iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Looking forward to meeting new colleagues and learning more about their ongoing research / translation projects! nec.ro/fellowships/...

nec.ro

Current Fellows : NEC

NEC Institute for Advanced Study

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

What images keep surfacing – and why? – in our stories about bureaucracy? Why does the language of horror creep into descriptions of administrative form? I'll be digging into that in mid-January at the Einstein Forum in Potsdam, in conversation with Irina Dumitrescu.

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Happy to rejoin the #Eustory network after 18 years! Grateful to the organizers and @koerber-stiftung.de for a week of thrilling lectures and workshops in Hamburg, with historians and young researchers from all across Europe. Program here: koerber-stiftung.de/en/projects/...

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Looking forward to the Eustory Past Forward festival in Hamburg! Thanks to the Körber Foundation for putting together such an inviting line-up of workshops and talks on public history topics. Program and details here: koerber-stiftung.de/projekte/eus...

koerber-stiftung.de

EUSTORY Past Forward Festival

Vom 7.-11. September feiert EUSTORY sein 25-jähriges Jubiläum mit einem internationalen Festival zur historisch-politischen Bildung in Hamburg. Das Programm ist bereits online. Registrieren Sie sich!

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

long overdue and still in the making, but now there's a website alexandrairimia.net

alexandrairimia.net

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Issue no. 7 of Bureaucritics is now out! This time, we open the file on "papereality," David Dery's name for the world where the written record creates the reality it describes. Read and subscribe here: bureaucritics.substack.com/p/paperealit...

bureaucritics.substack.com

Paperealities

Dear Bureaucritics,

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

🌟 Calling early-career researchers in the humanities! The KWI is inviting applications for 6-month International Fellowships starting in April 2027! Join a lively interdisciplinary community in Essen. 📅 Deadline: Aug 17

kulturwissenschaften.de

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Stadtarchiv Nürnberg, photographed by Marcel Odenbach — from "Beweis zu nichts [Proof of Nothing]", Sternberg Press, 2017, pp. 10-11.

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

The Effects of Bad Government in the City (detail) — part of the larger series of fresco panels "The Allegory of Good and Bad Government" (Allegoria ed effetti del Buono e del Cattivo Governo) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1338-1339, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

The colleagues from the #Bürographien research project are convening in Vienna for 3 days of discussions on the archaeology of #administration. Find out more details about the concept and the conference programme on their website!

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

some poems and treatises of aesthetics were written on the back of insurance forms, and I argued it's important to understand why.

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

on the Death Master File at the US Social Security Services (yes, that's a thing), and how DOGE tried to mess with it www.thisamericanlife.org/888/not-toda...

thisamericanlife.org

Cerberus - This American Life

In Greek mythology, there's Hades, where everyone goes when they die.

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

My project on bureaucratic fiction is slowly coming to an end, but the conferences are not: next week, in Paris, I'm presenting on Benjamin Fondane's practice of writing drafts on the back of insurance forms. First talk at the Sorbonne! Full program here: univ-droit.fr/recherche/ac...

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Thrilled to present work done in collaboration with Jonathan Foster on the literary history of algorithmic governance at the upcoming conference of the CST (Center for Science and Thought) @unibonn.bsky.social Program and details here: www.desirableai.com/events/irrat...

desirableai.com

Irrationality and the Age of AI — Desirable AI

Conference hosted by the Center for Science and Thought (CST), University of Bonn, in collaboration with the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI), University of Cambridge. Funded by...

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

The Office for Joint Administrative Intelligence (O.J.A.I.) streamed the latest installment of their ongoing investigation into music produced from within and around bureaucratic systems. I am somewhere in it, along with fellow bureaucritic Jonathan Foster and poet laureate Alexandria Peary.

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Detail from Alexander Kluge's installation "Ontime/Offtime" (2024), currently on display at Lenbachhaus in Munich.

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

The EU now has its own publishing platform, Open Research Europe, that functions like a journal free to both authors and readers for all EU-funded research, across all disciplines. Open peer review (!) No author fees No paywalls Fast publication process Indexation open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu

open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

What a nice surprise: my review of @dcjenkin-smith.bsky.social's "The Rise of Office Literature" made it into the print version of Critical Inquiry -- and it's in great company! @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social Have a look at the Spring 2026 issue:

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

today and tomorrow in Munich, curious where this takes us

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

In Figures of Radical Absence I argue that empty signifiers are frequently used as tools of political contestation, which is why you see them so often in acts of protest and institutional critique. All that to say: always cool to see empty books making the news www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.com

Thousands of authors publish ‘empty’ book in protest over AI using their work

About 10,000 writers including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman join copyright campaign

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

⏳ Thrilled to co-host this two-day panel with Karolin Schäffer at the ACLA annual in Montreal! Eight contributions will unpack a wide range of literary case-studies which illustrate the objectification of office workers. www.acla.org/conference/s... 1/2

acla.org

Paper Pushers and Ink Suckers: Objectifying the Administrative Subject in Bureaucratic Fiction | American Comparative Literature Association

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Had a great time yesterday in Brussels at this workshop on faces and figures of administration (mis)handling all sorts of European political crises, 16th to 21st century -- thanks, @ferrerbartomeu.bsky.social, for the impeccable organisation!

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Issue #6 of Bureaucritics is out now! Catch up with the latest in art, fiction, and scholarship about bureaucracy. bureaucritics.substack.com/p/cultural-b... #newsletter #bureaucracy #administration #officeliterature #bureaucraticfiction #parliaments

bureaucritics.substack.com

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd write: Die Zeit published a long-form piece featuring my research. Many thanks to Katharina Meyer zu Eppendorf and to everyone who, directly and indirectly, made this possible. www.zeit.de/campus/2026-...

zeit.de

Bürokratie: In die Bürokratie hineingerutscht wie andere in ihre Midlife-Crisis

Andere kaufen sich ein Rennrad, Alexandra Irimia erforscht die Bürokratie. Mal sieht sie darin eine verwunschene Schönheit, mal tödliche Gefahr.

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Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen (KWI) @kwi-essen.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

🗞️ Lesenswertes @zeitonline.bsky.social-Porträt der Literaturwissenschaftlerin @alexandrairim.bsky.social (ehem. KWI Int Fellow), die äußerst erfolgreich Bürokratie beforscht. Artikel (Paywall): www.zeit.de/campus/2026-...

zeit.de

Bürokratie: In die Bürokratie hineingerutscht wie andere in ihre Midlife-Crisis

Andere kaufen sich ein Rennrad, Alexandra Irimia erforscht die Bürokratie. Mal sieht sie darin eine verwunschene Schönheit, mal tödliche Gefahr.

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Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen (KWI) @kwi-essen.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

13 is your lucky number? Become part of KWI’s 13th International Fellowship cohort and apply by 28 Feb 2026! We invite #Postdoc scholars in the #humanities, #socialsciences, or #culturalstudies to join us at KWI from 1 Oct 26 until 31 Mar 27. 📢 Call: www.kulturwissenschaften.de/wp-content/u...

Group picture of the recent cohort of KWI International Fellows

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

I answered some questions about my #research for @unibonn.bsky.social, so now this short #interview exists: www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/in-t... (German version below) Thanks, as always, to the @humboldt-foundation.de for the support! #postdoc #complit #bureaucraticfiction #sciencecommunication

uni-bonn.de

In the Maze of Forms: The Curious Allure of Bureaucracy

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

soon in Heidelberg, on the last talk for the project this conference season! 🍂

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IHB_OeAW @ihb-oeaw.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

#Conference ARCHITECTURE AND BUREAUCRACY As part of the FWF project ‘Invisible Agents’, the conference is convened by the IHB and the Institute of Art History at CAS and will take place on 6 and 7 November 2025 at the PSK-Building, 1010 Vienna. See more ⬇️ www.oeaw.ac.at/ihb/detail/e...

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

next week in Tübingen, looking at ephemeral media, practices, and archives with @schalkewins.bsky.social, @awierzock.bsky.social, @takapp.bsky.social & her emerging research network on ephemeral epistemologies and encounters www.ephemeralnetwork.com

ephemeralnetwork.com

2025 Workshop | Ephemeral Encounters

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

the fun begins tomorrow — grateful to everyone involved, I couldn't have made it happen without you!

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

I guess now's as good a time as there will ever be to unearth an article I wrote about Krazsnahorkai's and Tarr's Sátántangó before it was cool. Then again, it's always been cool. #Nobel #Krasznahorkai #Satantango www.ekphrasisjournal.ro/docs/R1/20E1...

ekphrasisjournal.ro

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Jonathan and I wrote about the fantasy of total efficiency, algorithmic governance, and the bureaucratic horror story as a recurring fictional trope — thank you, KWI Blog team, for hosting the piece!

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

next week at the University of Cologne we're looking at how literature engages with Niklas Luhmann's concept of organizational "boundary roles"

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Bureaucritics #5 is now online! It brings along a busy stretch of new publications, from the just-printed to the just-planned, plus fresh calls for papers and events.

bureaucritics.substack.com

Back in Office

We’re back!

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

The international #symposium Files, Forms, Fictions is turning into a real thing! Browse through the full program and learn more about the event at filesformsfictions.com. Thank you, @humboldt-foundation.de & @unibonn.bsky.social, for all your support! #bureaucraticfiction #comparativeliterature

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Critical Inquiry @criticalinquiry.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

"Jenkin-Smith brings to his readers’ attention authors and periodicals that literary histories have meanwhile discarded or longtime ignored." Alexandra Irimia on Daniel Jenkin-Smith's The Rise of Office Literature, from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

ACLA Seminar on the Objectification of Office Workers, co-organized with Karolin Schäfer Feb 26 - Mar 1, 2026, Montreal Submissions (abstracts max. 1500 characters, bios max. 500) are open on the ACLA platform by Oct 2. Accepted seminars notified by Dec. 2. www.acla.org/seminar/3ebf...

acla.org

View Seminar | American Comparative Literature Association

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Just published in Critical Inquiry: my review of @dcjenkin-smith.bsky.social’s book "The Rise of Office Literature"—a most pleasant read that gave me a lot to think with. Thanks for the review copy, @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social! criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...

criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu

Critical Inquiry

A journal of Art, Culture and Politics, Published by the University of Chicago

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

We've just hit "Publish" on Bureaucritics #4!📬 Check out our summer dispatch on the latest in bureaucracy studies, and don't forget to subscribe if you're so inclined.

bureaucritics.substack.com

Out of Office

Summer may be the season of automated email replies and empty cubicles, but the machinery of bureaucracy never truly takes a holiday.

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Snippets of West German bureaucracy from the 1970s. [gelatin silver prints from the exhibition Jupp Darchinger: The Eye of the Republic [Das Auge der Republik], LVR-Landesmuseum, open June 12 - September 14, 2025]

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

The French fascination for the curious life and paper forms of bureaucracy endures. Here, screenshots from Messieurs les ronds-de-cuir (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1959), one of 4 film adaptations of Georges Courteline's 1893 eponymous novel. #bureaucraticfiction #officenovel #bureaucratcomedy

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Alexandra Irimia @alexandrairim.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

It's only fitting that a special issue about administrative aesthetics comes out with some delay. Vol. 8 of Administory - co-edited with Jonathan Foster, Burkhardt Wolf, and Stefan Nellen is now published in Open Access! Find our intro and 17 fantastic contributions here: sciendo.com/issue/ADHI/8/1

sciendo.com

Administory

Volume 8 (2023): Issue 1 (December 2023)

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