Paranoid Versus Reparative Reading

Location: conference room, fourth floor, RCC and online via Discord

Organizers: Zsuzsanna Ihar

Guest Speakers: Prof. Dr. Stephanie Clare (University of Washington), Nico Edwards (University of Sussex)

Inspired by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s 1997 essay “Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading, or, You’re So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Essay Is About You,” the half-day (hybrid) workshop will provide space to explore fraught and difficult feelings, encouraging participants to reflect on things which arouse worry, fear, or reluctance.

The workshop will contemplate difficult findings, data, archival matter, interview material, and field experiences, thinking about necessary limitations and boundaries to think about the points at which to stop our research practice or ethnographic engagement and how to better respond to the “paranoid hunches” we might have regarding our own research topics/field sites.

In the second half of the workshop, we will pivot to Sedgwick’s reparative mode of reading, which shifts the question away from “is a particular piece of knowledge true?” to “what does knowledge do?”. The group will read an assortment of texts and attempt to foreground the needs and knowledges of the object/subject of study by analyzing voice, agency, representation, and context.

The workshop culminates in two mind-mapping/brainstorming activities, including a compilation of alternative methods of reading, interpreting, analyzing, and writing, as well as an open discussion regarding our hopes and desires when it comes to our own scholarly work and the academic community/university more generally.

The workshop will also feature two presenters: Prof. Dr. Stephanie Clare (University of Washington) will join remotely to discuss her work on feminist affect and the Anthropocene, whilst Nico Edwards (University of Sussex) will reflect on fieldwork conducted within the military arms sector and workshop with participants the process of conducting research in risky, fraught, or hostile environments.

Snacks and drinks will be provided throughout the day. Please register to secure a spot (online or in-person). You can register via Eventbrite.

The event schedule is also avaible on the event page on Eventbrite. Go there to see the full schedule.