Words That Might Save Necks
Philipp Khabo Koepsell, Epistemic Murder and Poetic Justice 1
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9853801 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sarah Colvin (0000-0002-2776-3185, University of Cambridge, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 511-536 |
| Publication date | 2021-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | German Life and Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-8777 • E-ISSN: 1468-0483 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/glal.12318 |
| OpenAlex | W3198781660 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
I begin with a poem of Koepsell's that questions the writing of poetry in times of political upheaval, and whether words can save necks. I then examine the collection Die Akte James Knopf for possible answers to those questions. José Medina conceptualises epistemic death, and Koepsell reveals the closeness of epistemic and actual death. I read Die Akte James Knopf as both a poetry collection and a dossier of evidence in a case of epistemic murder; it uncovers the mechanisms of racialised knowledge production/perpetuation, and produces what David Lloyd has called poetic justice. Medina writes of guerilla pluralism, which in this context I call provoking pluralism, because it privileges linguistic intervention over violence. In its grammar and effects, provoking pluralism is both irritating and potentially generative. I also conceive of ‘guerilla epistemology’, which operates a reversal, or revolution, of epistemic privilege. Koepsell provokingly acknowledges that the violence of epistemic injustice is, like other kinds of violence, tied to pleasure: racialised injustice sells. With his poetry and strategic use of humour, I argue, he produces counter‐pleasure, which infiltrates dominant knowledge and stimulates change. It might one day save someone's neck
Aesthetics · Art · Economic Justice · Epistemology · Injustice · Linguistics · Literature · Pleasure · Pluralism (philosophy · Poetry · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Critical Race Theory in Education · Critical Theory and Political Philosophy · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
|---|