The University of Kent, Paris
In conjunction with its partner institutions
Cordially invites students and guests to its
Charles Forsdick
James Barrow Professor of French
University of Liverpool
Locating world literature: monolinguals, multilingualism, translation
The talk opens with a focus on the manifesto, published in Le Monde in March 2007, advocating a literature-monde en français. It explores the (un)translatability of the concepts of world literature/’world-literature in French’/Weltliteratur, understanding these as a series of interlinked terms that have emerged multiply, in a range of different historical, cultural and linguistic contexts. The presentation seeks to outline the complex translation dynamics of a genuinely polyglossic ‘world’ literature, with this ‘world’ increasingly characterized by translingualism, multilingualism – as well as by a more general recognition of a ‘post-monolingual’ condition. As such, it raises questions about the credibility and sustainability of any exclusively monolingual ‘world-literature’, and investigates the ways in which the ‘world’ in ‘world-literature’ often remains a fundamentally divided one.
Thursday, 10 March 2016
18.30
Grande Salle, Reid Hall
Free and open to the public
Please confirm your presence by writing to
paris@kent.ac.uk