Patricia Purtschert

Feminist Thought as Critical Remembrance

How do we engage critically with remembering as feminists? What is not, never, hardly remembered or only in a distorted way? To what extent can feminist thought consist in telling different (hi)stories going against the current of hegemonic (non-)remembering? Stories whose critical potential lies in being able to see, interpret and understand the present and the futurity associated with it differently? To what extent is the chosen form of this thinking also part of an emancipatory critique of remembrance?

In my remarks, I refer, on the one hand, to the question of how dominant historiography can be rewritten from a feminist and decolonial perspective. On the other hand, I also refer to how hegemonic tendencies and canonization effects within feminist thinking can be continuously questioned and revised. In doing so, I draw on my research on the postcolonial present and on the history of the future of feminist theory. Because the mode of reflection shapes the content of remembering, I only do so to a limited extent as a monologue but certainly in conversation with the audience.

The event is part of the series “The Future of History”, which will run throughout the year. Click here for the programme!

The lecture will be held in german.