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MA Theses by Dilara Bilgisel

This dissertation aims to clarify the significance of Theodor W. Adorno’s duality of resignation ... more This dissertation aims to clarify the significance of Theodor W. Adorno’s duality of resignation and resistance, whose existence has given way to major interpretations of his works as melancholic and reconciliatory. Taking the recent political upheaval in Turkey, ignited by the suicide bomber attack in Suruç in July 2015, as a starting point and motivation, the following question is asked: How is it possible to go on living given the current state of humanity? As a response, this dissertation draws an outline of the negative dialectic at work in Adorno’s critique of the ontological, ethical, political and aesthetic spheres from an antihumanist perspective. Based on the problematization of the concept of alienation, this outline uncovers the collaboration at work between atrocities and humanist ideology, whose expression is voiced by Adorno’s radically modest constellation.

Conference Presentations by Dilara Bilgisel

Bu bildiri Walter Benjamin’in 1921 tarihli “Şiddetin Eleştirisi Üzerine” isimli çalışmasında ince... more Bu bildiri Walter Benjamin’in 1921 tarihli “Şiddetin Eleştirisi Üzerine” isimli çalışmasında incelediği şiddet mefhumunu ve onun kategorik tarihsel eleştirisini Theodor W. Adorno’nun estetik felsefesi bağlamında yeniden düşünme pratiği olarak görülebilir. Öncelikle Benjamin’in şiddet (Gewalt) tanımlaması ve yan anlamlandırması ele alınarak, kavramın toplumsal güç ilişkileri içindeki farklı fonksiyonları incelenecek. Metnin ortaya çıktığı dönemde Benjamin’in özgürlük ve devrim odaklı düşüncesi üzerinden devlet şiddeti (Staatsgewalt) ve ilahi şiddet (göttliche Gewalt) karşılaştırmasına bakılarak, bütünün baskısı altındaki tekilin şiddeti yaratıcı bir şekilde nasıl vücuda getirdiği değerlendirilecek. Jacques Derrida, Giorgio Agamben ve Werner Hamacher tarafından yapılan yorumlara kısaca değindikten sonra, Benjamin’in eleştirisinin merkezinde yer alan, devlet şiddetinin amaç-araç kısır döngüsünü kırma çabası üzerinden, Adorno literatüründe şiddetin yerine geçiş yapılacak. Böylece Benjamin’in dil ve siyaset ikilisi kapsamında yaptığı okuma estetik çerçeveye taşınacak ve bütünün Hegelyen eleştirisinden başlamak kaydıyla, Adorno’nun olumsuzlama üzerine temellendirdiği, kendine münhasır sanat teorisinde şiddetin oynadığı rol incelenecektir. Baskıya direnmede, kitlesini çeşitli formel tekniklerle zorlayan sanat eserleri ile kendi yaşamını bir sanat eseriymiş gibi sürdürmekte ısrar eden bireyin dayanışması vurgulanarak, şiddete atfettiğimiz olumsuzlukların nasıl yeniden yaratılabileceği ve bu yeniden yaratımların nasıl birer devrimsel unsur olarak kullanılabileceği tahayyül edilecektir.

Adorno’s thought is a constellation of antinomies. In his philosophical works, where the method o... more Adorno’s thought is a constellation of antinomies. In his philosophical works, where the method of determinate negation and a persistently enigmatic style of writing come together, the well-known clash between theory and praxis almost constantly reverberates. Within this clash lies a romantic, utopian desire for submerging praxis into theoretical thought, which faces resistance from the outside world of instrumental reason. Morality and politics, as two massively distinct areas of philosophical inquiry, hold a more than significant status on Adorno’s wide spectrum of theory and praxis. Based on a reading of Adorno’s lifelong insistence on the importance of style for the art of theoretical thinking, Gillian Rose’s Melancholy Science has a very strong potential in raising questions about his moral-political dialectic. This presentation aims at clarifying the dubitable remark that Adorno can easily be accused of doing what he condemned Martin Heidegger for: putting distance between the realm of politics and that of moral values. Taking its motivation from the controversies surrounding Adorno’s affinity with Hegel’s oeuvre and with the antihumanist tradition, this talk is going to utilize antihumanism as the vital link between Adorno’s moral and political opinions. Following up on his critique of pseudomorphosis in Negative Dialectics, the antihuman vein here will be handled as an agent that prevents morality and politics from forming an illusory unity while manifesting a manner of regarding these disciplines as two strongly tied constituents of Adorno’s intricate philosophical constellation. This often ignored antihumanist dimension of Adorno’s thought may be a unique way of understanding his moral need to express atrocities and the political aspect of dealing with them.

Journal Articles by Dilara Bilgisel

This article takes a close look at the discussion of singularity in Jean-Luc Nancy’s Inoperative ... more This article takes a close look at the discussion of singularity in Jean-Luc Nancy’s Inoperative Community and Being Singular Plural with the aim to comment on subject-object dichotomy and create a new context for its relationship with resistance. The philosophy of singularity is critical of humanism and the individualist model of subjectivity it advocates. By placing a challenging scenario of antihumanism against the humanist sense of responsibility, the philosophy of singularity questions whether it is possible to do philosophy without saying ‘I’. This antihumanist stance, which replaces the ‘I’/‘other’ differentiation with Nancy’s ‘the other of another,’ chooses to strengthen the link between ontology and resistance in the notion of coexistence; beyond traditional hypotheses on immanence and transcendence. To discuss the merits and limits of this coexistence, the article digs under the notion of individualistic subjectivity and proceeds to ground Nancy’s ‘ekstasis’ on the Freudian theory of drives. Against this theoretical background, the values of modesty and responsibility come to formulate an alternative moral consciousness, which no longer relies on the humanist jargon to work toward the common ground between 'I' and 'we'.

Book Chapters by Dilara Bilgisel

Interdisciplinarity, Multidisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity in Humanities, 2016

Lars von Trier manages to please and disturb his audience at the same time with complex psycholog... more Lars von Trier manages to please and disturb his audience at the same time with complex psychological and social issues that he manifests through his unorthodox film techniques. The challenge that he embodies for the current, Hollywood-dominated film industry bears similarities to Theodor Adorno’s critique of the culture industry, in which he advocates the usage of negation as a means of resisting the commodification of works of art. This paper will develop this parallel as a means both of understanding the negative logic inherent to Trier’s films, and as a supplement to Adorno’s notion of negation as resistance, which he refrains from developing into downright strategy. Drawing both on the gravity the concept of negation has in Adorno’s works, it can be argued that in order to be able to negate effectively, we must create an environment of multi-disciplinarity. To extend and explore this premise, the paper will examine how Trier’s most creative and challenging aspects emerge through the use of a specific set of negation strategies, all of which include a free correspondence amongst different disciplines. On this plane of multi-disciplinarity, the borders between certain academic and artistic disciplines become vague via his unusual film techniques, the character as an individual is negated toward her existential death and the expected moment of resolution is postponed indefinitely.

Interdisciplinarity, Multidisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity in Humanities, 2016