This paper contains a productive confrontation/conversation between the concept of resonance by Hartmut Rosa and the negative Dialectics of T.W. Adorno. As its starting point it takes Rosas proposition, that his concept is in advantage to Adornos, in so far it contains an elabo-rated concept of the good life, while Adorno‘s seems to remain dark and pessimistic. Based on that, this paper tries to show, why the „pessi-mism“-label doesn‘t fit really to Adornos work. Rather there are very reasonable concerns, that lead Adorno to the view he holds. In this pa-per the concept of resonance meets Adornos concerns, that can be summed up by the term „metamorphosis of critique to affirmation“. In the course of this paper, I try to reveal with Adornos thoughts, that because of the method of social critique Rosa applies, his theory of re-sonance tends to perform this „metamorphosis“ literally behind his back.
Schlagwort: resonance theory
Nancy Alhachem gives a working paper on ‚Cultural Trauma, Memory and Affect‘
This project explores the practices of memory among refugees and migrants (mostly from Arab countries such as Syrians, Iraqis and Palestinians), in the light of Rosa’s resonance theory, which suggests ‘thinking and feeling in exchange’, to allow the other, whether it is a person, an object or, a memory, to be touched by it and result in an affect that is felt individually. My project will investigate the obstacles that could hinder this resonance between the migrant’s memory and the Germans’ Erinnerungskultur. A substantial part of the latter is focused on the coming to terms with the Holocaust, and therefore shapes German national and cultural identity. It also plays a major role in the interaction between different groups in German society. As shown in my MA dissertation, refugees and migrants from countries shaped by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict struggle to adopt the German narrative of the Holocaust and of National Socialism. In my PhD thesis, this conflict will be investigated by exploring the role of museums and memorials. In order to do so, museums and memorials dealing with the Holocaust will be understood as ‘resonant spaces’, which allow memories to be communicated and exchanged. Investigating the historical background from which the migrants come helps understand the obstacles that could hinder a resonant experience. Such obstacles are national ideologies, the portrayal of the Holocaust in the country of origin, and the conflict that affected the region. I therefore suggest a multidirectional approach to memory, because it allows that different groups enter into a dialogue instead of competing with each other over narratives on numbers of victims and the amount of suffering, topics
usually associated with Holocaust studies. Cultural trauma is conceptualized as a ‘linking experience’, allowing for a reciprocal resonance between the migrants on one side and the German society on the other side. Hence, the central subjects of my thesis deals with the refugees and the Holocaust remembrance in the German context, memory and identity in the shades of a country new to the refugees, who are asked to integrate by adopting a narrative of the Holocaust that is foreign to them because of their upbringing. It will also deal with the role of colonialism and nationalism that made the European culture of remembrance distinct from others; as will be shown, even opposed to that of the Arab one; and it will explore the role of the Holocaust in the German national (cultural) identity of a generation that is increasingly removed from the events.
Ramón Soneira Martínez is going to present a working paper on ‚Repulsion and religious indifference: connections between unbelief and resonance theory‘
The second chapter of my dissertation deals with the Resonanztheorie of Hartmut Rosa. The chapter has two main parts. The first one is focused on the analyses of religious practices using the theoretical background of the theory of resonance. The second one develops the possible connection between the term unbelief and the Resonanztheorie. The main idea is that the framework of the theory of Resonanz can be an interesting tool to analyse the complexity of the phenomena related to unbelief as deconversion, blasphemy or atheism not only nowadays but also in other historical contexts. To conclude this paper, I introduce briefly the possibility of this study of unbelief considering the Resonanztheorie in antiquity, especially in Classical Athens.
Kai Brodersen has given a working paper on ‚Resonant /loci/? Vertical and (very) horizontal resonances in AD 333‘
In AD 333 an anonymous traveller crossed the Roman Empire from Bordeaux to Jerusalem and back. The journey took almost a year, and included „pagan“, Jewish and Christian /loci/ (sites) which the author referred to by alluding to /loci/ in the oral or written tradition. But which /loci/ resonate as /lieux de mémoire/ with the author and her or his audience? How does this resonate with applying „resonance theory“? And can this method help us to solve the puzzle of the religious identity, and the gender, of the traveller?