Skenographia: Rethinking Design

Yale University Department of Comparative Literature Graduate Conference

March 28th, 2025

Keynote Speaker: Spyros Papapetros (Princeton University)

What sets a scene apart from a mere place or setting? Etymologically, the term resists simplification to a physical location or continuous action. It encompasses both the material apparatus of the stage and the events unfolding upon it. This oscillation— between object and subject, exterior and interior, self and world—forms a conceptual framework that this conference seeks to apply to the study of design.

From scale models to typography, cabinets of curiosity to shop window decor, design emphasizes the compositional relationship between the parts and the whole. By taking a scenic approach to the study of design, the conference asks: how are the production and movement of objects intentionally arranged to present the totality of places, institutions, and brands? How does the design of scenes reinforce or disrupt the values of a particular culture, ideology, or social order?

Scenic design is inextricably linked to the history of personhood. For example, in the Arcades Project, Walter Benjamin traces  the co-production of interiority and interior architecture in the nineteenth century. Across histories, in what ways does design facilitate the transition from indexes of self - from the humoral to the neurological, from character to personality? How does design innovate representational techniques to define external reality in response to the age of interiority? 

Skenographia—derived from skene and grapho, meaning “scenic writing—is the practice of painting interiors, often associated with stage design and theatrical backdrops. Exploring design in a scenic lens involves investigating how reality is both enacted and represented, with a particular focus on the staging of everyday life. In doing so, we aim to widen the ambit of the history of design beyond the traditional fields of art history and visual culture, foregrounding it as a rich avenue for examining the intersections of the material and infrastructural with the epistemological and sensory. 

Skenographia invites any and all projects related to design - graphic, industrial, interior, fashion, or otherwise - that touches upon the totalizing process of scene-making. As such, our collective undertaking is inherently interdisciplinary, and we welcome insights from fields such as early modern studies, history of art and architecture, history of science, literature, film & media studies, theater, cultural & linguistic anthropology, etc. 

Potential projects include but are not limited to: 

-Department stores and modern retail

-Craft workshop and assembly lines 

-Domesticity and gender roles (eg. the boudoir) 

-Period rooms and imitation­ furniture

-Set design in film and/or theater 

-Interiors as narrative device in literature

-Fashion runway scenography

-Experiential marketing and spectacular advertising

-Interactive exhibitions and historical reenactments 

-Studioli and the  collection and consumption of curiosities 

-Tourism and scenery 

-Digital and virtual environments 

-The philosophy of “dwelling” in Heidegger, Benjamin, and beyond 

-The Gesamtkunstwerk of Wagner and beyond 

-Utopia and ideal spaces 

Please send brief abstracts (300 words) and a short biographical statement to Skenographia2025@gmail.com by December 31st . Acceptances will be sent out by the middle of January.