How do we project and conceive the future? Futurity is not only about rational, more-of-the-same extrapolation. The existing crisis may potentially lead to a catastrophe, but humanity’s rational capacity means it can mitigate the crisis and must elaborate imaginative alternatives. The Institute for Global Reconstitution sets itself both tasks: warning and transformation. The future, however, is not only an object of rational projects but also of imaginative reconstructions and dreams. Extrapolation routinely confronts disbelief and denial and so deserves exploration in its own right. However, seeking an imaginary reconstitution is the noblest of tasks, and any success in this venture requires careful attention. Imaginative constructions and surreal dreams compete against rational extrapolatory techniques, and open their own windows into a better future.

In the Modes of Futurity conference, co-organized by Institut für Slawistik und Hungarologie of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Institute for Global Reconstitution, we are interested in the unbounded social imagination that comes from all genres of arts and sciences, including reaching out beyond academia for creative plotlines designed by writers, with a specific focus on contemporary Russian literature and arts.

The recent turns of history have been unexpected for many. Contemporary Russia’s gradual transformation from a liberal democratic regime into a conservative tyranny was not inevitable and was not evident in the making. It is therefore striking that in the 2000s and 2010s, some Russian writers accurately anticipated the present turn to war and despotic rule. Novels by Viktor Pelevin, Vladimir Sorokin, and Dmitry Bykov described the future metaphorically but more precisely than “scientific” predictions did. A similar competition between different genres of political forecast also occurred in other cultures: think of the Hollywood portrayal of terrorist acts prior to September 11th (Independence Day) or of pandemics (The Contagion). If these genres have proved their credibility by predicting the present, their models for the nearest future could be even more valuable.

Modes of Futurity will discuss the many theoretical and empirical questions arising from this experience:

•What is the mechanism of literary prophecy? How do we the readers set apart predictions that are most likely to be accurate from the many failed ones?

•Can there be an element of self-fulfilling prophecy, not necessarily in the anti-utopian novels as such, but in the collective imaginary they rely on?

•How does the literary imagination relate to the scholarly projects and scenarios produced in the last decades? Can there be an alliance between intellectual projects and fictional writing?

•Is there a way to use these visions to avert the worst of these unexpected historical turns?

•Is there currently a space for utopian rather than anti-utopian fiction?

Speakers

Mark Lipovetsky (Columbia University)

Michael Marder (IGRec/University of Basque Country)

Anastassia de la Fortelle (University of Lausanne)

Artemy Magun (IGRec)

Larissa Muravieva (Smolny Beyond Borders)

Alexander Etkind (CEU)

Ilya Kalinin (IGRec)

Nataliia Grinina (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

Dmitry Bykov (University of Rochester)

Dmitry Simanovsky (independent publisher)

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Practical information

Date: March 15th, 11:00

Venue: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin 

Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum 

Grimm Centrum Auditorium 

Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 1/3, 10117 Berlin

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