‘Theory of the Gimmick– Aesthetic Judgment and Capitalist Form’ by Sianne Ngai (English, University of Chicago)

Discussants

Mark Greif (English, Stanford University)
Joseph Jonghyun Jeon (University of California, Irvine)
Leigh Claire LaBerge (The City University of New York)

Repulsive and yet strangely attractive, the gimmick is a form that can be found virtually everywhere in capitalism. It comes in many guises: a musical hook, a financial strategy, a striptease, a novel of ideas. Above all, acclaimed theorist Sianne Ngai argues, the gimmick strikes us both as working too little (a labor-saving trick) and as working too hard (a strained effort to get our attention).

On Zoom, April 29, 2021 at 10 a.m C.S.T.

Register https://northwestern.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIvcOisrj8qGNwQeQ9wQcBpDWpCdY4DwxZ8