Babylonian Planet

Sonja Neef (1968-2013) was Junior Professor of European Media and Culture at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany, from 2003 until 2010. She also became a Fellow at the International Kolleg Morphomata at the University of Cologne and a Feodor-Lynen Scholar of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the University of Evry (Paris).

• PrefaceChapter 1: The Babylonian PlanetChapter 2: Europe: Myth and TranslationChapter 3: On the Shores … of the Cité Nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigration in Paris Chapter 4: Outre Mér(e) : Jacques Derrida and the MediterraneanChapter 5: The Southern Cross: Planetarism of Alexander von Humboldt and François AragoChapter 6: Sublunar: Star Friendship in Orhan Pamuk‘s The White CastleChapter 7: In Orbit over the Earth: The Constellation of a Suitcase. Chapter 8: Intergalactic: Universal Translation: Immanuel Kant, Spaceship Enterprise, and the Circulation of the PlanetsChapter 9: Heaven on Earth: Paul, a Cosmopolitan?Finally: East Pole and West PoleReferences

We can now say that Sonja Neef’s thinking about and analysis of encounters in the era of globalisation was prophetic. When she wrote these essays, the sense of urgency about the care for the planet, and the importance of the intercultural encounters that the qualifier “Babylonion” habours, were not as keen as they are today. We miss her wisdom and insight, but at least we now have this book - a monument of sorts.