The annual POIESIS journal is supported by the European Graduate School (EGS), Switzerland. EGS offers low-residency masters and doctoral programs in the Division of Arts, Health and Society (www.expressivearts.egs.edu), and in the Division of Philosophy, Art and Critical Thought (www.egs.edu).
The theme for POIESIS Volume 21: Next Steps, New Beginnings
From the Editorial Introduction:
What does it mean to begin, to make our next step a true beginning, one in which we are not just repeating ourselves but instead are introducing something radically new into the world?
In this issue of POIESIS 2024, Gaza is never far from mind.
Human rights experts consider the current bombardment of Gaza to be a form of genocide. The irony of history, then, is that the descendants of the people who were themselves victims of genocide are now the perpetrators of it. This is history repeating itself-but with a vengeance. The American philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." It seems that those who can only remember the past will repeat it as well.
To truly remember is to begin again. We break the cycle of history when we are capable of an act of remembrance. This is what we call poiesis (to know through creating). The aim of the POIESIS journal is to remember who we are and what we have done, so that we can begin to go on a different path, a path that, we would say, is the path of non-violence. In Taoist thinking, this is called wu-wei, "non-doing." It refers to the kind of action which occurs without the imposition of the will, without trying to force anything to happen but rather to allow it to happen. This, then, would be a break in the history of violence-an act of poiesis.
We like to say that poiesis is always possible. Is this true? Only our writers and readers can tell. Our hope is that the journal will inspire us to take that next step of poiesis and make a beginning for all.
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