La Maison Française of NYU will host a roundtable discussing Herrick Chapman’s book “France’s Long Reconstruction. In Search of the Modern Republic” (Feb. 21); a conversation with Jacques Attali for “French Literature in the Making” (Feb. 26); and more in February.
La Maison Française of NYU will host a roundtable with professors from Princeton, NYU, and Columbia discussing Herrick Chapman’s book “France’s Long Reconstruction. In Search of the Modern Republic” (Feb. 21); a conversation with economic and social theorist, writer, political adviser, senior civil servant, and author Jacques Attali for “French Literature in the Making” (Feb. 26); and more in February.
All events are held at La Maison Française, 16 Washington Mews (between University Place and Fifth Avenue), and are free and open to the public and in English, unless otherwise noted. Seating for free events is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, call 212.998.8750 or go to La Maison Frrançaise's website. Subways: R, W (8th Street); 6 (Astor Place); A, B, C, D, E, F, M (West 4th Street).
Thursday, February 1, 7:00 p.m.
Gendered, Sexualized, and Racialized Political Identities in France and Beyond
Futures of French Roundtable
Intersectional Escape from the Sexagon: Arabs, Muslims, and Sexual Demonization in France
Mehammed Mack, Assistant Professor of French Studies, Smith College
Beyond Metropole and Colony: Black Women’s Citizenship in the Francophone World
Annette Joseph-Gabriel, Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies, University of Michigan
Moderator: Hugo Bouvard, NYU
Respondent: Gabriella Lindsay, PhD candidate, NYU
Sponsored by the Department of French Literature, Thought, and Culture and the Institute of French Studies
Tuesday, February 6, 7:00 p.m.
Repair: Cixous, Derrida, and a Split Manuscript
Discussion tracking the manuscripts of Voiles and Circonfession showing how writers Jacques Derrida and Hélène Cixous’s attempts to put the manuscripts back together can be seen as a form of reparative reading.
Laura Hughes, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of French Literature, Thought, and Culture, NYU
Tuesday, February 20, 7:00 p.m.
Discussion of Emily Apter’s Unexceptional Politics: On Obstruction, Impasse, and the Impolitic (Verso, 2018)
Unexceptional Politics develops a political vocabulary drawn from a wide range of media (political fiction, art, film, and TV), highlighting the scams, imbroglios, information trafficking, brinkmanship, and parliamentary procedures that obstruct and block progressive politics.
Emily Apter, Professor of Comparative Literature and of French, Literature, Thought, and Culture, NYU; author of The Translation Zone: A New Comparative Literature; Continental Drift: From National Characters to Subjects
in conversation with
Denis Hollier, Professor of French Literature, Thought, and Culture, NYU
Wednesday, February 21, 6:30 p.m.
Roundtable discussion of Herrick Chapman’s France’s Long Reconstruction. In Search of the Modern Republic (Harvard University Press, 2018)
Herrick Chapman charts the course of France’s long reconstruction from 1944 to 1962, offering fresh insights into the ways the expansion of state power, intended to spearhead recovery, produced fierce controversies at home and unintended consequences abroad in France’s crumbling empire.
Philip Nord, Princeton University
Molly Nolan, NYU
Emmanuelle Saada, Columbia University
Herrick Chapman, NYU
Ed Berenson, NYU, moderator
Sponsored by the Institute of French Studies and the Department of History
Monday, February 26, 7:00 p.m.
Location: TBA here
French Literature in the Making
Jacques Attali, Economic and social theorist, writer, political adviser, and senior civil servant; author of Noise: The Political Economy of Music; Labyrinth in Culture and Society: Pathways to Wisdom; A Brief History of the Future
in conversation with
Olivier Barrot, Writer, journalist, television producer and host, Un Livre un jour (France 3 and TV5); author of L’Ami posthume; Le Fils perdu; La Revue Blanche; Un Livre un jour, un livre toujours; Mitteleuropa; United States
In French
Wednesday, February 28, 6:30 p.m.
Illuminating the Enlightenment: Public Illumination and the Siècle des Lumières
This talk will explore public lighting in Paris in the siècle des lumières, seeking to show that the concerted effort to shed light on dark streets provides a vivid illustration of the Enlightenment in practice.
Darrin M. McMahon, Professor, Dartmouth College; author of Enemies of the Enlightenment; Happiness: A History; Divine Fury: A History of Genius
Sponsored by the Department of History, the Urban Humanities Initiative, and the Institute of French Studies
Editor’s Note
For over six decades, La Maison Française of New York University has served as a major forum for French-American cultural and intellectual exchange, offering contemporary perspectives on myriad French and Francophone issues. Its rich program of lectures, symposia, concerts, screenings, exhibitions, and special events provides an invaluable resource to the university community, as well as the general public. For more, please visit nyu.edu/maisonfrancaise.