Category: seminars

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July 8

We now move on to a new cycle of sessions, which will culminate in a visit from Argentine political theorist Diego Sztulwark on July 29. This series is organized by Ana Vivaldi, who has invited Sztulwark and suggested the preparatory readings.

We begin with fiction and film.

Ana’s comments about the text and the film (and their relationship) are very helpful:

Algo que me resultó increíblemente poderoso de este libro es que describe la transición entre un peronismo revolucionario al momento post dictatoria que ya casi es neo liberal. Es la historia de vida ficcional (y un poco biográfica) de un hombre desde que esta involucrado en la guerrilla y el peronismo, y que luego asciende de ser obrero a intelectual planeando un “cambio cultural” social (dirigido por masones y el opus dei y que parece el Macrismo). Va del Peronismo, la dictadura y luego los 80s.

En la  historia se despliegan y rastrean las variaciones afectivas (eso diría yo) que movilizan las transiciones de uno a otro ciclo. Hay algo muy detallado de las relaciones con los objetos cotidianos, que desembocan en el consumo de los 1980s : radios, y secadores de pelos peronistas, texturas de alfombras y autos, ropa y perfumes, sensorial. (La escena inicial quizás valga la pena, un mujer buscando pilas en un cajón y una discusión sobre una frase de Perón). Por estos dos aspectos lo vinculo al trabajo de Diego, como ilustración de los afectos como campo de batalla, en una clase trabajadora/media.

Siete cajas es el complemento subalterno / plebeyo. Transcurre en un mercado de la economía informal: aparece entonces la participación en el consumo, lo central de la informalidad y la multiplicidad. Se muestra diálogos en guaraní sin hacer una revindicación étnica, que coexisten con los comerciantes Coreanos. Lo mueve la necesidad / deseo de hacerse el dia, de ser buen amigo, de consumir, acercarse a una chica, y aparecer en la TV.

La forma en que aparecen lo femenino en el texto (no en esta parte) personalmente me dio nauseas (te hace participar de las fantasía de femicidio del protagonista a su primer pareja), pero quizás sea justamente una forma de pensarlo. Seleccione una parte del medio donde hay algunas de las transiciones.

We will meet on Wednesday, July 8, from 4pm Pacific.

All this will take place on Zoom, of course. Because it’s 2020.

As always, from around 5:30pm onwards, we will continue chatting in a more social vein. You are welcome to have a beer or other beverage to hand.

Also as always, please do feel free to invite others (whether they are in Vancouver or not) to join us. Virtual Koerner’s is fully in Phase Three of lockdown, and we are delighted to see our “bubble” continuing to expand. If anyone wants to be added to the list, they can be in touch with me.

And again, we very much welcome and invite suggestions of texts, speakers, discussion topics, and so on. We especially welcome a) texts written by VK participants (short texts can be posted to our blog), and b) suggestions for linked “cycles” of sessions that might, like Ana’s current cycle, include different kinds of texts on a common theme.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday

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July 1: Rita Segato

On July 1, we are very pleased to welcome Rita Segato.

As always, our guest will not be giving a talk: we are simply asking her to introduce a few themes, and what will follow will be a general conversation. As such, please bring questions and be prepared to contribute actively.

Segato has given us a couple more texts to read in preparation for Wednesday’s meeting:

You may also want to look at (and contribute to) posts on our website about Segato.

This discussion will be 4-5:30pm, followed by the “social part,” 5:30-6pm

All these times are Pacific, for Wednesday, July 1. On Zoom, of course. Because it’s 2020.

The next cycle will feature Argentine political theorist, Diego Sztulwark (invited and organized by Ana Vivaldi). More details to follow soon.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

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June 24

We are delighted to start today with a discussion with Susan Atkey, Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian at UBC Library, and subject librarian for French, Hispanic and Italian Studies at Koerner Library (the other other Koerner’s). She will be talking to us, and taking questions, about library resources for continued thinking and research during the pandemic and thereafter.

Thanks so much to everyone who joined us last week for our discussion of Mariana Enríquez’s story and the movie Te doy mis ojos. I felt that we had a very productive conversation, that certainly covered many topics (gender, violence, visibility, solidarity, the body…) but left much still to be explored.

In this spirit, we continue with similar themes in preparation for Rita Segato’s visit on July 1.

Fabricio has proposed two texts by Segato, one of which will be the focus of our discussion, and the other optional reading for those who have more time:

All this means we will shift the start of the “social” part a little later, and the program will be as follows:

4-4:30pm: Conversation with Susan Atkey
4:30pm-6pm: The Intellectual Part
6-6:30pm: The Social Part.

All these times are Pacific, for Wednesday, June 24. On Zoom, of course. Because it’s 2020.

It was great this week to welcome more new participants, not least (with Camilo) a correspondent from yet another country, this time Colombia. As always, please do feel free to invite others (whether they are in Vancouver or not) to join us. Virtual Koerner’s is definitely in Phase Three of lockdown, and we are keen to keep expanding our “bubble.” If anyone wants to be added to the list, they can be in touch with me.

And again, we very much welcome and invite suggestions of texts, speakers, discussion topics, and so on. We especially welcome a) texts written by VK participants (short texts can be posted to our blog), and b) suggestions for linked “cycles” of sessions that might, like Fabricio’s current cycle, include different kinds of texts on a common theme.

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June 10: Patrick Dove

For June 10, we will be talking with Patrick Dove (University of Indiana), who will facilitate a discussion of biopolitics and authoritarianism in El Salvador. In preparation for Patrick’s visit on June 10th, please read the following texts:

  • Selections from Roberto Esposito’s Terms of the Political: Community, Immunity, Biopolitics (pp. 67-87)

And three pieces from the newspaper El Faro.

Esposito’s differentiation between immunitas and communitas, from Chapter 5 of the same volume, is pertinent to the June 10th readings. He states:
Without discussing the merits of complex etymological questions, let’s simply say that immunity (or, in Latin, immunitas) is the opposite of communitas. Both words derive from the term munus, which means “gift,” “duty,” “obligation,” but communitas is affirmative while immunitas is negative. Thus, if the members of the community are characterized by an obligation to give a gift, by this law to care for the other, immunity implies the exemption or exception from such a condition. He or she who is shielded from the obli- gation and the dangers that affect all others is immune. Immune is he or she who breaks the circuit of social circulation by placing himself or herself outside it.

Optional: If you’d like to read a chapter from Literature and “Interregnum”, here is a PDF of Chapter Three, “The Dis-Jointures of History”, on Diamela Eltit and Chile.

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June 3

For June 3, we will be reading work by Patrick Dove (Indiana University Bloomington), who will be our invited guest on June 10th. We hope you’ll join us to discuss the following texts:

The selections from Literature and “Interregnum:” Globalization, War, and the Crisis of Sovereignty in Latin America (2016) will give us a taste of what Patrick explores in his most recent monograph, and the piece on Del Barco’s letter aligns nicely with our discussions on Levinasian thought.

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May 27: Erin Graff Zivin

For May 27, we will be talking with Erin Graff Zivin (University of Southern California).

Erin has sent us a very important text of hers, “Towards a Passive University,” to be the focus of our conversation.

You do not need to have read the pieces we talked about last week (though no doubt they will help) to participate. But please be prepared to contribute questions and thoughts about this one for the first hour and a half or so.

I am asking Erin to provide a brief (10 minute or so) introduction or context, but this is a discussion, not a talk.

You may also want to check out what Erin has written very recently on matters related to our current state of pandemic: “Live Free; or, Die”.

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May 20

For May 20, we read and discussed two texts by Erin Graff Zivin:

“Beyond Inquisitional Logic” and “Marrano Secrets.”

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May 13: New Students

On May 13, we were happy to have with us for the first time the prospective students who will be arriving to start their graduate studies at UBC next year. Welcome to Johann, Pamela, Samuel, María Fernanda, and Kathryn!

We also experimented with breakout rooms for the first time, and discussed the following texts:

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May 6: Alberto Moreiras

On May 6, we were pleased to host our first special guest, Alberto Moreiras (Texas A&M). With him, we discussed the following texts:

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