Plakatgestaltung: Politics of Melancholia

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Plakatgestaltung und Flyergestaltung für eine internationale wissenschaftliche Konferenz an der Universität Siegen:

“Melancholy, a term rooted in ancient medicine and humoral pathology, has recently experienced a remarkable revival in political, cultural, academic, and artistic discourse. A cultural-historical examination of this interdisciplinary phenomenon, which intersects with psychology, philosophy, sociology, politics, literature, and art, thus has innovative potential: both illuminate and historically situate the symbolic and metaphorical manifestations of melancholy. The aim of this conference is to deepen our understanding of the historical development of melancholy and its relevance in contemporary discourses. Melancholy, often associated with a refusal to act, can be viewed as both a response to failed participation and a stance of political resistance that, under certain conditions, can evolve into activism. Precisely in its refusal to participate in discourses of governance or improvement, the melancholic subject is able to challenge and redefine the frame of what it means to be politically engaged.
The conference will therefore focus on two key areas: first, a close examination of the historical positioning of literary perspectives within political action, informed by recent sociological studies; and second, an analysis of the symbolic quality and semantics of texts and cultural products.
Key questions to be explored include: What concepts of political action and participation emerge in the context of melancholy? What does it imply for a society if melancholy is assumed to be one of its dominant moods? How does this collective mood, along with its associated imagery, influence political culture, particularly in relation to concepts like regression, resentment, and undemocratic tendencies, and how has it shaped modernity and political thinking since the French Revolution?
This international and interdisciplinary conference seeks to address these questions by examining the political and cultural productivity of the concept of melancholy.“