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La puissance satanique de la mimesis chez René Girard
Full text linkSince 1961, René Girard has built a complete fundamental anthropology based on a single intuition: the theory of mimetic desire. While philosophical modernity had made us believe that the fundamental category of the subject was autonomy, Girard reminds us on the contrary that we are mimetic animals. However, mimesis is paradoxical. It is because we all have a desire for differentiation that we are condemned to imitate one another. In doing so, by rethinking mimesis and taking it out of its simple traditional representational field in which it was often confined, the author shows how it reveals all its ambivalence, both pacifying and violent, and allows Girard to place it not only at the heart of humanity but also at the center of the process of hominization.Since 1961, René Girard has built a complete fundamental anthropology based on a single intuition: the theory of mimetic desire. While philosophical modernity had made us believe that the fundamental category of the subject was autonomy, Girard reminds us on the contrary that we are mimetic animals. However, mimesis is paradoxical. It is because we all have a desire for differentiation that we are condemned to imitate one another. In doing so, by rethinking mimesis and taking it out of its simple traditional representational field in which it was often confined, the author shows how it reveals all its ambivalence, both pacifying and violent, and allows Girard to place it not only at the heart of humanity but also at the center of the process of hominization
Corpo, mimesi e montaggio nella produzione di Pippo Delbono
Full text linkDelbono’s production lends itself effectively and almost emblematically to a reflection on the active character of mimesis because it is characterized by a sort of duplicity: both his cinema and his theatre are marked by an apparently documentary or performative manner, a flagrantness and immediacy that allude to the presence, to the being of the actor “here and now” – a here and now expressed differently in cinema and theatre – without however being reduced to a purely testimonial attitude. Pippo Delbono’s entire life and performing arts journey can be read in the light of an incessant montage practice. In this sense, montage is the most vital manifestation of active mimesis as a conditio humana.Delbono’s production lends itself effectively and almost emblematically to a reflection on the active character of mimesis because it is characterized by a sort of duplicity: both his cinema and his theatre are marked by an apparently documentary or performative manner, a flagrantness and immediacy that allude to the presence, to the being of the actor “here and now” – a here and now expressed differently in cinema and theatre – without however being reduced to a purely testimonial attitude. Pippo Delbono’s entire life and performing arts journey can be read in the light of an incessant montage practice. In this sense, montage is the most vital manifestation of active mimesis as a conditio humana
Nudity, Blood and Scopophilia. Disgust in Roman Polanski’s Macbeth
Full text linkIn 1971, only two years after the massacre of his family on behalf of Charles Manson and his “disciples”, Roman Polanski directed a controversial film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Scottish tragedy produced by the Playboy tycoon Hugh Hefner. The result
of this peculiar combination of intents is a raw, often visually brutal film in which the concepts of evil and disgust overlap repeatedly in the form of uncanny images that the audience will hardly forget.
The aim of this paper is to illustrate how Polanski uses and modifies the original Shakespearean material and the horror of his personal experience, with particular attention to nudity, blood and scopophilia, to evoke uneasiness and disgust. The analysis will focus on some specific choices that emphasize pivotal moments of the tragedy mostly through a process of over showing.In 1971, only two years after the massacre of his family on behalf of Charles Manson and his “disciples”, Roman Polanski directed a controversial film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Scottish tragedy produced by the Playboy tycoon Hugh Hefner. The result
of this peculiar combination of intents is a raw, often visually brutal film in which the concepts of evil and disgust overlap repeatedly in the form of uncanny images that the audience will hardly forget.
The aim of this paper is to illustrate how Polanski uses and modifies the original Shakespearean material and the horror of his personal experience, with particular attention to nudity, blood and scopophilia, to evoke uneasiness and disgust. The analysis will focus on some specific choices that emphasize pivotal moments of the tragedy mostly through a process of over showing
Sights and Sounds of Disgusting Abjections: The Monstrous Feminine in The Exorcist (1973)
Full text linkThe film The Exorcist contains many excessive and gross images, which made its repu- tation as a milestone in the history of horror. The representation of the possessed Regan as an abject creature entails the concept of monstrous feminine, revealing the terror that the patriarchy has towards the psychophysical development of women, who achieve emancipation through puberty. Regan becomes angry, opposes earthly authorities and God, and speaks of sex: in other words, she transforms from an “innocent” girl into an abject woman, which is sanctioned by the scene in which she masturbates with a crucifix and pushes her mother’s face onto her genitals. The Exorcist shows taboo behaviors be- fore re-establishing (male) order: the priests perform the exorcism by entering Regan’s body and the matriarchal home of the MacNeil family. Visual abjections are linked to Regan’s body vomiting green bile, urinating on the floor, initiating incest with her mother; her skin changes color, becomes covered with sores and pus, and her hair becomes greasy and disheveled. These disgusting alterations are related to the adolescent menarche, and they are instrumental in highlighting the battle between patriarchal structures and the dis- ruptive sexuality represented by the female body at the beginning of puberty. However, such representation not only is visual, but also aural: Regan’s voice is replete with exces- sive features, in terms of both form – the profanities she says – and substance – the acous- tic quality of the voice, which contains nonlinear analogues of animal sounds produced under duress. Regan is aurally “possessed”, since her demonic voice is not that of the teenager actress that visually plays the character (Linda Blair) but rather that of a mature woman (Mercedes McCambridge). The vocal sounds of the demon are in same cases di- alogue proper, but they are also used as non-verbal sound effects in order to denote Re- gan’s abnormality and elicit a disgusted reaction in the audience. The choice of McCam- bridge is interesting not only because of its raucous, wheezing sound, but also because of her connotation as queer. Regan’s vocal excess is queer itself, since Pazuzu is connoted as male while the possessed person is female and speaks with a female voice – although mannish. Such vocal excess reveals to Regan’s mother and to the rest of the characters the uncanny emergence of womanhood and sexual drive from the child’s psyche and body.The film The Exorcist contains many excessive and gross images, which made its repu- tation as a milestone in the history of horror. The representation of the possessed Regan as an abject creature entails the concept of monstrous feminine, revealing the terror that the patriarchy has towards the psychophysical development of women, who achieve emancipation through puberty. Regan becomes angry, opposes earthly authorities and God, and speaks of sex: in other words, she transforms from an “innocent” girl into an abject woman, which is sanctioned by the scene in which she masturbates with a crucifix and pushes her mother’s face onto her genitals. The Exorcist shows taboo behaviors be- fore re-establishing (male) order: the priests perform the exorcism by entering Regan’s body and the matriarchal home of the MacNeil family. Visual abjections are linked to Regan’s body vomiting green bile, urinating on the floor, initiating incest with her mother; her skin changes color, becomes covered with sores and pus, and her hair becomes greasy and disheveled. These disgusting alterations are related to the adolescent menarche, and they are instrumental in highlighting the battle between patriarchal structures and the dis- ruptive sexuality represented by the female body at the beginning of puberty. However, such representation not only is visual, but also aural: Regan’s voice is replete with exces- sive features, in terms of both form – the profanities she says – and substance – the acous- tic quality of the voice, which contains nonlinear analogues of animal sounds produced under duress. Regan is aurally “possessed”, since her demonic voice is not that of the teenager actress that visually plays the character (Linda Blair) but rather that of a mature woman (Mercedes McCambridge). The vocal sounds of the demon are in same cases di- alogue proper, but they are also used as non-verbal sound effects in order to denote Re- gan’s abnormality and elicit a disgusted reaction in the audience. The choice of McCam- bridge is interesting not only because of its raucous, wheezing sound, but also because of her connotation as queer. Regan’s vocal excess is queer itself, since Pazuzu is connoted as male while the possessed person is female and speaks with a female voice – although mannish. Such vocal excess reveals to Regan’s mother and to the rest of the characters the uncanny emergence of womanhood and sexual drive from the child’s psyche and body
Una gran puzza di merda nell’aria. La performatività decoloniale del disgusto nel reading di Wissal Houbabi
Full text linkVisceral, instinctive, aversive: disgust takes the form of a complex, often overwhelming sensation. It represents the risk of jeopardizing the integrity of a vague and illusory purity. Indeed, the expression of disgust appears as a firm claim to superiority over the other, considered inferior, inhuman and infectious. According to Tuija Saresmo and Urho Tulo- nen, populist rhetoric uses precisely disgust to emphasize the sharp distinction between the superior, i.e., white, and racialized subjects, legitimizing the implementation of poli- cies xenophobic discrimination. Disgust then becomes the necessary means of consoli- dating social order by exerting violence against supposedly defiling bodies.
In Una gran puzza di merda nell’aria, Wissal Houbabi addresses the structural racism inherent in the construction of Italian culture, focusing specifically on the murder of Younes El Boussettaoui committed by Massimo Adriatici in Voghera in the summer of 2021. Beginning with the title of the performance, the artist uses terms that can be traced back to disgust to describe the attitude taken by the Northern League alderman, nauseated by the presence of a man of Moroccan origin, therefore different, homeless, that is, on the margins of civilized society, and suffering from mental disorders, therefore infectious. At the same time, however, disgust in Houbabi’s work takes on a an unprecedented decolo- nial connotation, restoring the revulsion felt by Bahijia El Boussetaoui, the victim’s sister, in front of the impunity of the crime committed by Adriatici, who returned to freedom after a brief period spent under house arrest.
This paper, therefore, aims to investigate the performativity of disgust from a decolonial perspective, examining Houbabi’s work as a significant case study significant, especially in relation to today’s national context.Visceral, instinctive, aversive: disgust takes the form of a complex, often overwhelming sensation. It represents the risk of jeopardizing the integrity of a vague and illusory purity. Indeed, the expression of disgust appears as a firm claim to superiority over the other, considered inferior, inhuman and infectious. According to Tuija Saresmo and Urho Tulo- nen, populist rhetoric uses precisely disgust to emphasize the sharp distinction between the superior, i.e., white, and racialized subjects, legitimizing the implementation of poli- cies xenophobic discrimination. Disgust then becomes the necessary means of consoli- dating social order by exerting violence against supposedly defiling bodies.
In Una gran puzza di merda nell’aria, Wissal Houbabi addresses the structural racism inherent in the construction of Italian culture, focusing specifically on the murder of Younes El Boussettaoui committed by Massimo Adriatici in Voghera in the summer of 2021. Beginning with the title of the performance, the artist uses terms that can be traced back to disgust to describe the attitude taken by the Northern League alderman, nauseated by the presence of a man of Moroccan origin, therefore different, homeless, that is, on the margins of civilized society, and suffering from mental disorders, therefore infectious. At the same time, however, disgust in Houbabi’s work takes on a an unprecedented decolo- nial connotation, restoring the revulsion felt by Bahijia El Boussetaoui, the victim’s sister, in front of the impunity of the crime committed by Adriatici, who returned to freedom after a brief period spent under house arrest.
This paper, therefore, aims to investigate the performativity of disgust from a decolonial perspective, examining Houbabi’s work as a significant case study significant, especially in relation to today’s national context
Tecnogenesi della Terra. Simondon e il neo-magico
Full text linkGilbert Simondon was among the first to observe the rise of planetary technologies and to integrate this phenomenon into his philosophy. Already since On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects, Simondon claimed that technology is endowed with an intrinsic ecumenic tendency and that this tendency is manifesting through the technical ensembles of the informational era: technics is constructing the Earth as a new «techno-geographic environment». This paper aims at analyzing Simondon’s view on planetary technology and infrastructural networks, also in the light of the structural instability characterizing today’s social and natural systems. In the conclusions, an alternative way towards cultural progress is suggested, the one that Simondon discarded: the way of “aesthetics after aesthetics”. Aesthetics might in fact offer a different model to situate the human groups in the techno-planetary environment and overcome extractivist authoritarianism, as long as it finds effective realization into a neo-magic paradigm.Gilbert Simondon was among the first to observe the rise of planetary technologies and to integrate this phenomenon into his philosophy. Already since On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects, Simondon claimed that technology is endowed with an intrinsic ecumenic tendency and that this tendency is manifesting through the technical ensembles of the informational era: technics is constructing the Earth as a new «techno-geographic environment». This paper aims at analyzing Simondon’s view on planetary technology and infrastructural networks, also in the light of the structural instability characterizing today’s social and natural systems. In the conclusions, an alternative way towards cultural progress is suggested, the one that Simondon discarded: the way of “aesthetics after aesthetics”. Aesthetics might in fact offer a different model to situate the human groups in the techno-planetary environment and overcome extractivist authoritarianism, as long as it finds effective realization into a neo-magic paradigm
Gli exempla della memoria. Pier Damiani fra ricordo e argomentazione
Full text linkThe sermons of Pier Damiani (1007-1072), generally little investigated by scholars, can offer interesting insights also to those who read them from a philosophical (since they contain some argumentative structures, beginning with the comparatio) and rhetorical point of view. In particular, references to memoria can be detected in many of them: for example, the entire Sermo II de translatione sancti Hilarii is structured around the theme of remembrance. In general, it can be observed that the evocation of a biblical character, and his actions, is an occasion for a connection with the saint and the events being discussed in the homily. In this way Pier Damiani emphasizes the continuity of salvation history, which is operative in the remote Old Testament past as well as in his contemporary, and from this he draws basic moral lessons.The sermons of Pier Damiani (1007-1072), generally little investigated by scholars, can offer interesting insights also to those who read them from a philosophical (since they contain some argumentative structures, beginning with the comparatio) and rhetorical point of view. In particular, references to memoria can be detected in many of them: for example, the entire Sermo II de translatione sancti Hilarii is structured around the theme of remembrance. In general, it can be observed that the evocation of a biblical character, and his actions, is an occasion for a connection with the saint and the events being discussed in the homily. In this way Pier Damiani emphasizes the continuity of salvation history, which is operative in the remote Old Testament past as well as in his contemporary, and from this he draws basic moral lessons
Organa della ragione. Il pensiero visuale tra nuovi media e vecchi abiti
Full text linkThe paper is divided into three paragraphs, which explore the aesthetic and poietic nature of habits of thought, highlighting the concurrently sensitive and plural dimensions of their “clothes”. In § 1, the focus is mainly on visual argument studies and visual studies, questioning whether a “logic” of the image must necessarily resolve itself into other than logic. §§ 2-3 delve into the aesthetic-mediological conditions of knowledge production and dissemination, distinguishing between an alphabetic (§ 2) and a “post-alphabetic” (§ 3) phase. § 2 critically examines the issue of “scriptism” ingrained in Western epistemological practices, contending that the linguistic bias within logic reflects a textual bias, according to which the alphabetic-typographic word is deemed the exclusive conduit for rigorous and higher-order knowledge. In contrast, § 3 observes a transformative shift associated with digital media, underscoring the growing importance of the visual in knowledge, and outlining the question of epistemic injustice fuelled by traditional research practices, which tend to sideline visual ways of thinking. The conclusions suggest that as the organa of reason are increasingly “visivizing” or “aestheticizing”, it is at least limiting to remain firm in the belief that this will have no profound impact on the structure of the logos itself.The paper is divided into three paragraphs, which explore the aesthetic and poietic nature of habits of thought, highlighting the concurrently sensitive and plural dimensions of their “clothes”. In § 1, the focus is mainly on visual argument studies and visual studies, questioning whether a “logic” of the image must necessarily resolve itself into other than logic. §§ 2-3 delve into the aesthetic-mediological conditions of knowledge production and dissemination, distinguishing between an alphabetic (§ 2) and a “post-alphabetic” (§ 3) phase. § 2 critically examines the issue of “scriptism” ingrained in Western epistemological practices, contending that the linguistic bias within logic reflects a textual bias, according to which the alphabetic-typographic word is deemed the exclusive conduit for rigorous and higher-order knowledge. In contrast, § 3 observes a transformative shift associated with digital media, underscoring the growing importance of the visual in knowledge, and outlining the question of epistemic injustice fuelled by traditional research practices, which tend to sideline visual ways of thinking. The conclusions suggest that as the organa of reason are increasingly “visivizing” or “aestheticizing”, it is at least limiting to remain firm in the belief that this will have no profound impact on the structure of the logos itself
Eds.) Micaela Latini, Elena Tavani, Connected Images: New Paradigms for Aesthetic Experience Paradigmi, Rivista di Critica Filosofica, XLI, 3/2023.
Full text linkPerformativity, connection, aggregate, conflict, Stimmung and artificial intelligence are among the topics chosen by the authors of the monographic issue of scientific journal Paradigmi, Rivista di Critica Filosofica dedicated to Connected images: New Paradigms for Aesthetic Experience, edited by Micaela Latini and Elena Tavani. Numerous contemporary and transdisciplinary forms of interpretation represent aesthetic experience in this Issue. It approaches the art world with Nature and the images naturally created by animals and natural environments (Tavani), the body in motion and its intentionality represented by images (Alloa, Benjamin), the body and time in tattoo images (Vercellone), the biological world and molecular discoveries (Bredekamp), furniture objects and the image of aesthetic experience they suggest (Goehr), political and social conflicts and what they represent (Latini), and pictures of music (Pangrazi). The last essays follow this mainly focused on the digital context, artificial intelligence and the technological impact on the art world and of chiasmus in images (Diodato), political rhetoric (Fimiani), surreal image interventions in the world of artificial intelligence (Somaini) and identity and the constitution of algorithms (Eugeni).Performativity, connection, aggregate, conflict, Stimmung and artificial intelligence are among the topics chosen by the authors of the monographic issue of scientific journal Paradigmi, Rivista di Critica Filosofica dedicated to Connected images: New Paradigms for Aesthetic Experience, edited by Micaela Latini and Elena Tavani. Numerous contemporary and transdisciplinary forms of interpretation represent aesthetic experience in this Issue. It approaches the art world with Nature and the images naturally created by animals and natural environments (Tavani), the body in motion and its intentionality represented by images (Alloa, Benjamin), the body and time in tattoo images (Vercellone), the biological world and molecular discoveries (Bredekamp), furniture objects and the image of aesthetic experience they suggest (Goehr), political and social conflicts and what they represent (Latini), and pictures of music (Pangrazi). The last essays follow this mainly focused on the digital context, artificial intelligence and the technological impact on the art world and of chiasmus in images (Diodato), political rhetoric (Fimiani), surreal image interventions in the world of artificial intelligence (Somaini) and identity and the constitution of algorithms (Eugeni)
Come perenne metamorfosi. Orazio Costa e la mimesi
Full text linkOrazio Costa, theater director and teacher for over thirty years at the National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome, is the author of a pedagogical system called mimic method. It consisted of a theory and a practice aimed at revitalizing the concept of mimesis. The practice included exercises on identification with natural phenomena, necessary for staging dramas respectful of human nature and poetic inspiration. While Avant-gardes rejected art as imitation of an object, and the new theatrical forms refused the value of the dramaturgical text within the performance, Costa defended the role of literature and the representation of human events in the theatrical ritual. Despite the accusations of traditionalism, his idea of mimesis is absolutely in line with the twentieth- century reception of the notion. Like authors such as Benjamin, Adorno, Ricoeur, the director has analyzed mimesis as an innate behavior, and he based his aesthetic positions on this conception. For Costa, art is the wonderful metaphor of the encounter between the individual and nature, which pushes towards forms of expressions comprehensible to the community.Orazio Costa, theater director and teacher for over thirty years at the National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome, is the author of a pedagogical system called mimic method. It consisted of a theory and a practice aimed at revitalizing the concept of mimesis. The practice included exercises on identification with natural phenomena, necessary for staging dramas respectful of human nature and poetic inspiration. While Avant-gardes rejected art as imitation of an object, and the new theatrical forms refused the value of the dramaturgical text within the performance, Costa defended the role of literature and the representation of human events in the theatrical ritual. Despite the accusations of traditionalism, his idea of mimesis is absolutely in line with the twentieth- century reception of the notion. Like authors such as Benjamin, Adorno, Ricoeur, the director has analyzed mimesis as an innate behavior, and he based his aesthetic positions on this conception. For Costa, art is the wonderful metaphor of the encounter between the individual and nature, which pushes towards forms of expressions comprehensible to the community