Dennis Meyhoff Brink
Torsdag (Thursday), 15:30–16:30, (Frederiksberg Menighedshus)
Postdoc at the Department of Art and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, and the Storm Museum (Denmark).
Dennis Meyhoff Brink has research focus has been the history of religious satire in Europe. In his PhD thesis Frækhedens evangelium (The Gospel of audacity), he mapped the main currents in European religious satire from the 12th to the 19th century and argued, among other things, that the unique spread of religious satire in Europe has helped to shape modern European imagination, perception of authority, self-understanding and concepts of normativity.
He is currently investigating how current satirists react to the pressure coming from groups trying to stop them - for example by threatening violence or terror or by demanding satirists removed from platforms or fired from the media. What new forms of expression, metaphors, motifs and characters are invented by satirists to counter the new censorship powers that have emerged after the abolition of state censorship.
Among his most recent publications are "'Religion's Safe, with Priestcraft is the War': Satirical Subversion of Clerical Authority in Western Europe 1650-1850" in Cultures in Conflict, ed. Ljungberg, Maurits and Sidenvall. Peter Lang 2021. At the conference, he will talk about current satirical reactions to the ban on satirizing Muhammad, which jihadist groups are trying to trump.
Postdoc ved Institut for Kunst- og Kulturvidenskab, Københavns Universitet, og museet Storm (Danmark).
Dennis Meyhoff Brink har især forsket i religionssatirens satirens historie i Europa. I hans ph.d.-afhandling Frækhedens evangelium kortlagde han hovedstrømmene i den europæiske religionssatire fra det 12. til det 19. århundrede og argumenterede blandt andet for, at den enestående udbredelse af religionssatire i Europa har været med til at præge moderne europæisk imagination, autoritetsopfattelse, selvforståelse og normativitet.
I øjeblikket undersøger han, hvordan aktuelle satirikere reagerer på det pres, der kommer fra grupper, som forsøger at stoppe dem – fx ved at true med vold eller terror eller ved at kræve satirikere fjernet fra platforme eller fyret fra medier. Hvilke nye udtryksformer, metaforikker, motiver og karakterer opfinder satirikerne for at imødegå de nye censurerende magter, der er opstået efter statscensurens afvikling.
Blandt hans seneste udgivelser er ”’Religion’s safe, with Priestcraft is the War’: Satirical Subversion of Clerical Authority in Western Europe 1650-1850” i Cultures in Conflict, red. Ljungberg, Maurits og Sidenvall. Peter Lang 2021. På konferencen vil han tale om aktuelle satiriske reaktioner på det forbud imod at satirisere Muhammed, som jihadistiske grupper forsøger at gennemtrumfe.
