From New Fascism to Mimetic Studies

In this talk, Nidesh Lawtoo takes the recent Portuguese translation of “(New) Fascism” ((Novo) Fascismo – Contágio, Comunidade, Mito, 2026, Sistema Solar – Documenta) as a springboard to analyze the contagious affective forces that led Donald Trump to power in the US and are currently at play in the rise of far-right movements in Europe as well. If the ancient concept of mimesis, and its link to emotional contagion, mythic communities and new media is generative of political pathologies, the field of mimetic studies shows that humans tendency to imitate goes beyond good and evil and can be put to democratic use as well.

The lecture will take place on 20 November, from 15:00 to 17:00, in room 219 of Colégio Almada Negreiros (Campolide Campus), and will be delivered in English. Admission is free.

The following day, 21 November, at 18:00, Nidesh Lawtoo’s book (Novo) Fascismo – Contágio, Comunidade, Mito will be launched at the Arpad Szenes–Vieira da Silva Foundation Auditorium. The event will feature the author, Nidesh Lawtoo, translators Teresa Projecto and Sara Belo, and Pedro Bismarck, and will be opened and chaired by Professor Maria João Mayer Branco, an integrated member of IFILNOVA. All are welcome. More information here.

Bio

Nidesh Lawtoo is a philosopher, literary critic and Professor of Modern and Contemporary European Literature and Culture at Leiden University, in the Netherlands. He led the ERC project “Homo Mimeticus” and he is the author of several books that open up the interdisciplinary field of mimetic studies including, The Phantom of the Ego (2013), (New) Fascism (2019), and Homo Mimeticus (2022), soon forthcoming in Portuguese translation with Sistema Solar – Documenta.