[...]f loss of self, dispersion, and fluidity are all too familiar to women
(and to non-western subjects, i would say. Tasavof has been advocating body without organ within the context of mysticism in ="nms">Iran)

are ="ppl">Deleuze and ="ppl">Guattari “cyberpunks, constructing ="trms">fictions of terminal identity in the nearly familiar ="trms">language of a ="trms">techno-surrealism”='qstn'>? ='lgc'>='lgc'>~-> (to dissolve the body ='lgc'>='lgc'>==>) will to regain the ="trms">world ='lgc'><='lgc'>~='lgc'>~='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='lgc'>[death of the auratic object ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> subject='lgc'>: a condemned and useless vestige alongside the simulacra that precede and envelope it='lgc'>]

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="large lg2" stl="font-size:112%"> (='qstn'>?we need) political ="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta="trms">morphosis

the tensions between='lgc'>:
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]artist's “special task” (to oppose intellectual divisions) ='lgc'>{(art of) forming, inventing, fabricating concepts (='lgc'><='lgc'>== ="ppl">Deleuze and ="ppl">Guattari), (a “task” that) proceeds with a plane of immanence (or consistency) ='lgc'>='lgc'>~= self-referential (='lgc'>=/= referential) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> syntagmatic (word as="trms">sociations)='lgc'>}
and='lgc'>: ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]the increasing difficulty to ask ="trms">questions (as a result of the constant increase in the specialization of the knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edges ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">science) ='lgc'>{pro="trms">positions in discursive ="trms">systems, (a “task” that) proceeds with a plane of reference ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> paradigmatic (a ="trms">worldview) ='lgc'>='lgc'>==>='qstn'>? to ='strcls'>*confront chaos='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>~= to provide chaos with reference points ='lgc'>[='lgc'><='lgc'>-- artists need to learn this='lgc'>]='lgc'>}='strcls'>****

(='mywrk'>my work in ="trms">lecture-performance='lgc'>: to provide chaos with reference points)

="ppl">="ppl">Barad, ="ppl">="ppl">Stengers, ='lgc'><='lgc'>== stable foundations of physics had broken up and it is time for ="trms">science to become philosophical

="trms">science becomes philosophical philosophy becomes artistic art becomes ="trms">anthropological ="trms">anthropology becomes ="trms">poetic ="trms">poetry becomes biological biology becomes archaeological archaeology becomes speculative speculation becomes ="trms">scientific ="trms">science becomes ="trms">aesthetic ="trms">aesthetics becomes adventurous adventure becomes ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigorous ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigor becomes ="nms">Iranian ="nms">Iran becomes German Germany becomes ="ppl">Arabic Arab becomes Egyptian Egypt becomes ="trms">animalistic ="trms">animal becomes ="trms">fabulous ="trms">fable becomes political politics becomes...

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(="ppl">Baxstrom ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">Meyers highlight a productive gap between intent ='and'>& outcome in) Christensen making a case of witch="trms">craft (in his pioneering, bizarre, and lavish project of ="nms">Häxan)='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•misidentified nervous disease
="lsts lst1">•incompatibility of superstition and ="trms">religious fanaticism with ="trms">modernity and ="trms">science
="lsts lst1">•bringing “errors of belief” in the 15th and 16th centuries into our view

living cinematic tableau, ="nms">Häxan's ="trms">excess ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">socially constrained thinking, discursive mode of analysis

Christensen's thesis concerned/gripped with abnormalities, events, and causes ='lgc'>==provide='lgc'>='lgc'>==> diagnosis
(like Favret-Saada) he was an un-witcher at once caught ='and'>& catching

witch ='lgc'>=='qstn'>? epi="trms">phenomenon

(to bring the ="nms">ajayeb to life “objectively” is nonsense)

='lgc'>[="nms">Häxan='lgc'> = ="trms">spectacle ='lgc'>+ argument ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ='strcls'>*to make ="trms">nature speak='strcls'>*='lgc'>] drove efforts to locate ='and'>& combat witches, and it served to shape similar aporias between ='strcls'>*sense ='and'>& distance='strcls'>* imbricated in='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•the invention of ="trms">modern hysteria in the 19th century
="lsts lst1">•the “discovery” of the “native's point of view” by ="trms">anthropologists in the early 20th century

for Christensen='lgc'>: “witch="trms">craft='lgc'> = unrecognized manifestations of clinical hysteria and psychosis”

="trms">excessiveness of ="nms">Häxan's reenactment ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> construct the witch's ="trms">material, invisible, mobile force
(="nms">Häxan's objectivity) had no expectation that the real will simply “speak for itself”

="nms">Häxan's reception in the 1920s ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to energize a negative, conceptually dogmatic discourse that formed and hardened cinematic taxonomies ='lgc'>[particularly the division between “documentary” (non="trms">fiction) and “feature” (="trms">fictional) films='lgc'>]

experimentation ='lgc'>+ evidence making

sexual ="trms">intercourse, cannibalism, cauldron ='lgc'>--solemnize='lgc'>='lgc'>--> pact with the devil

="large lg1" stl="font-size:133%"> evidentiary thinking

elaborated visualization of the witch stereotype

='lgc'>='lgc'>--> complex ="trms">nature of ='strcls'>*="trms">sensual explorations of the flesh='strcls'>* through masochism and exorcism

demonic influence
genres of trans="trms">figuration and ="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta="trms">morphosis

Christensen shows how those who were once identified as witches are now the objects of medical and ="trms">social concern in ="trms">modern life ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> shows the potency of her various forms over time


='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">Baxstrom ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">Meyers
(='mywrk'>my work on ="nms">ajayeb is based on that) ='lgc'>[there is a largely='lgc'>] unacknowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edged ="trms">historical tendency and predis="trms">position within the human ="trms">sciences with roots in much older practices of='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•defining ="trms">social facts
="lsts lst1">•discovery, ="trms">interpretation, production of the real itself
='lgc'>[such as ="trms">bestiary='lgc'>]

="trms">method that allows the rese="trms"nttrm="search">archer to sense
="trms">interpret and master forces that appear to be nonsensical (yet held to be ="trms">present='lgc'>: held to be essential to the reality of everyday ="trms">social life) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> an ="trms">epistemological concern

="large lg3" stl="font-size:111%"> privileged space of the irrational in medical discourses in 19th century='lgc'>: (Jonathan ="ppl">Strauss ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) irrationality (nonsense) was a legitimizing force for medicine in that the very incomprehensibility of the mad created a mysterious and extra-="trms">social ="trms">language that the rising medical profession could adapt to its own purposes

“nonsense” of “the native” ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> my start-up engine in Islam ="trms">lecture series, a privileged site of mysterious incomprehensibility allowed me to to form the ="trms">methodological basis for a fieldwork for unknown forces of irrational life in distant ="trms">societies...='lgc'>]

='strcls'>*="trms">anthropology='lgc'>: (a distinct human ="trms">science from the desire to credibly) master nonsense='strcls'>*
(="ppl">Baxstrom ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">Meyers)

="trms">anthropologists claiming to have assumed the “point of view” of another (='lgc'>~ fieldworker must achieve the cultivated sensed point of view of another) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> distillation of ="trms">method ='and'>& dis="trms">position (='qstn'>?) ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- when confronted with the ="trms">question “who are you='qstn'>?” and “what do you do='qstn'>?”
(="trms">according to Malinowski='lgc'>: this) privileged ="trms">relation to the unknown must emerge through the ability to test what is asserted to be real ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a series of subjective trials subsumed within the rubric of “fieldwork”
='strcls'>*presumptions='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•experiential dis="trms">position of the analyst ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> understanding of a ="trms">phenomenon other wise held to be ="trms">imaginary and ="trms">fictional
="lsts lst1">•witnessing and testimony ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> evidence as to the reality beyond the direct experience of the rese="trms"nttrm="search">archer

="large lg4" stl="font-size:112%"> (='lgc'>[Malinowski updated and secularized a much older ="trms">epistemology of='lgc'>] Luther='lgc'>:) faith='lgc'> = a commitment to the re="trms">presentation of a truth ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Western ="frds scrmbld"nttrm="Christianson">Christianity's own efforts to discern truth and the ="trms">nature of the ="trms">world


proliferation of witches in 15th century Europe

reassuring relief for the pious believer='lgc'>: force Satan (and his followers) from the shadows through an ="trms">interpretive expertise over the concrete secondary manifestations of God's reality ='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (most had no luxury to ="trms">imagine) ='strcls'>*the embrace of life that the devil urges in binary op="trms">position to that of the good='strcls'>*
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Devil ="trms">interfering with the most intimate ="trms">communications with the Divine
="prgrph">-how does one really know who is speaking when prayer is returned='qstn'>?

='lgc'>[for='lgc'>] the demonologists of the 15th and 16th century ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> “God must exist because Satan is ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">right in front of me!” ='lgc'>: reality of witches ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> Satan
Institoris, Sprenger, Johannes Nider,
the name of the witch ='lgc'>='lgc'>='lgc'>~=> sacrilegious and inhuman deeds (subject to verification)

="large lg5" stl="font-size:113%"> ='strcls'>*inquisitors believed that what was reported to them was possible='strcls'>* (still they desired proof) ='lgc'><='lgc'>== ="trms">interweaving of learned demonology into the fabric of a dominant theology (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- sovereignty of God ratified primarily through the ="trms">worldly evidence of Satan) ='lgc'>+ invisibility of the spiritual ="trms">world was expressed as an essential given

='lgc'>{for the inquisitor (witch hunter) it was never enough to simply “believe” ='lgc'><='lgc'>='lgc'>==> a ="trms">narrative must be produced that at least partially satisfied the ="trms">demands of evidence='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*="trms">interrogation under torture='lgc'> = an experimental form of knowing in crisis='strcls'>*

truth value of a nonsensical confession made sensible ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> human belief, action, and ="trms">social practices

ethnographic style of early French ethnographers ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>**learning truth from lie='strcls'>** was essential to re="trms">presenting the “primitive” reality in order to ="trms">interpret it in its true picture
="prgrph">-Marcel Griaule's approach to fieldwork='lgc'>: “The crime is the fact, the guilty party the ="trms">interlocutor, and accomplices are all the ="trms">members of this ="trms">society. ='lgc'>[...='lgc'>]the abundance of pieces of evidence serving to convict appear to facilitate the inquest, but in reality they guide it into labyrinths='lgc'>--labyrinths that are often organized. ='lgc'>[...='lgc'>]The inquest must be treated like a strategic operation.”
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> nonsense to be mastered had s[...]