Author: Carla Nappi

Essays, Stories

The Elizabeths (A Working Paper)

On May 21 2015, I participated in a gathering at Princeton devoted to an experiment in “conjectural historiography”: imagining and memorializing historians who never existed, but should have. My contribution to this collective performance took the form of a memorial to four women, all named Elizabeth, all inspired by medical cases from The Casebooks Project, and all devoted to histories of and with basic material stuff. Here’s the text of … Continue reading The Elizabeths (A Working Paper)

Unknown's avatarCarla Nappi
Podcasts

Shanghai Homes: An Interview

Jie Li’s new book Shanghai Homes: Palimpsests of Private Life (Columbia University Press, 2015) explores the history and culture of Shanghai alleyway homes by focusing on two physical spaces, both built in the early twentieth century by Japanese and British companies, and both located in the industrial Yangshupu district in the eastern part of what was the International Settlement in Shanghai. An old house, here, is a … Continue reading Shanghai Homes: An Interview

Unknown's avatarCarla Nappi
Podcasts

Shifting Stories: An Interview

Sarah M. Allen’s new book looks at the literature of tales in eighth- and ninth-century China. Shifting Stories: History, Gossip, and Lore in Narratives from Tang Dynasty China (Harvard University Asia Center, 2014) situates Tang tales in the context of social story exchange among elite men. Allen’s work not only contributes significantly to how we understand and frame concepts like fiction and fact, authorship, gossip, and collection, … Continue reading Shifting Stories: An Interview

Unknown's avatarCarla Nappi
Podcasts

Laruelle: An Interview

What is non-philosophy, what would it look like to practice it, and what are the implications of doing so? Alexander R. Galloway introduces and explores these questions in a vibrant and thoughtful new book. Laruelle: Against the Digital (University of Minnesota Press, 2014) uses François Laruelle’s non-philosophy as a foundation for considering the philosophical concept of digitality.  We had a chance to talk about it for the New Books in … Continue reading Laruelle: An Interview

Unknown's avatarCarla Nappi
Stories

Translating Recipes Part 10 & 11: Recipes, Time, Space, and “After”

The most recent parts of a multi-part series exploring time and space in (Manchu) recipe literature and in translation were just posted at The Recipes Project. You can find them here and here. This one focuses on exploring the work of “after”-ness in recipe literature, and it includes a relevant translation of our multiply-translated Manchu recipe. Links to the entire Translating Recipes series (so far) can be found on the … Continue reading Translating Recipes Part 10 & 11: Recipes, Time, Space, and “After”

Unknown's avatarCarla Nappi
News

The City as Phantasm

On April 29, Cabinet Magazine in NYC hosted a conversation among Dominic Pettman and I (punctuated and elevated by gorgeous films created by Merritt Symes) about our respective books, each inspired by Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. (Dominic’s beautiful book was recently published, and mine is in progress and should be out soon.) Better put, it really wasn’t a conversation between us, but between those books: we wove our writing together … Continue reading The City as Phantasm

Unknown's avatarCarla Nappi
News

What History Could Have Been: A Symposium

On May 21, a handful of historically-minded people will gather at Princeton to participate in an experiment in “conjectural historiography”: imagining and memorializing historians who never existed, but should have. It will be fabulous, it will be the beginning of something, it will be an experiment, and anyone who is in the area is warmly invited to join us. I’ll be sharing some reflections on a group … Continue reading What History Could Have Been: A Symposium

Unknown's avatarCarla Nappi
News

The City as Phantasm: Upcoming Event in NYC!

Hey NYC folks! Come to Brooklyn later this month to see Dominic Pettman and I attempt to translate our two Italo Calvino-inspired books into a hybrid, beautiful, monstrous third entity with help from the film artist Merritt Symes. This is not a two-talks kind of a thing: it will be a performance blending two books and some gorgeous film interludes together to create something new. April 29, … Continue reading The City as Phantasm: Upcoming Event in NYC!

Unknown's avatarCarla Nappi
Essays, News

Working Paper – “Magical History, A Lion’s Tail, and A Lock of Hair”

Last week, I was fortunate to be part of a truly magical gathering at the Smart Museum of the University of Chicago: a colloquium devoted to the theme of “Repurposing Magic.” It was an incredibly inspiring day, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to learn in such wonderful company. Here’s a prosed-out version of the 20-minute talk I gave at the colloquium, offered … Continue reading Working Paper – “Magical History, A Lion’s Tail, and A Lock of Hair”

Unknown's avatarCarla Nappi
Podcasts

Tales of Futures Past: An Interview

Paola Iovene’s new book is a beautiful exploration of visions of the future as they have shaped a range of texts, genres, and editorial practices in Chinese literature from the middle of the twentieth century through the beginning of the twenty-first century. Tales of Futures Past traces ideas of the future through children’s books, popular science, science fiction, poetry, fiction, and other kinds of text and practice. … Continue reading Tales of Futures Past: An Interview

Unknown's avatarCarla Nappi