Performative Politics: Agonistic & Antagonistic
A reading seminar organized within the research project: A Subaltern That Sings. From Sound Resistance to Musical Diplomacy in Wartime Ukraine developed within CU-CNRS TANDEM Program supported by Charles University, CNRS and CEFRES.
Location: Cefres library (Na Florenci 3, Prague 1)
Dates: Tuesdays at 4:30 pm
Language: English
Moderators :
- Valeria KORABLYOVA (CEFRES / Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University)
- Louisa MARTIN-CHEVALIER (CEFRES / Sorbonne University)
Presentation
The reading group is positioned at the intersection of political theory and cultural studies, aimed to expose mutual implications and interpenetrations between the political and the aesthetical, artistic activities and public politics. It focuses both on the performative side of political events and the political meaning of artistic acts. Two seemingly parallel, yet gradually converging, trends imply (a) the increasing theatricalization of political life – often rhetorically packed in the ‘populism’ box – and (b) closing the gap between the social roles of an artist and a citizen, manifesting political statements through artistic forms, thereby appropriating the micropolitics of power from below. Focusing on the aesthetical, we suspend any ethical judgement, refraining from assessments of the alleged ‘degradation’ of institutional politics and ‘erosion’ of pure art. The suggested optic zooms into constructive and destructive forms of political art and expressive politics that might bring more cohesion and development (‘agonistic’ forms) or disruption and conflict (‘antagonistic’ forms).
The core focus will be on the specificities of cultural and musical diplomacy in the last decade, marked by geopolitical and social conflicts that have impacted artists in different ways. The role of music in transforming these conflicts will be at the heart of the discussions. The theoretical basis includes works of Ernesto Laclau & Chantal Mouffe, Jeffrey C. Alexander, Jacques Ranciere, Jeffrey E. Green, Sandy Fitzgerald, Judith Butler, Paolo Gerbaudo, Luuk van Middelaar, Jessica Pisano, Peter Goodrich, Dean Vuletic, Kateryna Botanova, and others. The empirical part includes artistic projects and events (the Eurovision Song Contest, Film Festivals, Biennale, Ukraine Freedom Orchestra, Nova Opera, Opera Aperta company etc.), as well as political debates, streamed on social media (sessions of the European Parliament, social media accounts of major politicians, etc.).
Schedule for 2024–2025
> Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Playing politics on stage: national representations in popular song contests
> November 27–29, we’ll meet at the workshop
Ukrainian Cultural Diplomacy and Musical Creation
Program tbc.
> Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Musical diplomacy: Defining the concept, outlining the field
> Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Popular music and cultural diplomacy in contemporary Algeria
> Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Reinventing Ukrainian Theatre: Playwrights Driving Diplomacy and Interpreting War
> Thursday, April 17, 2025
War Memetic Songs at War: Ukrainian Popular Music in Social Media Since 2022
> Thursday, May 29, 2025