Faculty Research Forum - Simona Bertacco

"Literary or Postcolonial?  Notes on literature and its unfamiliars in the writings of J.M. Coetzee, Marlene Nourbese Philip, and Dionne Brand" presented by Simona Bertacco, assistant professor at the University of Milan and visiting professor at the University of Louisville. 

Caught in the middle ground between the ideological and the aesthetic, postcolonial literary texts have quite consistantly been valued more for their supposed political message than for their formal excellence.  But is the political message of these texts really all that matters, or what makes them valuable?  And why should we today read literature to explore political or social issues?  In her presentation, Professor Bertacco will be looking at these issues through and in the writings of South African novelist J.M. Coetzee and of the Caribbean women poets, Marlene Nourbese Philip and Dionne Brand.

FACULTY RESEARCH FORUM is a forum for talks by our faculty and occasional guests on humanities and social science topics of interst to interdisciplinary audiences.  It's an occassion for collegiality and convivality as well.  Sponsored by the Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society with assistance from the College of Arts and Sciences.  This event is free and open to the public.  Refreshements will be provided.