The Centre for Modern European Literature at the University of Kent is pleased to announce its latest Visiting Research Fellow. Dr Lucie Campos (Collège de France) will be in Canterbury from 25 March to 5 April; for a brief outline of her research interests,
please see:
During her time at Kent, Dr Campos - who is also an editor of the online journal
La
Vie des Idées - will give a paper, and will lead a workshop, on the following topics:
Wednesday 26 March, 5PM (CNW5): "History without pathos?"
Reflecting on the idea of "white writing" originally used by Roland Barthes in praise of Camus in 1953, this paper will explore examples of late twentieth-century literature which, while closely related to historical context, seem to avoid or
to deconstruct the mechanisms of pathos and empathy often associated with fiction. Wary of such effects, authors such as Imre Kertész, Volodine, Cayrol, or J.M. Coetzee cultivate instead a paradoxical rhetoric of neutrality, sometimes of indifference, which
can throw the reader off balance. Is it possible for fiction to handle historical reference - in particular in the late twentieth century where references to episodes of collective violence abound - without pathos?
Tuesday 1 April, 5pm (room tbc): Online publishing in the humanities
Based at the Collège de France, the online journal
La Vie des Idées / Books & Ideas has been publishing daily book reviews, essays and interviews across the humanities and social sciences for the last six years. The journal currently has about 250,000 monthly visitors, a high score for a humanities-related
journal in the French landscape. To achieve this, the board has worked hard on three aspects of online publishing: producing a technical environment tailored to academic content; defining a strong editorial policy suited to both academic and non-academic audiences;
defending a multilingual approach to academic publishing. This workshop will be an opportunity to discuss these aspects of online publishing, as well as current debates about the possibility of a European space for research.
Both staff and students are welcome to these events; postgraduates who are themselves involved in online publishing ventures are particularly encouraged to attend the workshop (and are
kindly asked to contact me should they wish to do so).
All best,
Ben
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