The Theoretical Archaeology Seminar At Athens is a collaborative venture with the Irish Institute for Hellenic Studies. The next seminar organized in this series is titled “The Phenomenon of ‘Phantom Place’ and Ships.”
The seminar, led by Dr. Chryssanthi Papadopoulou (Leventis Fellow at BSA), aims to discuss the phenomenon of ‘phantom place’, and its occurrences and impact on our experience of Place. This phenomenon, which finds its equivalent in Merleau-Ponty’s analysis of the phantom limb, manifests itself when a bygone place acquires such representational value in absentia so as to determine our experience of the tangible place. To elaborate further on the impacts of this phenomenon an alternative spatiality will be employed as a case study: the ship. This talk will show how a warship (the Classical Athenian trireme) was perceived in absentia in its original context and how its place transformed into an unparalleled phantom which has haunted subsequent generations from antiquity until today. It will also demonstrate how the absent place of a ship becomes a powerful presence in the experience of shipwreck sites by maritime archaeologists. Thus, through the place of the ship we will trace the diachronicity and implications of the phenomenon of the phantom place on human cognition of Place.
The seminar will take place at 7.00 pm on Thursday January 30th 2014 at the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies (IIHSA) at 51a Odos Notara, Exarcheia Athens. Numbers are limited to 15, so interested participants are kindly requested to RSVP by email ([email protected]) to book a place and request the readings.
