Literature is the politics of existence. We as humans are bound by narratives, by stories. Literature calls us back to the deeper promise of language: an emancipatory, existential force that transcends mere utility. An act of defiance, a way of reclaiming the richness of life. The total rationalization of life (the disenchantment of the world) tames existence, reducing humans to functional units rather than sentient beings.
 
The current human condition -  defined by a violent dehumanisation and loss of meaning – demands a turn to the poetics of being, a more profound and genuine understanding of oneself, the others and the world. There is a call to which language responds. It opens a promise to us that precedes language and goes beyond it. We are haunted by language and its call, and that is what truly makes us what we are. Without dwelling in that call, without being haunted by the promise we forget what language is about and what being human really means. In forgetting language, we become technical units, machines, and functional freaks. We become our own nightmare.
 
The poetics of existence can never be reduced to technology, scientific reason and efficiency.
Philosophy and literature – although employing different ways of understanding - provide an opening to the endangered poetry of being.

Deze activiteit is mede mogelijk gemaakt door de stichting Bulgarian Hub Eindhoven en Europe Direct.

Foto’s gemaakt door Severina Stankova.