The Drift of Time (DoT) is a series on time conceptualisation in archaeology I'll run on my blog for the festival CHAT 2020.
While archaeology is essentially a time-centric field, scarcely as archaeologist’s do we turn our lenses inward and interrogate the ways in which we perceive and project our own conceptualisations of time. I feel that it is crucial in our discipline to challenge the pedagogic and institutionalised preference for periodisation and absolutism — especially when it comes to interpreting and writing the past.
I propose that we instead tread innovative paths, counter to our ordinary ensconced views on time. By employing concepts of literary theory—like end-stopping and enjambment—I will use poetic expression, accompanied by visual art anecdotes, to talk about time. This years online festival run by the CHAT (Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory) group has motivated me to launch this site where I can focus on conceptions of time in archaeology as well as dissemination of my research in the near future, poster up people who have shaped the field, and take some deep dives into a theme in archaeology. Using timed posts for the last week of October 2020 I will be publishing a post each day that the festival runs (see below for timeline). I'll focus primarily on conceptions of time in tandem with a literary term, enjambment. Using this blog format enables y'all to engage with the content in a comments section so please get let me know your thoughts!
Friday 23/10 The Asymmetry of Time
Saturday 24/10 Time's Arrow: End-Stopping
Sunday 25/10 Time's Arrow: The Law of Impermanence
Monday 26/10 Pompeii Premise: Still Life
Tuesday 27/10 Palimpsests: Collection
Wednesday 28/10 Palimpsests: Double Exposure
Thursday 29/10 Time Perspectivism: Pointilism
Friday 30/10 Alternative Conceptualisation: Enjambment
Image: Sea of Buddhas 001 1995 by Hiroshi Sugimoto
See you all soon!