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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
In the eighteenth century, Europeans began to classify historical systems genealogically, turning contemporary terms in these systems – whether languages, religions, races, species, or individuals – into siblings of varying degrees. This genealogical theory came to structure the modern subject, modern state, and methodologies of the life- and human-sciences. In this talk, I will explore the implications of this genealogical structure in both comparative philology and evolutionary theory of the long nineteenth century, and will analyze Goethe’s early interrogation of the system in Iphigenia auf Tauris. Within a language family, a sister language is a boundary object whose delineation enables, and yet simultaneously calls into question, the definition of any particular language; the speaking sibling puts similar pressure on the notion of the subject. Darwin turned naturalist epistemology on its head by endorsing this same contingency in biological classification. To reinforce threatened boundaries, both linguistics and evolutionary theory embraced unidirectional diversification, repudiating merger as »monstrous,« thus participating in an affective rhetoric also implicated in policing the genealogical boundaries between population groups.
Information on participating / attending:
Date:
11/03/2014 18:00 - 11/03/2014 21:00
Event venue:
Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Schützenstr. 18, 10117 Berlin, 3. Etage
10117 Berlin
Berlin
Germany
Target group:
Scientists and scholars, Students
Email address:
Relevance:
local
Subject areas:
Cultural sciences, Language / literature, Philosophy / ethics
Types of events:
Presentation / colloquium / lecture
Entry:
10/21/2014
Sender/author:
Sabine Zimmermann
Department:
Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin (ZFL)
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event48782
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