Languages and peoples

The first fruit of a collaboration between Dabartis and Nieczytelne, which was brewing for some time. The publication features a multi-language translation (RU, PL, LT, EN) of Agamben’s essay Languages and Peoples (1995), inspired by his reading of the Situationist Alice Becker-Ho’s research on the argots of the dangerous classes of early Modernity. Accompanying Agamben’s foundational critique of language nationalism, is our collectively written afterwards. Exploring the gravity of the work decades later, from our standpoint as inhabitants of the territories of Eastern-central Europe, we approach the continuing bankruptcy of nationalism in an era that has seen the resurrection of the “People” in new configurations of populist resentment and militarism. Our text spends time placing the paths of liberation hinted at by Agamben—through the images of the “gypsy”, the refugee, diasporic jews and other stateless peoples—in an intimately regional and historical politics; one which needs to urgently answer questions posed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Format: A3 fold on recycled paper w/ silkscreened case