Prof. Niklaus Largier, University of California, Berkeley
In recent years, medieval and early modern mysticism has been rediscovered as both an often ignored tradition with a significant impact on forms of modernism, and as a form of critical thought in engagements with the current world. This reaches from Musil, Rilke, and Lasker-Schüler to the engagement with mysticism in new environmentalism and critical race theory, e.g., in the work of Nathaniel Mackey and Fred Moten (to name just a few). My presentation will identify a few specific aspects where the medieval and early modern German mystical tradition has been read as a resource for forms of modernist intervention and where it continues to inspire critical thinking.
The College of Arts