The Pen as Sword : Activism in Literature
11th Annual French Graduate Student Conference
Columbia University
Saturday, March 30, 2002
La Maison Française
Columbia University
The prominence of critical polemical issues in today's society seems to testify to the present inescapability of activist rhetoric. But writers through the ages have engaged themselves in various social and political causes. From the Middle Ages to the 21st century, authors have often chosen to use their pen as a sword, reflecting in their works the controversies of their time. What question have they addressed, and how have they justified their commitments, or in certain cases, their refusal to commit?
PROGRAM
click on links below for abstracts of papers
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9:30-10:00 a.m. |
Coffee and Bagels |
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10:00 |
Opening remarks : Professor Henri Mitterand, Columbia University |
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10:20 – 11:45 |
Session 1 : Perspectives from the Ancien Régime |
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Moderator: Eve-Alice Roustang (Columbia University) |
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1. Caroline Hatton (Yale University) |
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2. Paul Linden (Emory University) |
| 3. Zeina Hakim (Columbia University) Censure et culture sous l’Ancien Régime: L’univers de la littérature clandestine au XVIIIe siècle |
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12:00 – 1:15 |
Session 2 : Evolution of the writer as activist |
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Moderator: Kaiama Glover (Columbia University) |
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1. Matthieu Cisowski (Université de Paris IV – Sorbonne) |
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2. Yongyan He (Columbia University) |
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3. Alison James (Columbia University) |
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1:15 – 2:15 |
Lunch Break |
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2:15 – 3:30 |
Session 3 : Poetics of Activism |
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Moderator: Nadia Amara (Columbia University) |
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1. Sophie Legrand (Université de Paris IV – Sorbonne) |
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2. Nathalie Raoux (Institut d’études politiques ; Centre
d’Histoire de l’Europe du Vingtième Siècle, Fondation Nationale
des Sciences Politiques) |
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3. Lynne Bornstein Bermont (Yale University) |
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3:45 – 5:00 |
Session 4 : Visions of modern writing |
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Moderator: Göran Blix (Columbia University) |
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1. Marcia Rosefelt (State University of New York at Buffalo) |
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2. Camelia Elias (Southern University of Denmark) |
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3. Julie Ouellette (McGill University) |