From Servitude to Cognitive Sovereignty.
From Servitude to Cognitive Sovereignty.

Research Perspectives on Contemporary Knowledge-Creative Practices of Local Cultures

Summary/Abstract: In this paper, the author attempts to outline the cognitive benefits of studying contemporary knowledge-creative practices of local cultures. She perceives such practices as a response to the demands formulated within decolonial studies and the new humanities to remedy the epistemic injustice typical of the Western world. Beginning with Boaventura de Sousa Santos’s concept of epistemicide and its specific relevance to the Polish cultural context, the author shows how it can be opposed within the framework of various models of situated and relational cognitive practices developed within decolonial, feminist and performance studies. At the same time, she enquires what modifications must be made to these models in the context of Central and Eastern Europe to foster the development of humanities, both locally and in a broader global context. Analyzing the recent performances in the cultural milieu of Upper Silesia and Dąbrowa Basin, i.e., Teatr Śląski (Silesian Theatre) in Katowice, Teatr Korez (Korez Theatre) in Katowice, and Teatr Zagłębia (Zagłębie Theatre) in Sosnowiec, the author proposes her concepts of local knowledge, which she calls ethno-nostalgia and ethno-futurism. She treats them as examples of micro-utopias which can, firstly, have an apotropaic function in the face of contemporary challenges and, secondly, be an alternative to the various versions of ‘folk histories of Poland’ that are currently emerging, and thirdly, develop the idea of pluriversum put forth within decolonial studies. Furthermore, the paper presents the author’s future research agenda at the Laboratory for the Study of Knowledge-Creative Practices of Local Cultures that has been recently opened at the Jagiellonian University.

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