Anthropophagic Sounds
Panel 3: “Anthropophagic Sounds” at the International Conference “The other 68: Anthropophagic Revolutions in Brazilian Counterculture after 1968” at Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt am Main, 23-25 May 2018
Chair: Rembert Hüser (Frankfurt)
Christopher Dunn (New Orleans)
Tom Zé, or, Side B of Tropicália
This presentation will focus on experimental pop artist Tom Zé, a key figure in the tropicalist movement of 1968 together with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Gal Costa, who all came from the northeastern state of Bahia. Although he enjoyed some early commercial success, Tom Zé pursued experimental/avant-garde musical practices (ie. the use of unusual time signatures, discordant harmonies and melodies, tape loops, street recordings, aleatory sounds, and invented instruments), constituting an alternative tradition within Tropicália, which may be understood as kind of “side B” to the more commercial “side A” on a vinyl record.
Detlef Diederichsen (Berlin)
Short Summer of Distortion
On first look it might seem as though the Brazilian popular music of the rebellious year of 1968 was in perfect sync with the creations of the colleagues from the northern part of the continent and overseas. The recordings of Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso and Mutantes were bubbling with psychedelic guitar insanities, sound effect overkill and exalted vocals. On a closer look we find that the distorted guitars of the Tropicalists were significantly different from the majority of the contmeporary psychedelic guitar players. This paper explores that difference.
Presented by:
The conference is part of the series “Tropical Underground” and is organized by the Cluster of Excellence “Normative Orders” with the Department of Theatre, Cinema and Media Studies at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt.
News from the research center
AI Truth Regimes
Artificial intelligence is currently transforming the way knowledge and truth are produced and understood. With the advent of AI, people are progressively transitioning from being active subjects and producers of epistemic processes to becoming their mere objects. The of this discussion will be critical engagements towards these developments as well as opportunities for resistance. With Antonio Somaini, Júlia Nueno Guitart (Forensic Architecture) and Medico International.
more information ›The Legacy of Kant’s Political Philosophy
A two-day workshop on Howard Williams‘ new book about Immanuel Kant‘s political philosophy.
more information ›Wehrhafte Demokratie: Chancen und Grenzen des Parteiverbots
Im Mittelpunkt des Abends steht die Frage, ob und unter welchen verfassungsrechtlichen, politischen und gesellschaftlichen Voraussetzungen ein Verbot einer demokratisch gewählten, rechtsnational ausgerichteten Partei als legitimes Mittel in Betracht gezogen werden kann oder nicht. Ausgehend von den normativen Grundlagen des Parteienverbots im Grundgesetz, möchten wir die hohen rechtlichen Hürden und demokratietheoretischen Spannungsfelder dieser Maßnahme erörtern – zwischen Pluralismus und Selbstverteidigung, zwischen Meinungsfreiheit und Schutz der freiheitlichen demokratischen Grundordnung.
more information ›Rechtsextremismus und Polizei - Erscheinungsformen, Umgangsweisen, Perspektiven
Die Diskussion knüpft an den Sammelband „Rechtsextremismus als Herausforderung für Polizei und Gesellschaft“ an, der aktuelle Perspektiven aus Wissenschaft, Praxis und Zivilgesellschaft zusammenführt.
more information ›Videopodcast-Reihe „Our Planet, Our Health“ gestartet
Mit „Our Planet, Our Health“ startet eine neue Videopodcast-Reihe zu Fragen globaler Gesundheitsgerechtigkeit. Die Reihe, gehostet von Dr. Romina Rekers, ist eine Initiative des Global Health Justice Postdoctoral Programme (GHJ), gefördert von der Höppschen Stiftung.
more information ›Disinhibited Informalization: Talk Radio, Bro Podcasts and the Aesthetics of Populism
This essay by Johannes Völz is a revised and updated translation of “Enthemmte Informalisierung: Talk Radio, Bro-Podcasts und die Ästhetik des Populismus,” WestEnd: Neue Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung 22.2 (2025): 3–24. It is published here as part of the b2o Review’s “Stop the Right” dossier.
more information ›DGTF Conference 2026: Shifting Regimes, Changing Orders
Conference as part of WDC 2026 in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Designtheorie und -forschung (DGTF), Kunstgewerbemuseum/Design Campus SKD and Design and Democracy
more information ›Körpergeschlecht und Selbstbestimmung
Britz, Gabriele (2026): "Körpergeschlecht und Selbstbestimmung". In. Mangold, Anna Katharina; Völzmann, Berit (Hrsg.): Gerechtigkeit als Thema der Rechtswissenschaft, Nomos, S. 41-48.
more information ›