Putting the Circular Project of (Self-)Reflexivity Under Precession: Producing Diffractions at the Scene of Address

• In Event: Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Power, Position, and Reflexivity

Abstract

The (im)possibility of ethical action that is strived for through practices of (self-)reflexivity is deeply tied to the structure of address at which accounts of oneself are given, shaping what can be said, as well as how. Intra-actions between the “self” that is (re)produced, the (pre-supposed) “other” that is addressed, and the relations of power at the site of address often generate circular motions within (self-)reflexivity through which difference is subsumed under sameness. Taking seriously the materiality of the scene of address in order to put (self-)reflexivity under precession, I argue that the material/discursive properties of video diaries produce a discomforting, spatial-temporal torque that disrupts this circular motion and produce diffractive patterns within “self”, “other”, and the structure of address.

Author

• Marc Roderick Higgins, The University of British Columbia