The Official Launch of Stretching the Contemporary. A Detective Investigation into the Possibility of Shared Presence 
by Václav Janoščík

27. 6. 2020 from 5PM

The publication Stretching the Contemporary. A Detective Investigation into the Possibility of Shared Presence follows two directions. On the one hand it summarizes the dynamic of detective fiction, from classic instalments (Raymond Chandler) via iconic movies (Rear Window, Memento) to serial narration (The Sopranos, Les Revenantes, Top of the Lake and Rectify). The serial adaptation of and experimentation with the genre is in focus particularly as it connects with a post-structuralist philosophy of repetition. The second axis of the book goes in search of a philosophy of presence from poststructuralism and the affective turn to original accounts of politics of identity and reality. The book attempts a cross-examination – a reading of detective fiction through philosophy, and making philosophy a subject of investigation. In this way detective narration is reinterpreted as a quest for temporal orientation, which would provide us with something as important as the shared concept of the contemporary. In other words, detectives are not only trying to identify the murderer but also the shifts and breaks in time that mark our present situation.

The program of the CCA Prague is possible through kind support of Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Prague City Council, State Fund of Culture of the Czech Republic, City District Prague 7
Partners: Kostka stav
Media support: ArtMap, jlbjlt.net, UMA: You Make Art