Rythmic Subject: The Measures of the Modern

Laura Marcus, 20219-2020 Paris IAS Fellow, presents her research project Rythmic Subject: The Measures of the Modern at the weekly internal web seminar.

This project explores the intense focus and the extensive literature on ‘rhythm’ in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in a range of disciplinary and cultural contexts, including philosophy, psychology, science, music, dance, film, aesthetics and litera-ture. A central line of exploration is that there is a deep concern with retaining human, natural and organic ‘rhythm’ in the face of the rise of machine culture. This project explores what is at stake in being a ‘rhythmical subject’ in the modern world.