Conferences

Traumatic experiences in our societies often refer to experiences of silence, doubt, emptiness, absence and to forms of (a-)waiting that are considered constitutive experiences of life. However, waiting can by no means be characterised as an inactive state, but rather as a state that can also be active and productive, especially in cultural terms. The suspension of social activity can thus be as restrictive as it can be liberating. Forms and strategies of artistically productive waiting will therefore form the starting point for reflections by and with young researchers within the framework of the DFH.

The situation of (self-)isolation experienced by the pandemic itself has drawn our attention to existing works in the field of "anthropology of absence" (Bille, Hastrup, Sørensen 2010). We aim to open up and expand this discourse to enable innovative interdisciplinary perspectives on a highly topical field of social science research - that of "seemingly passive" or "unproductive" social practices. Withdrawal from the social, or practices in which "absence" is socially marked (the "minute of silence", for example), are therefore central. The event attempts to address and comparatively discuss human strategies of dealing with absences and forms of silence.

The scientific discipline of anthropology has dealt intensively with the role of the senses in the construction of human communities. Although individual studies have dealt exemplarily with expressions of silence as well as strategies of social withdrawal (as an alternative form of sociality), for example in the form of comparative studies on the subject area of "waiting" (Hage 1997) or in an ethnographic context (Kobelinsky 2010), these tend to be perceived as exceptional situations beyond the norm and have not been analysed in depth.

1. in the field of philosophy and cognitive psychology, the analysis of experiences of waiting, silence and absence have led to a better grasp of certain forms of traumatisation, while also promoting studies in the field of social inequality and unequal access to social services. Laure Wolmark (2017) coined the term " clinique de l'exil " in the context of her studies on asylum seekers' experiences of loss and social marginalisation. In this context, the experience of waiting is characterised as a specific form of psychological violence. The Autumn School therefore focuses on the question: Can the experience of waiting be systematically linked to forms of exclusion, powerlessness or (social) degradation? This question will be discussed with reference to case studies, situationally located and contextualised observations from different cultural contexts, and the potential of interdisciplinary methodologies for this thematic field will also be examined. 2.

The social and cultural sciences have already dealt with the phenomenon of silence in detail. Silence is not only understood as the "absence of sound", but also as an intentional act to "express something" - for example in moments of social sharing of silence ("minute of silence"). Silence is also perceived as an indicator of forms of inequality. In this context, silence in the field of music is often presented as an "anti-social" phenomenon (Seremetakis 1997), which is at odds with forms of "expressing oneself", with the vocal ability of "voicing" (Weidman 2014). On the other hand, with reference to Foucault, silence was characterised as a specific form of the social exercise of power, as the "currency of power" (Achino-Loeb 2005). Similar classifications were undertaken for the phenomenon of waiting: social hierarchies determine who waits for whom in these patterns of thought we questioned. In a symmetrical way, silence is described as a social operation by sociologically oriented musicology research (Le Marec and Ribac 2019).

3. the political dimension is the third dimension of engagement with the thematic field. Specifically, this manifests itself in forms of withdrawal and (enforced) silencing. Brandon LaBelle (Overheard and Interrupted 2016) speaks in this context of sonic agency to denote a "passive subversive activity" that can challenge existing social and political orders. Silence or passivity as activity in this context characterises a specific form of communication. This active dimension of a seemingly passive social behaviour will be the focus of the academic exchange of the autumn school. Experiences of silence, distancing, absence, (self-)isolation and withdrawal prominently question our established notions of social norms.

In line with the aim of the Summer Schools since their inception in 2010, we refer to case studies that are juxtaposed, compared and considered from interdisciplinary perspectives. We seek the participation of scholars from a broad field of the humanities and social sciences - for example, from the disciplines of ethnology, anthropology, musicology, history, art and media studies, geography, sociology, political science and psychology.

For the 2021 edition, applications are especially welcome from (sound) artists and cultural creators who have made emptiness, absences or silence the starting point of their works. The Autumn School is planned as a face-to-face event, but adapted to the pandemic situation, the possibility of presenting individual contributions in digital form will be offered.

• Dr. Michael Fuhr, ethnomusicologist, Center for World Music, University of Hildesheim Foundation
• Prof. Denis Laborde, Anthropologe, directeur d’études EHESS (Paris), directeur de recherche CNRS (UMR Passages – Institut ARI, Bayonne)
• JProf. Dr. Eckehard Pistrick, ethnomusicologist, Institute for European Ethnomusicology, University of Cologne
• Prof. Dr. Raimund Vogels, ethnomusicologist, Center for World Music, University of Hildesheim Foundation, Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media

•     Prof. Martin Stokes, ethnomusicologist, King's College, London
•     Dr. Antonio Pusceddu, ethnologist, CRIA, University of Lissabon
•     JProf. Konstanze Schütze, curator, Art and Media Theory, University of Cologne
•     Prof. Philip Bohlman, ethnomusicologist, University of Chicago (tbc)
•     Dr. Carolina Kobelinsky, anthropologist, CNRS (LESC, Université Paris-Nanterre) (tbc)
•     Dr. Karsten Lichau, historian, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin (tbc)

Applicants send an abstract/project of max. 2 pages. 8 contributions will be selected (Group A). Each applicant will develop a text of about 10 pages to be made available on a common platform. During the Autumn School, these contributions will be commented on by 8 other contributors (Group B). The publication of an article in the Cahiers scientifiques du festival Haizebegi is planned.

Application documents

•     short CV;
•     short presentation of the artistic project or the PhD/Master's/Post-Doc project;
•     short summary of the project/planned contribution (max. 2 pages) with reference to the topic of the Autumn School.

Submission in electronic form to the organising team at the following email addresses: denis.laborde@ehess.fr / Raimund.Vogels@hmtm-hannover.de / cwm_fuhr@uni-hildesheim.de / epistric@uni-koeln.de

Deadline for submission: Sunday, 03 October 2021 11:59 pm, Selection: Friday, 0th October 2021