CIELO

"And the fact is that no one, until now, has determined what the body is capable of. (...) For no one has yet understood the structure of the body with sufficient precision to be able to explain all its functions, not to mention the fact that many things are observed in animals that far exceed human sagacity." These words by Spinoza probably pointed to possible ways of refocusing attention on the body beyond the human in new contexts and cultural relationships, inviting debate about its new meanings.

To develop these reflections, we consider the term “sympoiesis” to be appropriate, used by atomists and pre-Socratics to study the physical universe in its complex interaction of relationships, as well as in literature and the arts. In our context, we will draw on the observation of Donna Haraway, for whom sympoiesis is above all ‘a word for complex, dynamic, responsive, situated, and historical systems. It is a word that means “creating world together,” in company.’

In recent years, critical discourse has gained momentum in both the natural sciences and the humanities, challenging anthropocentrism in traditional ecological criticism, paradigms of human culture, and humanistic figuration. The terms ‘Anthropocene’ (Crutzen) and ‘Capitalocene’ (Malm) are frequently used, linked to a deeply negative view, as are other terms such as “solastalgia” and ‘extractivism.’ The aim of the colloquium, however, is not based on the urgent need to radically alter humanistic knowledge and culture. Rather than a negative reflection, in our case it would be more appropriate to discuss the conceptual framework of the ‘symbiocene’ proposed by environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht as an alternative oriented towards an agreement of symbiotic coexistence or interdependence between human beings and their environment, as well as its ‘sympoietic’ expression in literature and other arts.

Our debate is greatly influenced by the fact that recent decades have seen the rehabilitation of corporeality in art, along with an openness to interaction and co-creation between multiple agents (technological, biological, etc.). The body manifests itself as an inherent part of the work of art. The return to the body is a process of subjectivation and the complicated apprehension of identity, even more complex in an era of questioning humanity. Hence the proposal to explore and figurate the human body as a ‘place of images’ (Belting). In this context, Jean-Luc Nancy understands the body as ‘a whole corpus of images that pass from one body to another.’ For her part, Meri Torras Francés refers to the human body ‘as the ghost that haunts Western thought, on the very border of its in/visibility, as a dynamic game of absent presences and present absences, constituted by the codes that enable us to recognise ourselves as other and with the other.’ At this point, we propose going further and reflecting on the human body in interaction not only with other human bodies, but also with other entities (animals, plants). For example, Brian Massumi, based on recent research that highlights creativity in nature and ‘artisticity,’ proposes rethinking the very nature of instinct and, thus, animality itself, restoring the human to the animal continuum. 

The philosopher Vinciane Despret, for her part, draws on Spinoza's ideas to discuss some research on the physical approach to animals, “interphysiology” (the science of body agency), on the possibility of becoming, but ‘not exactly of becoming the other in metamorphosis, but with the other, not to feel what the other thinks or feels (...) but to welcome and create, in some way, the possibility of entering into a relationship of exchange and proximity that has nothing to do with a relationship of identification.’

Thematic areas for reflecting on the figurations of the body:

1. Deformation and metamorphosis of bodies (of humans, animals, plants)
2. Body and myth
3. Body and performativity
4. Bodies and extreme experiences

Information and registration

All papers related to the defined thematic areas are welcome. Those interested can submit their abstract via the registration form (maximum 300 words). Presentations will last 20 minutes.
The deadline for submitting proposals is 15 February 2026.
The deadline for communicating the acceptance of proposals will be 1 March 2026.

Working languages: Spanish and Portuguese.

Registration fee: €180 (€120 for doctoral students).

Organising committee: Daniel Nemrava, Zuzana Jurajdová, Markéta Riebová, Jakub Hromada, Zuzana Burianová, Diego Samuelle Guillén.

Email: cielo@upol.cz 

Registration form