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Xenologies: Sociality on an Alien Planet
Bohal, Vít ; Armand, Louis (advisor) ; Horáková, Jana (referee) ; Malečková, Dita (referee)
(ENG): The dissertation explores the use of the morpheme 'xeno' in anglophone theory and literature, and aims to formulate a comparative xenology which would address its contemporary meaning and significations. The term 'Xenology' has existed since the 1950s, largely denoting a speculative science researching alien life, and Part I provides a historically reflexive analysis of the xenologies of the second half of the twentieth century, culminating with a critical analysis of the project Xenologies: Immigrant Instruments by avant-garde artist Krzysztof Wodiczko. Part II then moves to formulate a comparative xenology drawing on contemporary projects which have notably utilized the xeno and its relation to the alien, uncanny or other. A central feature of the discourse is the xeno's collusion with the social sphere - where some theorists use it as an index towards a sublime transhumanism, others develop its original social resonances; this dissonance is addressed throughout the work. As a meta-narrative on the xeno today, comparative xenology is constructed around three modes - the figural, the procedural and inhuman - which are discussed in relation to three contemporary xenoprojects - xenofeminism, xeno-architecture and xenoplanetarity, respectively. Part III then features a glossary of the most...
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