[Commlist] Radical ventriloquism: Acts of speaking through and speaking for

Radical ventriloquism: Acts of speaking through and speaking for
Stream Organisers: Lee Campbell and Christabel Harley
Saturday 6th July
Goldsmiths,University of London

Ventriloquism, in its most common usage, refers to a form of popular 
entertainment consisting of performers giving voice to inanimate objects 
through a careful interplay between what is heard and what is seen. The 
beginnings of ventriloquism can be cited in the jester’s scepter. The 
jester gained power by not using his own voice. He spoke through the 
voice of his scepter—a miniature representation of his own face. 
Similarly, ventriloquists speak through their puppets as a way of 
“distancing” themselves from criticism.

This stream explores expanded forms of ventriloquism and asks: ‘What may 
constitute a radical ventriloquism?’ and explores the possibilities of 
‘radical ventriloquism’ and its potential as useful and applicable to 
enabling important discussions about what it may mean to ‘speak through’ 
and ‘speak for’ others/objects/things across a range of 
artistic/creative disciplines. Whilst recognising that ‘in Nietzsche’, 
as suggests David Goldblatt, ‘the artist allows certain forces which he 
designates at will, to move and speak through him.’, this stream 
includes presentations from individuals and groups from beyond arts and 
humanities to explore how, for example, a scientist would conceptualise 
‘radical ventriloquism’?

Leading on from the previous quote, Goldblatt, in Art and ventriloquism 
usefully goes on to remind us that, ‘in Foucault, while certain persons 
speak for things (art and nature), persons also speak for other persons, 
those muted in the social Diaspora such as the mad, the poor, the sick, 
and the imprisoned.’ Disability is often presented and represented by 
abled-bodied medics and others. This aligns with Linda Alcoff’s 
assertion in The Problem of Speaking for Others (1992) that ‘privileged 
authors who speak on behalf of the oppressed is becoming increasingly 
criticized by members of those oppressed groups themselves’. In 
response, presentations theorise, articulate and demonstrate how radical 
ventriloquism nudges at these crucial debates: ethics/politics of 
representation / giving voice to those ‘marginalised’.

We shall question who gets to (and who should) speak for whom. We are 
most interested in receiving submissions that reflect upon how radical 
ventriloquism may be understood in critical pedagogy terms in relation 
to, for example, decolonizing the curriculum. What does it mean for a 
white person to be lecturing on postcolonial theory, a white man 
teaching feminism, or, as Calvin Thomas explores in Straight with a 
Twist (1999), a straight man lecturing on queer theory?

Further information:
Dr Lee Campbell, University of Arts London
(lee.campbell /at/ arts.ac.uk)

Christabel Harley, University of Arts London
(c.harley /at/ csm.arts.ac.uk)

REGISTER HERE: www.londoncritical.org / @LondonCritical


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