INSTITUTE OF MODERN LANGUAGES RESEARCH

School of Advanced Study • University of London

 Confinement in French and Francophone Literature and Film seminar series

Leila Slimani’s and Marie Darrieussecq’s Lockdown Journals and the Changing Role of the Writer in French Society

 30 June 2020

14:00-15:30 UK time

 ONLINE EVENT

 https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/22630  

 Speaker: Timo Obergöker (Chester)

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Immediately after French President Emmanuel Macron declared the “confinement”, French writers moved to their holiday homes and started to write their lockdown journals. The reaction by the public and on social media however was extremely hostile and violent, criticising their privilege and Parisian elitism. Looking at how the two writers mobilised all the features of the myth of the “writer on holiday” as analysed by Roland Barthes, this paper argues that the role of the writer in French society has changed profoundly. Using Jérôme Meizoz’s theory of the “posture”, this seminar will explore the reasons why this is the case.

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 Timo Obergöker holds a joint PhD from the Université de Nancy 2 and the Universität Potsdam as well as a Habilitation à diriger des recherches from the Université de Clermont-Ferrand 2. He teaches French literature, language and culture at the University of Chester. His research focuses on contemporary literature from France, Québec and Belgium and on the French chanson. 

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This free event will be held online, at 14:00 UK time. Please note that it is essential that you register in advance to join the event: https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/22630           

Download guidance on participating in an online event at the IMLR (pdf)

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Institute of Modern Languages Research

School of Advanced Study | University of London
Room 239 | Senate House | Malet Street | London WC1E 7HU | UK

http://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk | modernlanguages@sas.ac.uk

The School of Advanced Study at the University of London is the UK’s national centre for the facilitation and promotion of research in the humanities and social sciences.

 

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