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English Department Distinguished Invited Speaker

Event Type
Lecture
Sponsor
English Department
Location
Levis Conference Room 210
Date
Apr 23, 2020   4:00 pm  
Speaker
Sianne Ngai (English, U of Chicago)
Contact
Ramon Soto-Crespo
E-Mail
Sotocres@illinois.edu
Views
5

Sianne Ngai (English, U of Chicago)

“The Gimmick as Aesthetic Judgment and Capitalist Form”

This talk explores the gimmick as a form that simultaneously repels and attracts us and the judgment by which we express this ambivalent mixture of feelings. Stemming from the recognition of interlinked contradictions surrounding labor, time, and value, the gimmick offers a surprisingly rich place to think about capitalist aesthetics and the intertwining of technique and enchantment therein.

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