affective ="trms">hallucinating with talking ="trms">animals, her ="trms">technique of ="trms">trap-making is not a ="trms">category of human behavior, but a model for a form of intelligence. I argue that as a ="trms">lover and ="trms">interlocutor of mice, her ="trms">traps are in the form of a net in which her subject becomes entangled. ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">Lures are frequently needed to prompt meaning to an ="trms">animal. ="nms">Cinderella to the mice, is an al="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">luring producer of ="trms">sociality. Her mice-="trms">trap produces the meaning of the ="trms">social. The mouse is captured not as prey but as ="trms">material comrade and ally.


='lgc'>[....='lgc'>]


Sometimes there is no maker behind the ="trms">trap. They are created by the ="trms">world, by random, emergent, coalescence of elements in the environment. In a witness-="trms">fable by Kelileh o Demneh we have a moment of problematization of cunning intelligence. The ="trms">story goes, once a fox was walking down his forest when he noticed ="trms">animals were escaping from something. Upon further investigation he found out they were running from a special sound that scared them, a loud drum. At this ="trms">stage, he is curious but vigilance and not afraid, because he knows the forest is all deceit and trickery. His inner thought is opportunistic or playful, he thinks there must be something juicy there that I can get my hands on. ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">Lured in the other direction than other ="trms">animals, he goes to the source of the sound, and puts his paws in it. He realizes that the sound was created by the force of wind moving a tree branch to hit the remains of an ="trms">animal fat and skin caught in the branches. Disappointed and victorious, he calls the illusion and moves on. Here we have the fox revealing the ="trms">techne of the lie='lgc'>: an assemblage of skin, fat, tree, and wind, that others are ="trms">trapped in. What is the problem with the fox='qstn'>? What kind of wit or intelligence does he possess='qstn'>? Is the fox detached from the ="trms">mimesis of the forest='qstn'>? How do we not get caught in certain ="trms">traps='qstn'>? My ="trms">question here is, in which context do you say yes to the ="trms">trap='qstn'>?


The fox of Kelileh o Demneh is smart, someone who ="trms">embodies “metis.” Metis is ancient ="trms">Greek for wiley intelligence. Metis ='lgc'>[pointed out by Detienne='lgc'>] refers to patterns of thought relating to an effective adaptable cunning, the exact op="trms">posite of contemplating about unchanging essences. The art of metis encompasses a coherent body of mental attitudes and intellectual behaviors that cultivates shohood (intuition شهود), makr (cunning مکر), ferasat (perspicacity فراست), farib (dissimulation فریب), badiheh (improvisation بدیهه), hushiar (vigilant attention هوشيار), be-ja (timeliness بجا). In the ="trms">world of Kelileh o Demneh you are a hunter and the ="trms">world is made of ="trms">traps and ="trms">animals are full of cunning. This is precisely the metis’ field of operation, a ="trms">world of movement and ambiguity in the battle of perspectival will. For the ="trms">Greeks and Kelileh o Demneh, continuous ="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta="trms">morphoses is the name of the game. A disconcerting divided shifting ="trms">world of multiplicity that creates (1) poly="trms">morphous ="trms">monsters (mistrustful mobile elusive beings) and (2) ="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta="trms">morphing minds (mistrustful mobile elusive minds).


The notion of metis that we have is ="trms">articulated in ="trms">Greek deities powers. It is the form of knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge of Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes, Aphrodite, Zeus, and Prometheus. The ="trms">Greek gods often found themselves in either ="trms">position of victory or as vanquished. Metis is the power of binding in ="trms">situations of confrontation.


The fox and octopus master of bonds


="trms">Trap is poly="trms">morphism, the op="trms">posite of what it seems to be, in ="trms">Greek, dolos mechanos. Dolos ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">readers to cunning, that which is woven, braided or ="trms">interlacing. It is about the ancient ="trms">techniques of fitting together ="trms">different pieces that ="trms">articulates a whole. A ="trms">skill of making knots, meshes and nets that surprise, ="trms">trap and bind. A net is the invisible (mesh of) bonds, the favorite ="trms">technique of metis. Bond is the combination of two things, weave and twist.

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='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]bond='lgc'> = weave ='lgc'>+ twist
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]net='lgc'>: invisible (mesh of) bonds ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- favorite ="trms">technique of metis


arm='lgc'> = bond
every part of its body is a ='strcls'>*bond='strcls'>* which can secure anything (but nothing can seize)


="large lg6" stl="font-size:108%"> ='strcls'>*fox='lgc'> = a living bond='strcls'>* (can bend, unbend, reverse its own ="trms">position at will)


Oppian is all about bonds, ropes, cords

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="nms">Cinderella’s ="trms">position neither victorious nor vanquished.


I use the word “="trms">trap” because it is more problematic and d="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">angerous than ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lures


='lgc'>[For the record, ="ppl">Plato completely opposed ='thdf'>the idea of hunting with ="trms">traps, because these ="trms">techniques were thought to cultivate cunning and duplicity which were against what a virtuous political man should be. For ="ppl">Plato ="trms">embodiment was a form of distraction to true knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge.='lgc'>]

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="large lg3" stl="font-size:111%"> The cunning of “getting to know them” ='lgc'>[...='lgc'>]
You politely approach in order to get to know them, research as a ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lure for yourself to be transformed by the encounter. The nontransportive investigation is in fact full of transformations.


It is important to think about ="trms">traps not as something great and necessary, but in a sense that we should be able to recognize and choose sometimes not to do it. I think we need ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lures, because the ="trms">world is transient, shifting, disconcerting, ambiguous, and so are we. The ="trms">question always is which ="trms">trap are you caught in='qstn'>? How does it look like='qstn'>? Are you alone in it='qstn'>? Which ="nms">Cinderella is making you a ="trms">trap='qstn'>?

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________________

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