[...]tion 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)
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='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'>~= “we have been tested by enemy”
='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'>~= (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.
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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
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arm='lgc'> = bond
every part of its body is a ='strcls'>*bond='strcls'>* which can secure anything (but nothing can seize)
='strcls'>*fox='lgc'> = a living bond='strcls'>* (can bend, unbend, reverse its own ="trms">position at will)
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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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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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points
='strcls'>* define cunning intelligence
='strcls'>* ="trms">greek notion of “metis” (you are a hunter='lgc'>: the ="trms">world is made of ="trms">traps and ="trms">animals are full of cunning)
='strcls'>* bonds ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> fox ='lgc'>+ octopus
='strcls'>* fox forest ="trms">story ="nms">kelile demne
='strcls'>* is fox detached from the ="trms">mimesis of the forest='qstn'>? Is this what critical intelligence looks like='qstn'>? by putting his paw and breaking that fragile assemble of skin, fat, tree, and wind. he reveals a lie. what other ="trms">animals are ="trms">trap engagers='qstn'>?
='strcls'>* in which context you say yes to the ="trms">trap='qstn'>?
='strcls'>* ="trms">differentiate metis from ="nms">Cinderella’s mouse ="trms">trap (mechane, ="trms">techne)
='strcls'>* ='strcls'>* ="trms">trap as research ="trms">method, but it has a double bind, it is as much as a ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lure for oneself as for the other
='strcls'>*
my ="trms">mimetic preoccupations ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> with ="trms">memory
(from mnemonic devices) to ="trms">mimetic devices (="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lure)
="trms">mimetic participation with X
(with ="trms"nttrm="failure,blur,plur,lurk,tallur,slur">lures and ="trms">traps we have ="trms">mimetic participation)
a useful and necessary ="trms">difference, synthesized by the ="trms">Greeks='lgc'>--="ppl">Plato and ="ppl">Aristotle
diegesis ='lgc'>=/=='qstn'>? ="trms">mimesis
(telling) ='lgc'>-- (showing)
(recounted) ='lgc'>-- (enacted)
you don’t get necessarily fossilized by it
="trms">mimetic ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">semiotic
enacted showing other than you (='lgc'>=/= telling)
="trms">figuration by trying to imitate
to copy='lgc'> = ="trms">mimesis ='lgc'>+ ="trms">techne
(summoning ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">mimesis)
getting caught in a form
it is form, but it is not about form
industry of ="trms">fashion is about ="trms">mimesis
problem of realism ='lgc'>=/= problem of ="trms">mimesis
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________________
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="lstsrd">2. a better mouse ="trms">trap
="nms">Cinderella
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and now I tell you...
what exactly a ="trms">trap is made of...
text='lgc'>: con="trms">densed, everything
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="lstsrd">1. mouse ="trms">trap
="lsts lst2">◦diary of ="nms">Cinderella, a ="trms">lover and ="trms">interlocutor of mice
who is a mouse ="trms">lover, a mouse career, a mouse ="trms">interlocutor (somebody who ="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">listens and tells ="trms">stories), but she is also a shepherd.
="lsts lst2">◦“which ="trms">trap are you caught in='qstn'>?” is always relevant ="trms">question
="lstsrd">2. spider web
="lstsrd">1. ="ppl">Benjamin ="ppl">Alberti
="lsts lst2">◦minoan culture (pottery in ancient ="trms">Greek)
="lsts lst2">◦artifacts and appendices ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">traps
="lstsrd">2. Eva ="ppl">="ppl">Hayward
="lsts lst4">◽="trms">animal thinker
="lsts lst4">◽trans="trms">animality
="lsts lst4">◽='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]="trms">trap='lgc'>: a mouth, a mode of utterance, the “O” curve of lips and throat that sounds out and names the apprehension of being ="trms">embodied
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>***="trms">positionality ='lgc'>~/= ="trms">situatedness='lgc'> = to be ="trms">trapped='strcls'>*** (to speak and receive ranges of ="trms">sensuous input from one's environment) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*our bodies are not endlessly available to intentionality='strcls'>*
="lstsrd">3. Marcel Detienne
="lsts lst2">◦='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]metis='lgc'>: intelligence which operates in the ="trms">world of becoming, in circumstances of conflict='lgc'> = forethought perspicacity ='lgc'>+ quickness and acuteness of understanding ='lgc'>+ trickery ='lgc'>+ deceit
="lsts lst2">◦='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]="trms">trap='lgc'> = poly="trms">morphism (the op="trms">posite of what it seems to be)[...]