“I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with colleagues and students at LiU, and learning more about the research conducted there,” she says.
Keti Chukhrov is an art and cultural theorist, with an interest in philosophy, politics, media theory and art. The three main areas of her current research are linked, and focus on the philosophy of performativity, the impact of non-libidinal (non-capitalist) political economics in socialist epistemology, and art as the institute of global contemporaneity.
Writer, poet and dramatist
In the spirit of Tage Danielsson, she is also an artist, with an eye for the written as well as the spoken word. She is a writer, poet, film maker and dramatist, has written books and plays.
I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with colleagues and students at LiU, and learning more about the research conducted there.
Her art, and maybe above all her poetry, portrays the changing society and the turbulence following the demise of the Soviet empire:
“I write dramatic poems which can be staged at the theatre or made as a performance video. They explore the post-Socialist conditions and the profane lifestyles found at the bottom of society”, Keti Chukhrov says about her poetry.
Her research is intrinsically linked to her artistry. It is based on her own dramatical writing and on close collaboration with other artists.
“I started researching the cultural and politico-economic issues of the socialist societies parallel to writing poems about how the post-Soviet transformation should be understood and evaluated. This experience made it evident that what seemed ‛natural’ in the socialist period in terms of social habits and cultural priorities was the effect of the politico-economic infrastructure. I saw that this disposition needed to be studied not only culturally and socially, but also philosophically,” says Keti Chukhrov.
With more than one string to her bow
At Linköping University, she will be based in the Department of Culture and Society, in the Language and Culture research environment, where language and literary studies are united in an interest in the interplay between language and culture in various contexts.
Her visiting professorship comprises a period n the spring of 2023, and September 2023 to June 2024. Photo credit Charlotte Perhammar
“Keti Chukhrov has more than one string to her bow. She’s not only a renowned scientist but also a writer and an artist. Her field of work combines several interests such as language, culture, philosophy, politics and art, which makes her particularly suited to the Tage Danielsson visiting professorship,” says Nigel Musk, head of research environment in the Department of Language and Culture.
The motivation of the drafting committee is: ‛Having a broad background in humanities and the arts, Keti Chukhrov will make an important contribution to research, teaching and intellectual discussions in a number of settings in the Department of Culture and Society and at Linköping University as a whole’.
Keti Chukhrov has long been with the School of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. In the autumn of 2022, she was with the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in Germany.
“Many academics, intellectuals and artists find themselves in a difficult situation due to Russia’s war in Ukraine. This makes it particularly important to invite Keti Chukhrov to the Tage Danielsson visiting professorship,” says Jesper Olsson, deputy head of research in the Department of Culture and Society and chairman of the drafting committee.
Research, workshops and lectures
As a visiting professor, Keti Chukhrov will focus on her ongoing research, organise workshops and lectures, and take part in seminars. She is also hoping to learn more about Tage Danielsson.
“It will be a challenge for me to learn more about Tage Danielsson and the context that he created in culture, media and academia.”
Translated by Anneli Mosell.
