Kalendář

Fighting Theory with Avital Ronell

Faculty of Humanities and its Department of Art Theory and Practice cordially invite you to a two-day workshop with and around the work of world-famous critical thinker and icon of feminist and queer theory, University Professor of the Humanities at New York University & Jacques Derrida Chair at the European Graduate School Avital Ronell.

Day 1 (13th of May):

The Divine Tantrum: On Law and Anger

Wednesday, May 13, 6 PM, Faculty of Humanities (FHS UK), Pátkova 2137/5, Praha 8, Main Auditorium.

Public Evening Lecture

Abstract:

Impassioned yet pumped by juridical fixity of purpose, anger refers us in the end to law and justice: it implies a theory of rights, including the “rights of nerves” advocated by Walter Benjamin and, in a different way, by Paul Celan who profiled a posture of “the upset,” crafting a precise language of being-upset, staying upset. Friedrich Nietzsche had another recipe for staying boiling mad by “philosophically” entering the state of his chronically upset stomach to describe his ruminations, adding to a speculative cuisine the howl of the Schreiben/Schrei picked up by Martin Heidegger.

In her opening lecture to “Fighting Theory”, Avital Ronell is going to take us on a meandering walk through certain topoi of anger in psychoanalysis, philosophy and literature, not without forgetting the infuriating Holzwege the world has worlded on. While there is much reason to be angry, there’s even more to be delighted at Avital Ronell’s Prague premiere. Born in Prague, this is the first time that world-famous critical thinker and icon of feminist and queer theory, University Professor of the Humanities at New York University & Jacques Derrida Chair at the European Graduate School Avital Ronell is returning to the Czech capital.

Day 2 (14th of May):

Fighting Theory

Thursday, May 14, 2.30 PM, Faculty of Humanities (FHS UK), Pátkova 2137/5, Praha 8, Room 2.42.

Workshop on the embattled state of theory today and how to possibly fight back, led by Avital Ronell.

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Surviving Derrida: A Politics of Friendship with Avital Ronell in Six Parts

Thursday, May 14, 7.30 PM, Kino Atlas, Ke Štvanici 371, Praha.

Twenty years after the death of philosopher Jacques Derrida, Surviving Derrida embarks on a deeply intimate and philosophical journey alongside one of his closest interlocutors, Avital Ronell. Rather than offering a biographical account, the film explores how Derrida’s presence continues to haunt, inspire, and provoke through those who survived him. In a series of rich, layered conversations with his widow Marguerite Derrida, his son Pierre Alferi, and close friends such as Hélène Cixous, Suzanne Doppelt, and Anne Dufourmantelle, the film evokes a ghostly cartography of friendship, loss, exile, and legacy. With moments of humor, mourning, and metaphysical reflection, the documentary becomes an essay on philosophical intimacy, poetic transmission, and the unresolved work of saying goodbye.

Tickets available at https://www.kinoatlaspraha.cz/

Language: English

Organisers: Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Department of Art Theory and Practice; Robin R. Mudry, Ondřej Váša, Jakub Zítko.

Image: Film still from the movie “Surviving Derrida”

Graphic design: Yara Abu Aataya

For more information: FB Event