Fall 2018 seminar: Ph.D. candidate, comparative literature
Born and raised in Estonia, Oliver Aas is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Comparative Literature. Aas has previously studied in the Netherlands, Hungary, and the U.S. An environmental humanist, his project is situated the intersection of anthropogenic climate change and critical theory, suggesting that theoretical interventions have as much to offer in understanding our epochal predicament as natural sciences. He has become especially interested in modes of representation that can help make visible and legible problems that, no matter how harmful and pervasive, unfold unbeknownst to us. For instance, how can we represent things like deep-drilling or complex processes of financialization that thus far have defied our imagination? And if these phenomena, then, were to find “uncovering” in a narrative (or pictorial) form, would it make a difference in our capacity to understand and mitigate climate change? His other thematic interests include theories of modernity and subjectivity, biopolitics, psychoanalysis (especially trauma and mourning), performance theory, infrastructure studies, space and temporality, media theories, critiques of capital, and post-45 literature. In his spare time, he practices yoga, Pilates, and, however poorly, surfing. He also maintains an interest in the Turkish language and studies it when the opportunity arises.