“One Nation Under CCTV”
April 4, 2011
by Anna Lemberger
I hope people had a nice spring break (for those of us lucky enough to get one) and were able to make it to the Center’s lecture Friday, April 1. Professor Lauren Berlant from the University of Chicago’s Department of English got the Center’s lecture series back in the swing of things with her lecture entitled, “The Desire for the Political.” Berlant presented another timely talk in light of current political upheaval and protests in Wisconsin—or as my favorite satirical reporter Jon Stewart calls it, the “Crisis in Dairyland.” These protests, however, are not the type that interest Berlant, at least not in this particular paper. The main thrust of her research looks at silent protest and noise politics and the artistic movements these traditions inspire. So in the spirit of Berlant’s lecture, I will silently withdraw from writing this blog and suggest that in place of reading you listen to some ambient noise.
. . .
April fools!
Okay, let’s get back to Professor Berlant. After a nice introduction by Center director Richard Grusin, Berlant took to the podium armed with enthusiasm and a PowerPoint. Then she proceeded to read excerpts from the final chapter of her forthcoming book, “Cruel Optimism.” Now, I mean this with all of the constructive criticism I can muster, but I am always slightly disappointed when a lecturer just reads his or her work. If I have learned anything from my time interning at a radio station it is that writing for print and writing for speech require different approaches and styles. In written work, the readers can go back, reread, look up words, annotate, etc.–unlike listeners at a public lecture. Having said this, however, I felt that Berlant did a pretty good job of portraying her ideas, although I could probably benefit from reading her work for a better understanding. There was also an opportunity to ask questions for clarity at the end of the lecture, and I actually did get a lot out of the Q & A.
There are a few terms that I was still a little uncertain about after Berlant’s talk. One term is affect. Professor Grusin also uses this term a lot in his work so it’s clearly important to this area of research. According to dictionary.com, affect (n.) is a feeling or emotion. It is also an “inward disposition or feeling” or “an expressed or observed emotional response.” In relation to political activism or active citizenship, affect is an observable response, or lack of response, to a particular situation. So Berlant is mainly interested in how “withdrawal” can also be a form of political engagement. I particularly like the artistic examples that illustrated this engagement, specifically the “One Nation Under CCTV” movement. One video showed the Surveillance Camera Players performing a mock (in more ways than one) protest, holding up signs to the street security cameras that said mundane things like “Going shopping.” Their performance raises a lot of questions about citizenship and the nature of surveillance. Is citizenship just performance? Does surveillance ignite unnecessary paranoia? Check out their performance here and tell me what you think.
For more information on Professor Berlant, please explore her page and other writings. I certainly will.
