Papers by Neda Genova
European Review, 2022
The aim of this article is to propose the methodological and conceptual tool of 'recursion' as a ... more The aim of this article is to propose the methodological and conceptual tool of 'recursion' as a means of understanding the production of historical continuity and discontinuity between different forms of nationalism in Bulgaria. The recent case of the demolition of the socialist-modernist monument '1300 Years of Bulgaria' and its replacement with an earlier memorial from the authoritarian period of the 1930s forms the point of departure for this examination. Adopting a media and cultural studies perspective, the text focuses on the symbolic function of lions in both monuments and how they are engaged in the production of nationalist rhetoric and imagery. In line with Ann Laura Stoler's (2016) proposition that the method of 'recursive analytics' can allow us to overcome the impasse formed by attempts to postulate either continuity or rupture between present and past, I first account for the histories of the erection of both monuments before proposing to read the 'Bulgarian lions', featuring in both of them, as recursive figures. Continuities of the National In July 2017, six months ahead of Bulgaria's assumption of the Presidency of the Council of the EU, the municipality of the country's capital Sofia revealed plans to demolish the monument '1300 Years of Bulgaria' and restore an earlier military memorial to the First Sofia Division in its place. While the modernist '1300 Years of Bulgaria' was built in 1981 by the Bulgarian socialist government as part of nationwide celebrations of the anniversary of the Bulgarian state, the recently restored military memorial was first inaugurated in the aftermath of a 1934 military coup.
Arts of the Working Class, 2020
Identities Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, 2020
For this piece we were provoked by an anti-trans mo- ment that took place during the School of Po... more For this piece we were provoked by an anti-trans mo- ment that took place during the School of Politics and Critique in September 2020. Instead of engaging in a mere “rebuttal” of anti-trans discourse and its reductive, exclusionary claims, with this text we aim to open up a space of exchange and learning that takes form of a feminist conversation. We discuss the historical and political entrenchment of colonial, capitalist and anti-trans projects to emphasise why a solid trans politics will always hold an anti-colonial agenda to the fore. Critically appraising some unfortunate intellectual and political impasses—as the capturing of feminist politics in schemata of biological determinism or the complicity of white bourgeois feminism in anti-Blackness and colonial exploitation—we shed light on the emancipatory poten- tial of radical transfeminism. The conversation draws on lessons from the writings and practice of many engaged in formulating the stakes of black feminist, anti-colonial and trans politics of sol- idarity, thus actualizing the insight that we never think or act in isolation from one another.
Identities, 2019
In this article I examine the repeated material-semiotic mobilization of the trope of the Berlin ... more In this article I examine the repeated material-semiotic mobilization of the trope of the Berlin Wall in post-communist Bulgaria. I show that despite the official dismantlement of the Wall commenced some thirty years ago, the structure’s afterlife continues to exert a unique influence on Bulgaria’s public life today. I explore the function of the Wall as a narrative and political device in moments when the relation to public space is negotiated or when notions of “past” and “present” are short-circuited. By taking up the notion of a “recording surface,” developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in Anti-Oedipus, I show how Bulgarian post-communism can be understood as the terrain of a continuous production of consensus. I argue that after 1989 the Berlin Wall has adopted a governing and consensus-building function that contributes to the “smoothening” of political and social differences on the recording surface of Bulgarian post-communism. Yet, what makes the examination of the fictitious successors of the original Berlin Wall an interesting terrain for examination is that their operation is predicated upon a material heterogeneity and dynamism. In the article, I explore the way this trope has been mobilized in four different cases from Bulgaria’s most recent history and demonstrate in what sense its “reactivation” can be seen as contributing to the stabilization of the recording surface of Bulgarian post-communism.
This is a text with which I won an essay contest organised by The Fridge art gallery in Sofia, Bu... more This is a text with which I won an essay contest organised by The Fridge art gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria on the topic of "Do you understand me? I understand you". In it, I engage with the work of COBRA RES and pose some questions about the relationship between response time, politics of speed/emergency and art.
English translation of the title: "RES to COBRA RES. Politico-aesthetical problems of the emergency response".
Ding-Denken beginnt mit der Sorge. (Manning 2011) (vgl. Heidegger 1954) Ding-Denken trägt der Mat... more Ding-Denken beginnt mit der Sorge. (Manning 2011) (vgl. Heidegger 1954) Ding-Denken trägt der Materialität und Produktivität der Welt Rechnung und lässt keine ursprüngliche Duplizität in der Konzeption von Denken und Erfahrung, keine Selbstaufspaltung in "Bewusstsein" und "Inhalt", zu. (vgl. James 2006: 8; 11) Ding-Denken räumt ein, dass ein Ding zugleich Gedanke und Gedachtes sein kann, ohne dass es sich dabei um ein Paradox handeln würde. (19)
Book Reviews by Neda Genova
Contradictions, 2019
A review of Boris Buden's "Zone des Übergangs. Vom Ende des Postkommunismus" (2009, Surhkamp a.M.)
Radical Philosophy, 2018
A book review of Sarah Kember's "iMedia".
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Papers by Neda Genova
English translation of the title: "RES to COBRA RES. Politico-aesthetical problems of the emergency response".
Book Reviews by Neda Genova
English translation of the title: "RES to COBRA RES. Politico-aesthetical problems of the emergency response".