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Paper short abstract

A phenomenological account of foreign substances is presented from the perspective of the exposed body. The theory can serve as a methodological cornerstone for writing ethnographies and histories of pollution in late industrialism.

Paper long abstract

The talk develops further the methodological approach of a phenomenology of substances, as introduced by Soentgen (1997). Soentgen proposes a distinction between ‘substances’ and ‘things’ with regard to their phenomenological qualities. Things—such as a coffee mug, a wristwatch, or a chair—have clear spatial boundaries, show different sides when turned around, are spatially cohesive, and visually exhibit a function. By contrast, substances (both natural and synthetic ones)—such as water, salt, hormones, PFAS, CFCs, or BPAs—are spatially diffuse, can be divided into increasingly fine portions, disperse and mix with environmental media, and follow intrinsic tendencies (e.g., to oxidize, to evaporate). Substances do not have agency, but exhibit an auto-activity. Substances are not alive, but appear vivid. In numerous ways, substances are ‘hard to grasp.’ Societal problems around chemistry directly reflect these characteristic phenomenological qualities of substances, e.g., when industrial pollutants take on a ‘life of their own.’

The talk enriches this theory by highlighting the phenomenological qualities of substances from the perspective of the exposed body. Three ideal-typical modes of exposure to substances are discerned: incorporation, immersion, and encountering substances as residues. Various examples are discussed to make these types of exposures tangible, ranging from vaccines to poison gas and environmental contaminants. These examples are theorized with concepts of foreignness (Simmel, Husserl, and Waldenfels) and motives of psychoanalysis (Freud and Blanchot). Taken together, these considerations present a body-oriented and ecologically attuned account of the uneasiness surrounding foreign substances, providing a methodological cornerstone for writing ethnographies and histories of pollution in late industrialism.