Oratie uitgesproken door Prof.dr. Nadine N.W. Akkerman bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van hoogleraar Vroegmoderne Literatuur en Cultuur aan de Universiteit Leiden op vrijdag 3 mei 2024
This dissertation explores the ways in which affective responses to disabled bodies are represented and how this invites us to read these bodies aesthetically. I argue that this affective impact... Show moreThis dissertation explores the ways in which affective responses to disabled bodies are represented and how this invites us to read these bodies aesthetically. I argue that this affective impact can be understood as an affordance, a term I use to describe how the appearance of and interaction with disabled bodies produces affective responses such as fear, wonder, or disgust. I study the relationship between representation and affective reactions through literature and other art forms. Through close readings of literary texts and works of art, this dissertation offers an alternative to so-called model thinking—an approach that emphasizes categorization. Instead, I propose a reading that focuses on how bodily capacities are culturally and socially translated into (dis)abilities. Unlike taxonomic approaches that categorize and generalize, this method allows moving from the particular to the private. Works of art, although prone to generalization, emphasize their unicity and resist categorization. By analyzing how different art forms represent disabled bodies, the dissertation brings a new dimension to understanding our emotional responses and the aesthetic appreciation of bodily diversity. Show less
Rede uitgesproken door Prof. dr. Pieter ter Keurs ter gelegenheid van zijn afscheid als Hoogleraar Museums, Collections and Society aan de Universiteit Leiden op maandag 8 april 2024
Research Integrity (RI) is high on the agenda of both institutions and science policy. The European Union as well as national ministries of science have launched ambitious initiatives to combat... Show moreResearch Integrity (RI) is high on the agenda of both institutions and science policy. The European Union as well as national ministries of science have launched ambitious initiatives to combat misconduct and breaches of research integrity. Often, such initiatives entail attempts to regulate scientifc behavior through guidelines that institutions and academic communities can use to more easily identify and deal with cases of misconduct. Rather than framing misconduct as a result of an information defcit, we instead conceptualize Questionable Research Practices (QRPs) as attempts by researchers to reconcile epistemic and social forms of uncertainty in knowledge production. Drawing on previous literature, we defne epistemic uncertainty as the inherent intellectual unpredictability of scientifc inquiry, while social uncertainty arises from the human-made conditions for scientifc work. Our core argument—developed on the basis of 30 focus group interviews with researchers across diferent felds and European countries—is that breaches of research integrity can be understood as attempts to loosen overly tight coupling between the two forms of uncertainty. Our analytical approach is not meant to relativize or excuse misconduct, but rather to ofer a more fne-grained perspective on what exactly it is that researchers want to accomplish by engaging in it. Based on the analysis, we conclude by proposing some concrete ways in which institutions and academic communities could try to reconcile epistemic and social uncertainties on a more collective level, thereby reducing incentives for researchers to engage in misconduct. Show less
Oratie uitgesproken door Prof.dr. F.W.A. Korsten bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van hoogleraar Literatuur, Cultuur en Recht aan de Universiteit Leiden op vrijdag 15 maart 2024
There are two French versions of Ancrene Wisse. One of these, which is preserved in London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius F. vii, has been examined in some depth. The other, known as the Vie de...Show moreThere are two French versions of Ancrene Wisse. One of these, which is preserved in London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius F. vii, has been examined in some depth. The other, known as the Vie de gent de religion, has been examined far less, and its place on the stemma of Ancrene Wisse has not been firmly established. This article seeks to establish its place on this stemma by using the two methods that scholars traditionally use to establish more “original” readings: source analysis and the common error method. Although it may come as a surprise to those familiar with Ancrene Wisse, both of these methods suggest that this French version preserves “original” readings that are missing in the English versions. The second part of this article, which explores the implications of this evidence and the key question of the Vie’s language of composition, shows that large sections of the Vie preserve rhyme, which calls into question the traditional argument that poetic elements in the English version of Ancrene Wisse suggest that it precedes the French. These and other findings presented here suggest that while the relationship between Ancrene Wisse and the Vie is often treated as a closed question, the issue is far more complex than has previously been acknowledged. Show less
Abstract || In the literary imagination of Martha Luisa Hernández Cadenas (Havana, 1991) insects appear in various places. In Días de hormigas (Days of the Ants) the trail of ants indicates a... Show moreAbstract || In the literary imagination of Martha Luisa Hernández Cadenas (Havana, 1991) insects appear in various places. In Días de hormigas (Days of the Ants) the trail of ants indicates a direction to a form of life and freedom in the midst of a landscape of devastation, a landscape that also returns in Extintos. Aquí no vuelan mariposas (Extintos. Butterflies Don’t Fly Here) (2018), while in La puta y el hurón (The Whore and the Ferret) (2020) the mosquitoes serve as a formulation of resistance to a violent and patriarchal order. In this article I study the role of insects in the work of this young Cuban writer and performer and I affirm that, despite the scenarios of collapse and ruins, the writer also builds an idea of futurity and of community. Drawing on the work of Rosi Braidotti I argue that the abject, the liminal and a particular temporality are intertwined in the becoming-insect and the becoming-woman for an articulation of resilience. Through alliances between “infra-beings”, becoming molecule and becoming imperceptible, I maintain that the becoming-insect functions as a mode of resistance and dissent.Resumen || En el imaginario literario de Martha Luisa Hernández Cadenas (La Habana, 1991) aparecen insectos por varios lugares. En Días de hormigas el rastro de las hormigas indica una dirección de vida y libertad en medio de un paisaje de devastación, paisaje que vuelve también en Extintos. Aquí no vuelan mariposas (2018), mientras que en La puta y el hurón (2020) los mosquitos formulan una resistencia al orden violento y patriarcal. En este artículo estudiaré el papel de los insectos en la obra de esta joven escritora y performer cubana. Argumento que, a pesar de los escenarios de derrumbes y ruinas, construye también una idea de futuro y de comunidad. Con la ayuda de Rosi Braidotti, propongo que en el devenir insecto y en el devenir mujer se entrelazan lo abyecto, lo liminal y un estar fuera del tiempo que permite articular formas de resiliencia. Mediante las alianzas entre los «infraseres», en el volverse molécula y en el hacerse imperceptible, sostengo que el devenir insecto funciona como un modo de resistir y disentir.Keywords || Insects | Cuban literature | Posthuman feminism | Women writing | Latin America Show less
Oratie uitgesproken door Prof.dr. A.J.P. Maas bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van bijzonder hoogleraar Museale Aspecten van de Natuurwetenschappen vanwege Rijksmuseum Boerhaave aan de Universiteit... Show moreOratie uitgesproken door Prof.dr. A.J.P. Maas bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van bijzonder hoogleraar Museale Aspecten van de Natuurwetenschappen vanwege Rijksmuseum Boerhaave aan de Universiteit Leiden op vrijdag 26 januari 2024 Show less
The terms “politics” and “political” have become so overdetermined that it is difficult to use them in any effective manner. We argue that this has dangerous political consequences, and that this... Show moreThe terms “politics” and “political” have become so overdetermined that it is difficult to use them in any effective manner. We argue that this has dangerous political consequences, and that this could be addressed by providing a new, sounder, notion of politics. This paper argues that defining politics in relation to the notion of play can provide a notion both intuitively appealing and able to withstand the problematic overdeterminations. We argue that politics is the set of practices through which the indeterminate of Spielraum is made more determinate. This suggests that politics is always partly a matter of play: it is about instituting values without making any claims about the legitimacy of this instituting act. With reference to Huizinga and Nietzsche’s analyses of play, we define play as the living unity of seriousness and frivolity, and non-play as either seriousness without frivolity or frivolity without seriousness. In order to illustrate this, we comparatively analyse the attitudes of Barack Obama and Donald Trump in the single context of the well-known yearly White House Correspondent’s Dinner. There, we see two opposed attitudes to playfulness. Our analysis allows us to apply our Spielraum model of politics to show that the thrust of Obama’s attitude involves an embrace of the non-foundational nature of politics as play, whereas Trump’s attitude is politicidal: it is animated by a refusal to acknowledge its own lack of foundation, leading to an oscillation between over-seriousness and over-frivolity. Show less
