Futuristic Idylls: Future Designs and Impulses - Interdisciplinary Workshop

Idylls refer to the past or the future, the arcadian, the heterotopic and/or the elysian (cf. Jablonski 2018). Idyllic concepts and processes (cf. Gerstner/Heller/Schmitt 2022), from which various genres and genres are derived, present alternative concepts of the world alongside commentaries on the present. Therefore, idyllizing processes and politics can be understood as an object for describing, discussing and ultimately confronting the present with its conditions and perspectives on the past and the future. In this way, aestheticizations and drafts of a (fictional) past are created, on which alternative narratives of possible futures are built, which can also be placed in the past.

Until now, the focus in the academic examination of the idyll has primarily been on its Arcadian configurations, i.e. on its idealized descriptions of a glorified past, or on strategies and procedures derived from it. The examination and phenomenology of idylls within various humanities and cultural studies disciplines offers complementary perspectives on current and future problem complexes such as the climate crisis, as it examines fields in which current social negotiation and mediation processes take place: Narratives of an idyllized past are always also reflections of present ideals and desires, but also of the respective fears from which the staging of idyllic places of longing and scenarios is fed, and from which future perspectives can in turn be derived.

As early as the 18th century, Friedrich Schiller formulated the demand for an 'Elysian idyll' in reaction to contemporary idylls and, for example, Salomon Gessner's glorification of a country life free of problems: this should not transport people who "can no longer return to Arcadia" into an imagined 'Golden Age', but rather lead them "forward [to] maturity", "all the way to Elysium" (Schiller 1795: On naive and sentimental poetry). Accordingly, "the Elysian idyll [...] takes on the function of softening the historical-philosophical harshness in the aesthetic appearance of the future and at the same time incorporating the active moment of such a futuristic perspective" (Gerstner 2022, 164). This 'Elysium' was most recently productively further developed by Nils Jablonski (2018) via an 'Elysian paradigm' of the idyll.

Our workshop will explore the extent to which contemporary media (literature, games, films, music, etc.) consciously or unconsciously produce such future-oriented idylls by not contenting themselves with the aestheticization of an imagined past, but by revealing productive impulses for the present or the future in an examination of the past or present.

Based on short keynote speeches (approx. 15 min), the workshop will focus on a productive exchange among the participants. Interested parties, guest listeners and co-discussants are very welcome. Participation is free of charge; please register in advance at f.mehmel[at]uni-kassel[dot]de is requested.

Further information and a program schedule can be found here.