The work of art in the digital age - Seminar 3

In 1936 Walter Benjamin questioned the uniqueness and permanence of the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. Benjamin was concerned with a move towards transitoriness and the reproducibility of art as a result, and what this was reflecting in society.

However, in the 21st century, with the onset of digital reproduction, photoshop and the ability to share images, videos and stories instantly is it possible to achieve a unique work of art? What effect do self publishing and the internet have on the quality or authenticity of art? And more importantly what does this say about society?

For this months seminar we are examining what Walter Benjamin's essay means today in the digital age, and if the work of art in the contemporary era has lost its legitimacy. 

I would like to thank Dr Steven Leddin for suggesting such an interesting reading. 

A copy of the essay is available here:

http://adht.parsons.edu/designstudies/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Work-of-Art.pdf

The next seminar will take place on Thursday, December 6 at 5pm in T2.02

Centre for Studies in Otherness Postgraduate Symposium

The Centre for Studies in Otherness is hosting a postgraduate symposium on Otherness in philosophy, theory and art practice this coming Friday 23^rd November 2-5pm. The symposium will take place at The Captain’s Room of The Hunt Museum and brings together postgraduate researchers from the departments of English Language & Literature, and Philosophy at MIC, and Limerick School of Art and Design.

The event is open to the public and in particular welcomes postgraduate students from both institutions to attend and participate in discussion. 

Contributors: 

Michelle Cooney (PhD Student, Department of Philosophy, Mary Immaculate College) “Heidegger and the Death of the Other”

Kristy Butler (PhD student, Department of English Language & Literature, Mary Immaculate College) “The Nightmare of Reversals: Alien and Alienating Others in H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds”

Deirdre Flynn (PhD student, Department of English Language & Literature, Mary Immaculate College) “Positioning the Postmodern Female”

Breda Lynch (Lecturer in Printmaking and Contemporary Practice, Department of Fine Art, LSAD) “Other Drawings”

Una Spain (MA student, Centre of Postgraduate Studies, LSAD) “St. Brigid’s; the construction of the other in psychiatric discourse”

Deborah McDonagh (MA student, Centre of Postgraduate Studies, LSAD) “The Phenomenology of Perception; the otherness of masculinity in contemporary society”

The Centre for Studies in Otherness initiates a collaborative project that brings together postgraduate scholars from Mary Immaculate College and Limerick School of Art and Design to consider the notion of Otherness as it relates to current issues in Literary Criticism, Cultural Theory, Philosophy and Art Practice. 

Check out http://www.otherness.dk/ for more information on the Centre for Studies in Otherness.

Have we become Posthuman?

Following on from some of the points raised at the last seminar on Post-postmodernism we are moving on to Posthumanism, and what it means to be posthuman. 

Sometimes referred to as transhumanism, we will look at the influence that technology has on life and evolution, and importantly what it means for contemporary identity. Do we have to reposition our identities to take into account the role that technology plays within our lives? And how is this redefining then represented in culture? 

I would like to thank Dr Kathryn Laing for suggesting the reading from N Katherine Hayles' book How we became Posthuman: Virtual bodies in Cybernetics, Literature and Informatics. 

The first chapter of the book is available here: 

http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/Hayles-Posthuman-excerpts.pdf

Additional information on N. Katherine Hayles can be found here:

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/321460.html

http://www.english.ucla.edu/faculty/hayles/

Our second seminar will take place on Thursday, November 8th at 5pm in room T202 in Mary Immaculate College. 

And we're off ... Observations from Seminar One

What an interesting and well attended first session!

It seems that postmodernism still holds quite the interest among the academic community in Limerick – and many different viewpoints and opinions were aired on the dawning of a new epoch and the influence of previous movements in thought, culture and history.

The impact of 9/11 and the economic crash featured heavily in the debate, while the idea of the return of the monster and othering were also considered. The discussion moved from human geography to the desire for answers and included the plurality of postmodernism, Vatican II, the endless deferral of meaning to localised happenings, making for a wide ranging, lively exploration of 'post-postmodernism' in multiple disciplines.

I would like to thank everyone for attending the seminar and for their interesting and informed contributions – I really enjoyed the first session and hope you did too.

If you have any further thoughts please share them here.

Deirdre  

Seminar One - Post Postmodernism

Post Postmodernism? Translit? Pseudo-modernism? Post-millennialism? Performatism? Metamodernism? If Postmodernism is dead, what has followed? Have we moved on, or are we still looking to the past? Is there room for postmodernism in a post 9/11 world?

These are all questions we will be asking and discussing when we met for our first seminar in the series. We will look at what has come after postmodernism, and what terminology we can use to accurately reflect that changes that have occurred since the start of the 21^st century.

Our first reading, suggested by Dr Maria Beville, looks at all those questions, and is sure to help inform our discussion.

From After Postmodernism : An Introduction to Critical Realism, by Garry Potter and Jose Lopez, the introduction After Postmodernism: The Millennium p3 -17. The book is available on Google books with a full preview of the introduction.

Click here:

http://books.google.ie/books?id=XLIdPlQIDwUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

The First seminar will take place on Thursday, October 11 at 5pm in T202. 

Welcome!

I am in the process of organising a monthly postgraduate seminar/reading group to discuss contemporary currents in Literature and criticism, to start in October in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. The seminar would be open to all postgrad students and staff and each month we would discuss a pre-circulated reading on one of the concepts. The idea of the group is to help familiarise ourselves with current thought and open up discussion. 

Some of the areas I would like to look at over the course of the year are:

Queer and/or gender Theory

Eco Criticism 

Digitialism / archiving /networking 

Temporal spaces and time 

Post postmodernism 

Narrative voices

Urban complexities

Ethics and Authenticities

Neo victorianism 

Neo science fiction

Young adult Fiction 

If any of you have any recommended readings or areas you are interested in I would appreciate any suggestions.

          Deirdre :)