Christopher Connery
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Grass Stage Culture Outpost: Social Theatre Forum VOL.18:
Convenience
Speaker: Christopher Connery
Language: Chinese
Admission Free. Reservation is required.
In order to understand contemporary ideological formations, an experimental investigation of daily-life values and modalities is perhaps as useful as a study of political proclamations or theoretical work. In contemporary Chinese society--indeed, throughout most of the developed and near-developed world, "convenience" is the central and universal value. With globalization, the Chinese term for convenience (fangbian), which has a long and varied history in China, has become almost identical in meaning to the English word, and is in China, as elsewhere, a core value of consumer society. And yet, the history of this centrality is short, being limited to the period of industrial capitalism. Analyzing the value placed on convenience as manifest in our bodily practices, sense of time and place, our sense of speed, our relation to technology, and the judgments we make on various aspects of life can serve to illuminate the ways in which the larger socio-economic-political system shapes our core values and our subjectivities. And yet, although convenience has penetrated all corners of our life, there are some sectors of life--many of them pleasurable-- where convenience is not a value. Is convenience necessary? Do we have a resistance to convenience at some subconscious level? Would it be possible to transcend convenience?
Christopher Connery has lived in Shanghai since 2010, directing the University of California program in Shanghai. He is Professor of Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and from 2013, he will also be Professor of Cultural Studies at Shanghai University. He received his PhD from Princeton University in East Asian Studies. His research and teaching has centered on ideologies of capitalist globalization and anti-capitalist movements, the revolutionary social movements of the global 1960s and their legacies, contemporary Shanghai and urbanization, and early imperial Chinese textual culture. His books include The Empire of the Text: Writing and Authority in Early Imperial China; The Sixties and the World Event; and The Worlding Project: Doing Cultural Studies in the Era of Globalization,and he has published numerous articles on oceanic space. He is on the editorial board of the journals boundary 2 and Postcolonial Studies. Since 2010 he has been a member of the Grass Stage theater, serving as contributing writer and actor in Small Society and Renjian yihu jiu, and has performed throughout China.
Grass Stage Culture Outpost: Social Theatre Forum
“The Stage is a small world, and the world is a large stage”- Since daily life has become theatrical, there is no escaping a universal involvement in social theater. Each month the “Social Theatre” forum series will invite scholars and critics in the fields of culture and art to illuminate the stage on which we all dwell. To date, we have invited Christopher Connery, Zhang Xian, Gu Zheng, Rachel Freeman, Wang Xiaoming, Zhang Xianming and 2wheels4change group, and others to participate in the Grass Stage Culture Outpost as speakers and honored guests. It is our wish to engage various scholars’ work and thought in order to foster discussion on topics in culture, art, and public life. Dedicated to the exploration of the relationship between culture, art and society, spreading knowledge, and interdisciplinary communication.
Culture Outpost Manifesto
Dedicated to the exploration of the relationship between culture, art and society, spreading knowledge, and interdisciplinary communication, the “Culture Outpost” is a small scale salon that Grass Stage has held since 2007. We have organized over 30 events, which have included lectures and lively discussion, and which have been and will continue to be free of charge. These events have featured expert panels, presentations, discussions and small scale performances. Based on the goals of the Grass Stage group, the “Culture Outpost” welcomes those who are concerned about society and culture, those with a wish to open their minds, and those willing to take an active part in discussions and to express their own ideas.
More information: www.grassstage.com
克利斯多夫·康納利
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主讲：克利斯多夫·康納利
语言：中文
联合策划：草台班文化站、《艺术世界》杂志、上海外滩美术馆
免费，需预约
了解当下主流意识形态，与其通过读政治家，知识分子文章和宣言，不如自行探索日常生活里常态。当下社会，方便也许是最普适价值观。“方便”与英文“convenience”接近，用法也几乎相同，也是全球消费社会核心价值。但无论中外，方便的核心性，历史却挺短暂，是工业资本主义社会才有。按“方便”了解我们身体状态，时间感，空间感，速度感，生活的科技化，还有我们对生活各种判断，能更深理解体制怎么塑造我们基本价值观，我们主体性。但是，即使方便无孔不入渗透我们的生活，我们不一味追求方便，例子很多。方便有无必要？我们有没有一种深层欲望要抵抗方便？脱离方便有无可能？
关于艺术家
克利斯多夫康納利(Christopher Connery)，是来自美国加州大学圣克鲁斯分校人文学院教授，博士指导、美国普林斯顿大学东亚学博士。丛2013起，将任上海大学文化研究系教授。他的研究包括:全球六十年代社会运动，资本主义意识形态，心里地理，现代上海，东汉思想和文学史。他的著作包括The Empire of the Text: Writing and Authority in Early Imperial China; The Sixties and the World Event; The Worlding Project: Doing Cultural Studies in the Era of Globalization，等. 也当boundary 2 和Postcolonial Studies（学术季刊）的编辑。自从2010年当草台班成员，演了《小社会第二卷》、《小社会》（第一、二卷）与《人间一壶酒》。草台班2010年文化站有他“未来”演讲，用普通话演讲。
文化站“社会剧场”论坛
“舞台小世界，世界大舞台”─ 日常生活是怎样每天挥发出戏剧性，令我们无法不置身于社会剧场？“社会剧场”系列论坛每月邀请文化艺术领域著名学者、批评家，向我们揭示身处的剧场。现已邀请Christopher Connery、张献、顾铮、Rachel Freeman、王晓明、张献民、2wheels4change组合、赵川、孙丽翠、陈光兴、张念等作为主讲嘉宾出席草台班“文化站”，愿以各家之丰富积累与思考，畅谈文艺与公共生活等话题。
文化站简介
“文化站”是由草台班自2007年底开始组织的小规模文化聚会，希望有助于探讨文艺与社会的联系，传播知识，促进跨界交流。共举办超过40次。不定期舉举行，免费参加。活动以专家座谈、专题介绍，讨论及小规模表演等方式展开。“文化站”立足草台班主旨，欢迎关注社会文化，希望开放自己思维和观念，愿意探讨问题和表达意见的人士参与。
可参阅草台班网站www.grassstage.com
免费，需预约语言：中文
免费，需预约