Deep Time: (Durch) geologische Zeit erzählen und erklären

Registration for the workshop by 31 May 2024 at koordination@aitiologie.de. Registration for the reading is not required.

Over the last centuries, the concept of “deep time” has reached far beyond the subject of geology—despite referring to its time scales—and gained a strong foothold in the humanities and social sciences. Accordingly, current research focusses on the content as well as the epistemological prerequisites and political consequences of “deep time.” Furthermore, it also increasingly explores how the concept, depending on its disciplinary context, is being varied and represented.

This two-day interdisciplinary workshop examines how the concept of deep time is implemented in different academic disciplines, social discourses, public forums, and artistic practices. It focusses on the relationship between narration and explication: Does deep time have a special explanatory capacity? To what extent does it potentially differ from other (biological, historical, cultural) times? Does it build a specific type of connection between past and present? What rhetorical, narrative, and visual strategies are being used to mediate the extensive periods of deep time in scientific argumentations, popular communication, and artistic works?

An event organized by the DFG Research Unit Aetiologies: Founding Narratives in Literary, Scholarly, and Scientific Discourses.

Fig. above: Hutton’s Unconformity: detail of a rock formation where graywacke meets sandstone, © Magnus Hagdorn.