Join us on March 22, 2022 at 12:30 pm PT for the virtual Ziegler Lecture Series, featuring Dr. Matthew Birkhold of Ohio State University.
Register here via Zoom: https://ubc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kLKJKOn4Tbu1GeLtNn85cQ
Title: “The Melting Sublime”
Abstract: This talk uncovers the long correspondence between portrayals of icebergs and Kant’s analytic of the sublime. For more than two centuries, these shimmering objects have been deployed as a symbol of nature’s power and functioned as a simultaneous reminder of humans’ superiority over even the most frightening version of it. Like glaciers melting into the ocean, however, the Kantian sublime is disappearing in this context. By analyzing contemporary iceberg depictions, I will reveal a break in the Western iceberg tradition and highlight the emergence of a new experience: the melting sublime—a sinking feeling that is part of a broader Anthropocene aesthetics.
Bio: Matthew H. Birkhold is as associate professor of German at Ohio State University His first book, Characters before Copyright (OUP 2019) was awarded the Waterloo Center for German Studies Book Prize and honorable mention for the Scaglione Prize from the MLA. He is currently at work on a cultural history of icebergs.
