Dr Jenny Doussan

Jenny is interested in the convergence of language and image in art, media and politics.

Staff details

Position

Lecturer in Visual Cultures

Department

Visual Cultures

Email

j.doussan (@gold.ac.uk)

Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups

Centre for Philosophy and Critical Thought

Jenny's research follows two trajectories: the first relates to material culture and the foundation of modernity, with an emphasis on the nineteenth-century; the second follows the work of Giorgio Agamben with respect to the experience of language, image and law. She also maintains an interest in techniques and theories of visibility and the physiological eye.

She is currently working on a manuscript based on her module 'Fashion as a Dialectical Image' that brings the urgency of the present to Walter Benjamin's sporadic thought on fashion.

Academic qualifications

PhD Visual Culture, Goldsmiths 2011
MA History of the Decorative Arts & Design, Parsons School of Design 2002
BA cum laude Studio Art, Loyola University, New Orleans 1999

Teaching and supervision

In addition to MA Dissertation supervision, Jenny teaches the third-year undergraduate option module 'Fashion as a Dialectical Image', which she is currently developing into a book, and the first-year core module 'Seeing & Showing'.

Jenny is interested in PhD projects that address the history and techniques of visibility, image / language, the performativity of law, and material culture including fashion and textiles.

Featured publications

2013: Time, Language and Visuality in Agamben's Philosophy

Grants and awards

2013: Early Career Research Fellowship, AHRC

Publications and research outputs

Book

Time, Language, and Visuality in Agamben's Philosophy Doussan, Jenny. 2013. Time, Language, and Visuality in Agamben's Philosophy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137286239

Book Section

Attestation 3 Doussan, Jenny. 2024. Attestation 3. In: Sarah Wilson; Michaël La Chance; Jenny Doussan; Carrie Pilto and Boris Groys, eds. Une œuvre d’art face au tribunal: sur Pornopolitique de Piotr Pavlenski. Paris: Au Diable Vauvert, pp. 51-65. ISBN 9791030706680
P. Doussan, Jenny. 2022. P. In: Pyotr Pavlensky, ed. Pornopolitics and Other Precedents. London: MOTHER, pp. 86-89. ISBN 9791041502981
Eros, Plague, Olfaction: Three Allegories of the Curatorial Doussan, Jenny. 2013. Eros, Plague, Olfaction: Three Allegories of the Curatorial. In: Jean-Paul Martinon, ed. The Curatorial A Philosophy of Curating. London: Bloomsbury Academic Publishing, pp. 79-92. ISBN 9781472525604

Article

Writing Lines: Agamben contra Nietzsche Doussan, Jenny. 2016. Writing Lines: Agamben contra Nietzsche. Cultural Critique, 92, pp. 114-136. ISSN 0882-4371
Time and Presence in Agamben’s Critique of Deconstruction Doussan, Jenny. 2013. Time and Presence in Agamben’s Critique of Deconstruction. Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 9(1), ISSN 1832-9101
The Scent of the Jonquil Doussan, Jenny. 2012. The Scent of the Jonquil. Rattle ~ A Journal at the Convergence of Art and Writing, 3,

Conference or Workshop Item

Protesting Law with the Law: The Case of Pyotr Pavlensky Doussan, Jenny. 2023. 'Protesting Law with the Law: The Case of Pyotr Pavlensky'. In: Critical Legal Conference 2023: Sanctuary. Durham University, United Kingdom 11-13 September 2023.
From Tigersprung to the Appropriation of Unreality: Between Benjamin and Agamben on Baudelaire Doussan, Jenny. 2019. 'From Tigersprung to the Appropriation of Unreality: Between Benjamin and Agamben on Baudelaire'. In: Baudelaire and Philosophy, British Society of Aesthetics Conference. Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom 5 - 6 June 2019.
Sovereign Will Doussan, Jenny. 2018. 'Sovereign Will'. In: Opening Potentialities: Thinking Ontology and Action with Giorgio Agamben. London, United Kingdom 15 November 2018.

Forgotten Witnessing Doussan, Jenny. 2017. 'Forgotten Witnessing'. In: Textile interpretations: materialising history, visual culture, design and anthropology. CHASE research training workshop. Constance Howard Gallery, Goldsmiths, University of London 4 May 2017.
Cultural Threads Doussan, Jenny. 2014. 'Cultural Threads'. In: Clothes, Cloth & Culture Group. Institute of International Visual Arts, London 27 November 2014.
Para‐ontology and the Governmental Machine Doussan, Jenny. 2014. 'Para‐ontology and the Governmental Machine'. In: Annual Meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA 2014). Seminar: 'Agamben, Capital, and the Homo Sacer Series: Economy, Poverty, People, Work'. New York University, United States 20 - 23 March 2014.
Fashion, Epistemology, and the Forgettable: Rethinking the Archive Doussan, Jenny. 2014. 'Fashion, Epistemology, and the Forgettable: Rethinking the Archive'. In: Fashioning the Archive: new approaches to materialising textile history. Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom 11 January 2014.
The Origin of Agamben’s Infancy Doussan, Jenny. 2013. 'The Origin of Agamben’s Infancy'. In: Annual Meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA 2013). University of Toronto, Canada 4 - 7 April 2013.
Origin and Immanence: Benjamin’s Art Historiography in the Trauerspiel Book Doussan, Jenny. 2013. 'Origin and Immanence: Benjamin’s Art Historiography in the Trauerspiel Book'. In: College Art Association Annual Conference 2013. 'To What End? Eschatology in Art Historiography'. New York, United States 13 - 16 February 2013.
Intentionality and Objecthood Doussan, Jenny. 2012. 'Intentionality and Objecthood'. In: Transforming Objects. Northumbria University, United Kingdom 28 - 29 May 2012.
Exceptional Aesthetics Doussan, Jenny. 2012. 'Exceptional Aesthetics'. In: 38th Annual Conference Association of Art Historians. 'Aesthetics and Politics (Again?)'. Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom 29 - 31 March 2012.
Agamben for and against Nietzsche's Eternal Return Doussan, Jenny. 2011. 'Agamben for and against Nietzsche's Eternal Return'. In: Annual Meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA 2011). 'Agamben and Foucault: Comparison, Interpretation, Contradiction'. Vancouver, Canada 31 March - 3 April 2011.
Messianic time and the problem of political action in the work of Agamben Doussan, Jenny. 2010. 'Messianic time and the problem of political action in the work of Agamben'. In: Waiting for the Political Moment. Utrecht University, Netherlands 17 - 19 June 2010.
Agamben’s Taking Place Doussan, Jenny. 2010. 'Agamben’s Taking Place'. In: Annual Meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA 2010). 'Agamben’s Intricate Meanings'. New Orleans, United States 1 - 4 April 2010.
What is Agamben's Apparatus? Doussan, Jenny. 2009. 'What is Agamben's Apparatus?'. In: Laboratory: Methods of Interart Studies. 'Close Reading'. Freie Universität Berlin, Germany 16 - 18 November 2009.
From Means Without End to State of Exception Doussan, Jenny. 2009. 'From Means Without End to State of Exception'. In: 'Forms of Engagement'. European Doctoral Seminar in Culture, Criticism, and Creativity. Copenhagen Doctoral School for Cultural Studies, Denmark 11 - 13 June 2009.
On the Specific in Contemporary Art and Curatorial Practice Doussan, Jenny. 2008. 'On the Specific in Contemporary Art and Curatorial Practice'. In: 'Art:Relations. Revisiting Crucial Concepts', European Doctoral Seminar in Culture, Criticism and Creativity. Freie Universität Berlin, Germany 30 October - 1 November 2008.

Broadcast

Paperweight Radio: Collections (S2, EP1) Kristensen, J C; Doussan, Jenny; Hannan, Leonie; Smith, Kate; Hendon, Zoë and Wildgoose, Jane. 2014. Paperweight Radio: Collections (S2, EP1).

Performance

Expert Witness at the trial of Pyotr Pavlensky Doussan, Jenny. 2023. Expert Witness at the trial of Pyotr Pavlensky. In: "Witness at the trial of Pyotr Pavlensky", Tribunal de grande instance de Paris, France, 28 June 2023.
Benjamin in Moscow Doussan, Jenny. 2012. Benjamin in Moscow. In: "dOCUMENTA 13. 'Readers Circle: 100 Notes - 100 Thoughts'", Kassel, Germany.

Professional Activity

Respondent - On Agamben and gesture Doussan, Jenny. 2018. Respondent - On Agamben and gesture.

Thesis

Intention and Exception: A Critique of the Work of Giorgio Agamben Doussan, Jenny. 2011. Intention and Exception: A Critique of the Work of Giorgio Agamben. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London

Conferences and talks

2023: Protesting Law with the Law: The Case of Pyotr Pavlensky
Critical Legal Conference