Advertisement
In his 1929 novella Mario and the Magician, Thomas Mann tells the story of a hypnosis show in an Italian spa town where a German family on vacation experiences rising nationalistic hostility. The magician’s story is often understood as a metaphor for fascism, as Mussolini had already been in power for several years and the Nazi party had begun to dominate Germany. In fact, dictatorship and hypnosis have something in common: the desire to freeze time, to prevent any movement. The talk will begin with the figure of Medusa, who paralyses anyone looking at her, and will analyse the hypnotic gaze and its history in art and literature, as well as its possible implications in the politics of our current times. How can we break free from the spell of the hypnotic gaze — for example, in the context of the climate crisis —, from the paradoxical feeling that time is ‘out of joint’?Cécile Wajsbrot writes mostly novels, but also sometimes essays and radio dramas, exploring new approaches to novel writing. One of her latest novels, Nevermore, was published in both France and Germany in 2021 and deals with the process of translation. Her most recent publication is the novel Plein Ciel (2024), which was released in German as Offener Himmel (2026). It explores an unsolved air crash. She has received several awards for her writing and translation work. In her seminars at universities in Berlin, Dresden, and Innsbruck, she has explored, among other themes, how climate and natural disasters are depicted in literature. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, and since 2019, a member of the Akademie der Künste. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy by the University of Duisburg-Essen. She lives in both Paris and Berlin.
Part of the ICI Lecture Series AutoReduction 2026-27
Advertisement
Event venue
Christinenstrasse 18-19, Haus 8, 10119 Berlin, Germany, Christinenstraße 18-19, 10119 Berlin, Deutschland, Berlin, Germany
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.