The purpose of this paper is to consider whether aesthetic representation can constitute “world”-traveling as conceived by Maria Lugones in Pilgrimages/Peregrinajes? In order to determine whether Lugones’ conception of “world”-traveling can accommodate aesthetic representation, I first clarify Lugones’ purpose in proposing this concept, while also highlighting specific criteria of “world”-traveling that potentially offer the possibility of expanding the notion of “world”-travel. I then turn to Stuart Hall’s concept of representation as language and the circuit of culture in which it participates, and argue that Hall’s theory of a politics of representation can be used to expand upon Lugones’ “world”-traveling in order to create greater opportunities for coalition building. While representation can be used to malign groups, reinforce stereotypes, and act as a vehicle for negative content, it can also serve a positive role. This positive role, previously identified by Hall in “New Ethnicities,” is capable of redressing and replacing the negative content assigned to racialized groups with positive content, both accounting for and correcting the historical erasure of racialized perspectives and bodies. Utilizing examples of artists, poets, and writers, such as Kehinde Wiley and Nayyirah Waheed, I argue that aesthetic representation and the unique character of creative works is crucial to furthering better discourse around race, gender, and class. Finally, I put forth an argument for reading “world”-travel in two ways: (1) the original presentation of “world”-travel by Lugones, which I will term a “strong” interpretation; and (2) a “weak” interpretation that creates space for the beginnings of coalition building through creative works and across all races, genders, and classes. Utilizing my prior argument for the value and power of aesthetic representations, I show what weak “world”-traveling entails and how it could offer novel opportunities to foster coalition building across the various intersections of ethnorace, gender, and class.
About the presenterDrew Dumaine
Drew Dumaine is a doctoral student in Philosophy at Marquette University. In 2013 she received an MA from SUNY - Stony Brook in Medical Humanities, Bioethics and Compassionate Care. Her areas of interest include medical humanities,feminist philosophy, aesthetics, and philosophy of education.