Self-presentation is as old as the history of mankind. Self-presentation is one of the anthropological constituents of human life: The powerful have always presented themselves as powerful, the rich as rich, the young as young, the religious as religious. And yet it seems to reach an unprecedented scale in our time when technology makes it possible to display yourself any time and without great effort and globally disseminate these images via YouTube, Facebook or Instagram. Does self-presentation happen according to predefined rules? What about self-presentation today – in the age of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Does it experience a new boom because of social media?

GUESTS Prof. em. Dr. Gunter Gebauer (anthropologist, linguistic and social philosopher, FU Berlin), Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Engler (philosopher and cultural sociologist, Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art, Berlin)
MODERATORS Ulrich Lenz and Rainer Simon
The discussion will be accompanied by singers and musicians of the Komische Oper Berlin.

This salon evening is part of the Expanded Program of the 2017 Berlin Science Week.

Gunter Gebauer is professor emeritus for anthropology, linguistic and social philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin, where he taught from 1978 until 2012. He was a member of the collaborative research center “Cultures of the Performative” and of the cluster of excellence “Languages of Emotion.” He held visiting professorships in Paris, Strasbourg, and in Japan. Since 1993, he has been spokesperson of the Interdisciplinary Center for Historical Anthropology at the FU Berlin.

The cultural sociologist Wolfgang Engler is a university professor, book author, and writer. Since 1981, he has worked at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art in Berlin – as Professor of Cultural Sociology and Aesthetics (since 1992) and as president (from 2005 until September 2017). Since 2009, he has also taught at the University of St. Gallen.