The theme of boredom is deeply rooted in our cultural tradition. From antiquity to the present day, it has been the subject of relentless analysis, both in theoretical and narrative terms. Whether understood as a symptom, a sin, or a state of mind that reveals the human condition, boredom—by virtue of the kind of temporality and spatiality it gives rise to—has never ceased to challenge us. Today, however, it seems there is no longer any room for the time of boredom, except when the world and the self lose their loquacity, as in episodes of melancholy and depression. Then time loses its dynamism and space its significance. Nevertheless, let us ask ourselves: do not the constant distractions to which we are subjected, the schizotopic and thanatocronic regimes in which we are immersed, speak to us of a boredom that our lives are no longer able to face? And so what does boredom have to say to us today, compared to the great themes of the past?
The video recording of the conference will be viewable on the official YouTube channel of the Eranos Foundation.
