Through a series of writing workshops, Phoebe Hadjimarkos Clarke invites participants to explore the concept of mourning, not only from a human perspective but by broadening the reflection to include animal species that also have concepts of death and mourning rituals. Numerous species, such as elephants, primates, orcas, crows, and even dogs and cats, have exhibited behaviors that suggest genuine mourning processes or even what could be considered rituals. An emerging field, comparative thanatology, examines these fascinating phenomena and invites us to rethink our relationship with death and living beings.

Starting from this crucial question, the workshop takes a transdisciplinary approach, addressing biological, philosophical, anthropological, and poetic issues. The question of mourning resonates even more intensely today in the face of ecological crises and the sixth mass extinction, raising concerns about our own relationship with life and mortality, as well as the collective grief linked to the destruction of life. How can we think about living beings and the threats they face without considering mourning and death? How can we think about mourning in a world undergoing profound change?

Through both individual and collective writing, this workshop seeks to develop this reflection, beginning with a fictional premise: the discovery of undeniable evidence of a complex mourning ritual system in one or more animal species. This discovery will disrupt our understanding of animals and our relationships with them, leading to profound changes in human societies, which we will narrate together. Drawing inspiration from the work of American philosopher Donna Haraway, who views our capacity to “grieve” as an essential tool for thinking and staying with the trouble^¹, the workshop will offer a space to collectively reflect on mourning, intertwining it with other living beings, the dead, and those on the brink of extinction.

This workshop, spanning three sessions, will invite each participant to craft a fictional chronicle of this discovery and the resulting transformations, in a world where mourning and collective experiences are interwoven and shared across species. These intertwined worlds of animals, plants, the dead, and the living—both human and non-human—will also open up possibilities for thinking about new ways of storytelling, creating narratives through a tapestry of voices that stretch and intertwine in multiple directions. Inspired by the non-linear “carrier-bag” fiction of Ursula Le Guin, we will attempt to create an encompassing and plural narrative space around the capacity to mourn-with, to grieve-with.

^¹Title of her book Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene published by Duke University Press Books in 2010.

Information and pre-registration with the Pôle Culture of Université Paris Cité:
Workshop reserved for Université Paris Cité students, researchers and staff.
Capacity is limited. Please check your availability for all three workshop dates.
Grands Moulins Campus
5 rue Thomas Mann, 75 013 Paris
pre-registration: https://sondage.app.u-paris.fr/855556?lang=fr