Course 6: The Emerging of New Vernacular Worlds in Culture and Politics
by Boris Buden
9 – 13 August 2022
2 ECTS
Course Description
The notion of “vernacular” refers primarily to linguistic practices – local dialects, sociolects, native languages etc. – that reside in the shadow of highly codified standard (mostly national) languages. Viewed historically, the latter have in fact arisen from the old vernaculars in the process that might be understood as the enclosure of linguistic commons. Today, however, a reversible process is taking place. It is called the re-vernacularization of the cultural national languages: in most of the higher discourses of economy, finance, politics and culture they have been increasingly superseded by the new lingua franca, the global English. A huge process of transformation, comparable to a global cultural revolution,
is taking place all over the place. It affects all spheres of social and individual life and, before all, reshuffles the entire content of today’s nation states originally based on an intrinsic conjunction between territory, language, community, economy, culture and politics. There are new – neo-vernacular – worlds emerging beneath, above and beyond the declining order of the nation-states. What are the dangers and chances of this transformative process?
Biography
Boris Buden is a writer, cultural critic and translator. He studied philosophy in Zagreb and received his Ph.D. in Cultural Theory from Humboldt University, Berlin. In the 1990s he was founder and editor of the Zagreb-based magazine and publishing house Arkzin. His essays and articles cover topics related to philosophy, politics, culture and art criticism. Among his Croatian translations are some of the most important works of Sigmund Freud. He has co-edited several books and is author of Der Schacht von Babel: Ist Kultur übersetzbar? [The Pit of Babel: Is Culture Translatable?] (2004); Übersetzung: Das Versprechen eines Begriffs [Translation: Promises of a Concept] (2008) (with Stefan Nowotny); Zone des Übergangs: Vom Ende des Postkommunismus [Zone of Transition: On the End of Post-communism] (2009); among others. Buden is a permanent fellow at the European Institute of Progressive Cultural Policies, Vienna. He lives and works in Berlin.
Participation
10 participants will be selected to participate in this course. Eligible participants must read the Terms information, fill out the application form, upload the required documents and submit the application form. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
The participation fee 300€.
Scholarships are available for participants from Kosovo.