k-punk

Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Theory
26th April 2007, 11a.m. – 6 p.m.
Centre for Cultural Studies
Goldsmiths University
London
‘A philosophy should be judged on what it can tell us about Lovecraft…’ (Graham Harman)
A unique one-day symposium dedicated to exploring H. P. Lovecraft’s relationship to Theory.
The event will not follow the ordinary format of the academic conference. Some written materials will be circulated beforehand, but there will be no papers delivered on the day. Instead, there will be structured discussions based on five of Lovecraft’s stories:
· ‘Call of Cthulhu’
· ‘The Shadow over Innsmouth’
· ‘The Dunwich Horror’
· ‘The Shadow out of Time’
· ‘Through the Gates of the Silver Key’
Themes to be discussed include:
· The Weird
· Fictional systems
· Lovecraft’s pulp modernism
· Houellebecq’s Lovecraft
· Lovecraft and hyperstition
· Lovecraft’s materialism
· Lovecraft’s racism and ‘reactionary modernism’
· Lovecraft and schizophrenia
· Lovecraft and the transcendental
· Lovecraft and schizophonia
Participants so far include:
Benjamin Noys (Chichester) – author of The Culture of Death and Georges Bataille: A Critical Introduction
Graham Harman (Cairo) – author of Tool Being and Guerilla Metaphysics.
China Miéville – acclaimed author of Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and other tales of the Fantastic.
Luciana Parisi (Goldsmiths) – author of Abstract Sex: Philosophy, Biotechnology and the Mutations of Desire
Steve ‘Kode9’ Goodman (UEL) – author of the forthcoming Sonic Warfare
Dominic Fox – Poetix weblog
Mark Fisher (Goldsmiths) – k-punk weblog
Anyone wishing to attend should email Mark Fisher (k_punk99[at]hotmail.com). Registration is free but places are limited. If anyone wishes to lead discussion on any of the stories, please state in the email which story you would like to talk about.