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Topoi/graphein

Abrahamsson, Christian LU (2008)
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to map the paradoxical limit of the in-between. In its most basic form the thesis is a paradox in itself, for how am I to comprehend and communicate the ever-changing world in a language which is characterised by fixed points and stable relations? The thesis consists of three main parts: a prologue, six chapters and an epilogue. Each of these parts can be read separatly, but togheter they form a set of conceptual maps whose focus is on the displacements, transpositions, juxtapositions, fluctuations and transformations that fill the gap between delimited categories.



In the prologue, Primo Levi's question from Auschwitz – "is this a human being?" – is transposed into the infamous images from Abu... (More)
The aim of this thesis is to map the paradoxical limit of the in-between. In its most basic form the thesis is a paradox in itself, for how am I to comprehend and communicate the ever-changing world in a language which is characterised by fixed points and stable relations? The thesis consists of three main parts: a prologue, six chapters and an epilogue. Each of these parts can be read separatly, but togheter they form a set of conceptual maps whose focus is on the displacements, transpositions, juxtapositions, fluctuations and transformations that fill the gap between delimited categories.



In the prologue, Primo Levi's question from Auschwitz – "is this a human being?" – is transposed into the infamous images from Abu Ghraib. The prologue is followed by a section entitled Topoi/graphies, in total six chapters organized into two columns with three chapters in each. In the first pair of chapters we are in the taken-for-granted space of identity thinking, the world of the Euclidian fixed point. In the second pair the taken-for-granted universe of the fixed point has all but evaporated and we are instead witnessing how relations are being stabilized. In the third pair there is the horror of neither fixed points nor relations. Rephrased, the six chapters enact a journey that starts within a fixed spatiality in which human thought-and-action is anchored in the given of identity. It then moves through a social world in which the spatio-temporal transformations are neither fixed nor taken-for-granted. Finally it edges into a pure temporality that lies beyond the maps of fixed points and social relations.



It is in its own topic that the thesis cannot come to a definite conclusion. The epilogue nevertheless reaches out for a conceptual synthesis – nine minimalist figures with accompanying texts. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Rehn, Alf, Abo akademi
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
In-between, limit, fixed point, line, plane, preposition, paradox, relation, Michel Serres, Giorgio Agamben, Gunnar Olsson, Gilles Deleuze, René Girard, Walter Benjamin
pages
192 pages
publisher
Uppsala University
defense location
Sal Minus, Gustavianum, Akademigatan 3, Uppsala
defense date
2008-05-16 10:15:00
ISBN
978-91-506-1999-7
language
Swedish
LU publication?
no
id
06968b24-a8c1-4d56-8a77-36a251318bb6 (old id 2376586)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 12:07:15
date last changed
2020-03-19 11:31:22
@phdthesis{06968b24-a8c1-4d56-8a77-36a251318bb6,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this thesis is to map the paradoxical limit of the in-between. In its most basic form the thesis is a paradox in itself, for how am I to comprehend and communicate the ever-changing world in a language which is characterised by fixed points and stable relations? The thesis consists of three main parts: a prologue, six chapters and an epilogue. Each of these parts can be read separatly, but togheter they form a set of conceptual maps whose focus is on the displacements, transpositions, juxtapositions, fluctuations and transformations that fill the gap between delimited categories.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In the prologue, Primo Levi's question from Auschwitz – "is this a human being?" – is transposed into the infamous images from Abu Ghraib. The prologue is followed by a section entitled Topoi/graphies, in total six chapters organized into two columns with three chapters in each. In the first pair of chapters we are in the taken-for-granted space of identity thinking, the world of the Euclidian fixed point. In the second pair the taken-for-granted universe of the fixed point has all but evaporated and we are instead witnessing how relations are being stabilized. In the third pair there is the horror of neither fixed points nor relations. Rephrased, the six chapters enact a journey that starts within a fixed spatiality in which human thought-and-action is anchored in the given of identity. It then moves through a social world in which the spatio-temporal transformations are neither fixed nor taken-for-granted. Finally it edges into a pure temporality that lies beyond the maps of fixed points and social relations.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
It is in its own topic that the thesis cannot come to a definite conclusion. The epilogue nevertheless reaches out for a conceptual synthesis – nine minimalist figures with accompanying texts.}},
  author       = {{Abrahamsson, Christian}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-506-1999-7}},
  keywords     = {{In-between; limit; fixed point; line; plane; preposition; paradox; relation; Michel Serres; Giorgio Agamben; Gunnar Olsson; Gilles Deleuze; René Girard; Walter Benjamin}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  publisher    = {{Uppsala University}},
  title        = {{Topoi/graphein}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}