Event overview
Philosopher Franco Berardi Bifo and poet David Harsent discuss the role and power of myth today in culture and politics.
The Department of Politics and International Relations presents:
UNDERGROUND/MYTHOLOGY
Following the first two events of the series Underground, with Timothy Morton & Federico Campagna (Ecology), Yanis Varoufakis & Danae Stratou (Politics), the third section will host philosopher Franco Berardi Bifo & Eliot Prize winner poet David Harsent explore the nature of Mythology. Theories on myth may be as old as myths themselves. But why do we still need myths today? What is their function in our contemporary world? By exploring the symbolic and cultural value of the hare in Harsent’s work and the mythology of Power, Potency and Possibility in Berardi’s latest book Futurability, Underground/Mythology aims to bring to light aspects of the foundations of existential and political consciousness.
A whole volume could well be written on the myth of modern man, on the mythology camouflaged in the plays that he enjoys in the books the he reads. The cinema, that ‘dream factory’ takes over and employs countless mythical motifs.. Even reading includes a mythological function.. because, through reading, the modern man succeeds in obtaining an ‘escape from time’ comparable to the ‘emergence from time’ effected by the myth.” (M. Eliade)
Underground / Ecology / Politics / Mythology is a series of three multimedia events hosted between The Showroom and Goldsmiths, University of London organised by Teodora Pasquinelli. We are living through an era of environmental, cultural, economical and political disintegration. The daunting challenges already in front of us demand an urgent re-grounding of our experience of the world. The Underground series aims to explore – litterally and metaphorically – the fundamental ‘ground’ that lies ‘under’ three fundamental structures: the realms of Ecology, Politics and Mythology.
Underground, roots unfold and tangle, anchoring the plants growing on the surface. The underground sets the rhythm of the surface – yet, the attention devoted to it, is typically insufficient. Perhaps, it is exactly beneath our feet that we should point our keenest eye, to envision and invent a new path ahead.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 24 May 2017 | 6:30pm - 8:00pm |
Accessibility
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