Boyan Manchev main english page
Boyan Manchev (Sofia, 1970) is a philosopher and writer. He proposes the perspective of a new ontology of existence, described as modal ontology, and dynamic materialism. The search for a new philosophical form and possibility for new expression of ethical, aesthetic and political experience has been central to his work in the past twenty-five years.
Manchev is the author of twenty books and about three hundred book chapters, catalogues and other publications in various languages. Among his books are World and Freedom. Transcendental Philosophy and Modal Ontology (2023, in Bulgarian), What is Ontology? (with Dimitar Vatsov, 2023, in Bulgarian), The End of Contemporary Art? Or the Future of Art (2023, in Bulgarian), Freedom in Spite of Everything. Surcritique and Modal Ontology (2020, in Bulgarian), The New Athanor. Prolegomena to Philosophical Fantastic (vol. 1, 2019, in Bulgarian), Clouds. Philosophy of the Free Body (2017, in Bulgarian; 2019, in English), Meteor. Texts for Theatre (co-authored with Ani Vaseva, 2018, in Bulgarian), Logic of the Political (2012, in Bulgarian), Miracolo (Lanfranchi, 2011), L’altération du monde: Pour une esthétique radicale (Lignes, 2009; Hosei University Press, 2020), La Métamorphose et l’instant – Désorganisation de la vie (La Phocide, 2009), The Body–Metamorphosis (2007, in Bulgarian), The Unimaginable: Essays in Philosophy of Image (2003, in Bulgarian). He edited Rue Descartes 64: La métamorphose (PUF, 2009) and co-edited Rue Descartes 67: Quel sujet du politique? (with Gabriela Basterra and Rada Ivekovic, PUF, 2010).
Manchev started teaching at the Sofia University in 1997, where he also defended his PhD thesis (1998). He is Professor of Philosophy at the New Bulgarian University (since 2001) and Guest Professor at the University of the Arts, Berlin (since 2010) and Hollins University (since 2014). He was Director of Program and Vice-President of the International College of Philosophy in Paris (2004-2010) and Professor at the HZT – UdK Berlin (2011-2017). Manchev has lectured widely at European, Asian and American universities and cultural institutions. He has organised and/or collaborated to number of projects, congresses and public forums dealing with philosophy, art and politics. He has also contributed as author, theorist, dramaturge, actor or curator to visual arts, theatre, cinema and contemporary dance projects. He is a founding member of the artistic collective Metheor.
Manchev is member of the editorial committees or boards of the magazines Lignes (Paris), Critique and Humanism (Sofia), Materiali Foucaultiani (Rome / Paris), Stasis (St. Petersburg), and the publishing house Metheor.
This site presents an overview of Boyan Manchev’s work and activities carried out in different languages and contexts. It contains presentations and short extracts from Manchev’s books, selected articles and archives, and current information. The site is available in three languages – English, French and Bulgarian; the three versions are not identical. Since 2020 the site includes a blog with autonomous libraries; it will function as an online philosophical laboratory.
The site was created in 2017 by Boryana Pandova and Todor Karastoyanov. Boyan Manchev, his co-authors, his interlocutors, the translators and the authors who contribute to the site or who are translated on the blog hold all the rights of the respective texts and audio-visual documents published on the site.
Contact: metheorg@yahoo.com