Nidesh Lawtoo
| Nidesh Lawtoo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1976 Bellinzona, Switzerland |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Mimetic theory, mimetic studies, Homo Mimeticus project |
Nidesh Lawtoo (born 1976 in Bellinzona, Switzerland) is a Swiss philosopher and literary theorist of Swiss and Mauritian descent. He is Professor of Modern and Contemporary European Literature and Culture at Leiden University and Research Professor of Philosophy at KU Leuven. His work focuses on theories of mimesis (imitation) in philosophy, literature, political theory, and media studies. He is principal investigator of the European Research Council–funded project Homo Mimeticus.
Early life and education
Lawtoo was born in Bellinzona, Switzerland, and grew up in the Mesolcina valley in Graubünden. He studied English Literature, Social Sciences and Philosophy at the University of Lausanne and received a PhD in Comparative Literature and Critical Theory from the University of Washington.
Academic career
Lawtoo has held academic positions in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands. He was a Visiting Fellow at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, and an SNSF Visiting Scholar at Johns Hopkins University. He has held academic appointments at KU Leuven and later became Professor at Leiden University.
He received an ERC Starting Grant (2016–2022) for the project Homo Mimeticus: Theory and Criticism.
Research
Lawtoo's research focuses on theories of mimesis in continental philosophy, literary modernism, and cultural theory. His work engages with thinkers including Plato, Friedrich Nietzsche, Georges Bataille, Jacques Derrida, René Girard, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, and Jean-Luc Nancy.[citation needed]
He has proposed "mimetic studies" as a transdisciplinary framework for examining imitation, affect, and cultural contagion across philosophy, media theory, and political analysis. This field finds in Nietzsche a main precursor and provides an a-theological, immanent alternative to Girard's Christian mimetic theory.[1]
Literary and modernist studies
Lawtoo monograph The Phantom of the Ego: Modernism and the Mimetic Unconscious (2013)[2] examines imitation and subject formation in modernist literature. In a review in Modern Language Quarterly, the book is described as a "major intervention into modernist studies" and is noted for its engagement with philosophical and neuroscientific approaches to subjectivity.[3]
Conrad studies
Lawtoo's work on Joseph Conrad includes Conrad's Shadow: Catastrophe, Mimesis, Theory (2016),[4][5] which received the Adam Gillon Award from the Joseph Conrad Society of America (2018), recognising its contribution to Conrad scholarship and literary theory. A reviewer in The Conradian states: "The study's originality lies not only in its choice of theoretical and critical paradigms but also in its method of presentation."[6]
Political theory and fascism studies
In (New) Fascism: Contagion, Community, Myth (2019),[7][8] Lawtoo applies theories of mimesis to contemporary political phenomena including populism, media, and collective affect. In academic reviews, the book is discussed as a contribution to analyses of crowd psychology and political contagion, drawing on traditions associated with Gustave Le Bon, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Georges Bataille.
Homo Mimeticus project
Lawtoo is principal investigator of the ERC-funded Homo Mimeticus project, which examines imitation across philosophy, literature, neuroscience, and political theory.[citation needed]
His book Homo Mimeticus: A New Theory of Imitation (2022)[9] has been reviewed as a transdisciplinary study engaging philosophy, psychology, political theory, the arts, and neuroscience. A review in Project MUSE situates the book as a significant contribution to contemporary debates on imitation, media, and political affect.[10] This book was followed by a mini-series on Homo Mimeticus at Leuven University Press.[citation needed]
Public engagement
Lawtoo has participated in public-facing academic discussions through lectures and recorded conversations related to his research on mimesis and media theory. These include a TEDx Talk titled A Mirror for the Future, addressing themes of imitation, media, and contemporary cultural and political transformation.[11]
He has also conducted recorded interviews and discussions within the framework of the Homo Mimeticus project with scholars including Edgar Morin, William E. Connolly, J. Hillis Miller, Vittorio Gallese, Judith Butler, and Catherine Malabou.[12]
Reception
Lawtoo's work has been the subject of peer-reviewed academic reviews in journals in literary theory, philosophy, and cultural studies. His publications have been described in reviews as contributing to contemporary debates on mimesis, media, and political affect, particularly in relation to traditions of continental philosophy and theories of crowd psychology.[citation needed]
In a review of The Phantom of the Ego, Modern Language Quarterly describes the book as a "major intervention into modernist studies" and highlights its interdisciplinary engagement with philosophy and neuroscience.[3] In a review of Homo Mimeticus, Philipp Wolf characterises the book as a "transdisciplinary study" of imitation across philosophy, psychology, and political theory, and highlights its development of the concept of "mimetic pathos".[13]
Special issues in mimetic studies engaging with Lawtoo's work have appeared in journals such as MLN,[14] CounterText,[15] and Journal of Posthumanism.[16] With Adriana Cavarero and the Gendered Mimesis Project he also developed the concept of "mimetic inclinations" to foster a feminist ethical perspective in mimetic studies.[17]
Awards and grants
- ERC Starting Grant (2016–2022)
- Adam Gillon Award, Joseph Conrad Society of America (2018)
- Bruce Harkness Young Conrad Scholars Award (2009)
- SNSF Fellowship for Advanced Postdoctoral Mobility (2013–2016)
- Visiting Fellowship, University of Cambridge (2007–2008)
Academic positions
- Professor of Modern and Contemporary European Literature and Culture, Leiden University
- Assistant Professor of Philosophy, KU Leuven
- SNSF Visiting Scholar, Johns Hopkins University (2013–2016)
- Maître assistant, University of Lausanne (2009–2013)
Selected publications
- The Phantom of the Ego: Modernism and the Mimetic Unconscious. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. 2013. ISBN 978-1628960426. Search this book on
- Conrad's Shadow: Catastrophe, Mimesis, Theory. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. 2016. ISBN 1611862183. Search this book on
- (New) Fascism: Contagion, Community, Myth. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. 2019. ISBN 978-1628963724. Search this book on
- Homo Mimeticus: A New Theory of Imitation. Leuven: Leuven University Press. 2022. ISBN 9789462703469. Search this book on
- Violence and the Oedipal Unconscious. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. 2023. ISBN 1611864488. Search this book on
- Violence and the Mimetic Unconscious. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. 2023. ISBN 1611864658. Search this book on
Books (as editor)
- Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Contemporary Thought: Revisiting the Horror with Lacoue-Labarthe. London: Bloomsbury. 2012. ISBN 978-1441123770. Search this book on [18][19][20]
- Homo Mimeticus II: Re-Turns to Mimesis. With Marina Garcia-Granero. Leuven: Leuven University Press. 2024. ISBN 9789462704411. Search this book on
- Mimetic Posthumanism: Homo Mimeticus 2.0 in Art, Philosophy and Technics. Leiden: Brill. 2025. ISBN 9004520562. Search this book on
- Homo Mimeticus III: Plasticity, Mimesis and Metamorphosis with Catherine Malabou. with Willow Verkerk. Leuven: Leuven University Press. 2026. ISBN 9789462705005. Search this book on
References
- ↑ Lawtoo, Nidesh (2024). "Nietzsche contra Girard: Steps for Mimetic Studies". Contagion. 31: 145–176.
- ↑ Champion, Margrét Gunnarsdóttir (2015). "Review of The Phantom of the Ego: Modernism and the Mimetic Unconscious, LawtooNidesh". The D.H. Lawrence Review. 40 (1): 162–165. ISSN 0011-4936.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Koenigsberger, Kurt (2015-12-01). "The Phantom of the Ego: Modernism and the Mimetic Unconscious". Modern Language Quarterly. 76 (4): 530–533. doi:10.1215/00267929-3152873. ISSN 0026-7929.
- ↑ Maisonnat, Claude (2018). "Conrad's Shadow: Catastrophe, Mimesis, Theory by Nidesh Lawtoo". Conradiana. 50 (2): 201–204. doi:10.1353/cnd.2018.0019. ISSN 1935-0252.
- ↑ "Conrad's Shadow: Catastrophe, Mimesis, Theory". ProtoView. 3 (36). 2016-09-16 – via ProQuest.
- ↑ Levin, Yael (2018). "Nidesh Lawtoo, Conrad's Shadow: Catastrophe, Mimesis, Theory. (East Lansing: Michigan University Press, 2016) 420 pp". The Conradian Review. 43 (1).CS1 maint: Date and year (link)
- ↑ Chaouat, Bruno (2021). "(New) Fascism: Contagion, Community, Myth by Nidesh Lawtoo". L'Esprit Créateur. 61 (4): 171–172. doi:10.1353/esp.2021.0056. ISSN 1931-0234.
- ↑ "(New) Fascism: Contagion, Community, Myth". ProtoView. 2019 (49). 2019-11-19 – via ProQuest.
- ↑ Wolf, Philipp (Fall 2024). "Mimesis: A Protean Concept". Journal of Modern Literature. 48 (1): 178–190 – via ProQuest.
- ↑ Pizzato, Mark (December 2025). "Lawtoo, Nidesh. Homo Mimeticus: A New Theory of Imitation. Cornell UP, 2022. 350 pp. ISBN 9789462703469". MLN. 140 (5): 1285–1289 – via Project MUSE.
- ↑ HOM Videos ERC Project Homo Mimeticus (2025-12-15). TEDx: A Mirror for the Future by Nidesh Lawtoo. Retrieved 2026-08-03 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "HOM Videos ERC Project Homo Mimeticus". YouTube. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ Wolf, Philipp (September 2024). "Mimesis: A Protean Concept". Journal of Modern Literature. 48 (1): 178–190. doi:10.2979/jml.00065. ISSN 1529-1464.
- ↑ Lawtoo, Nidesh (December 2023). "Introducing Mimetic Studies". MLN. 138 (5): 1379–1391. doi:10.1353/mln.2023.a922029. ISSN 1080-6598.
- ↑ Lawtoo, Nidesh (April 2022). "Guest Editor's IntroductionThe Mimetic Condition: Theory and Concepts". CounterText. 8 (1): 1–22. doi:10.3366/count.2022.0254. ISSN 2056-4406.
- ↑ Lawtoo, Nidesh (2022-06-30). "Posthumanism and Mimesis: An Introduction". Journal of Posthumanism. 2 (2): 87–100. doi:10.33182/joph.v2i2.2242. ISSN 2634-3584.
- ↑ Lawtoo, Nidesh; Verkerk, Willow; Cavarero, Adriana (2023-04-03). "Mimetic Inclinations: An Introduction". Critical Horizons. 24 (2): 103–114. doi:10.1080/14409917.2023.2233108. ISSN 1440-9917.
- ↑ Funge, Benjamin (December 2013). "Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Contemporary Thought". Textual Practice. 27 (7): 1259–1262. doi:10.1080/0950236X.2013.860287. ISSN 0950-236X.
- ↑ Levin, Yael (September 2014). "Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Contemporary Thought: Revisiting the Horror with Lacoue-Labarthe ed. by Nidesh Lawtoo (review)". Studies in the Novel. 46 (3): 385–386. doi:10.1353/sdn.2014.0053. ISSN 1934-1512.
- ↑ Gogwilt, Chris (September 2013). "Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Contemporary Thought: Revisiting the Horror with Lacoue-Lab by Nidesh Lawtoo (review)". Conradiana. 45 (3): 72–79. doi:10.1353/cnd.2013.0018. ISSN 1935-0252.
External links
- Official website
- Homo Mimeticus Project Website
- CORDIS EU Research Results
- Nidesh Lawtoo's page on Academia.edu
This article "Nidesh Lawtoo" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Nidesh Lawtoo. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
