SM LitClub Talk
by Professor Daniel Chartier,
on Thursday, 28th February, 2019, at 5.30 p.m.
The Literary Club of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai in collaboration with the Centre for European Studies, University of Mumbai, cordially invites you to a lecture by Prof. Daniel Chartier of the Université du Québec à Montréal, on Thursday, 28th February, 2019, at 5.30 p.m. in the Durbar Hall of the Society. Prof. Chartier will speak on “Qumaq and Inuit literature: the recent emergence of a new literature from the Arctic.” Jerry Pinto, poet, novelist and translator, will preside.
Synopsis:
Few peoples live in the Arctic; some, like the Inuit, formerly called the Eskimos, represent the Arctic in the eyes of the rest of the world, not only because they occupy a large part of the territory, extending over many countries, but because their figure symbolizes the universality of man's struggle for survival in a difficult climate.
The works of Inuit authors and artists are part of a more general trend, that of “the imagined North.” This imaginary, mainly made by French, German, English and American authors, is the fruit of discourses accumulated for centuries. The emergence of an Inuit literature at the end of the 20th century, allows us to rethink this imaginary. Some Inuit writers, including Taamusi Qumaq, allow us to access the Inuit point of view through literature, and to understand a culture so far seen only from the outside.
About the Speaker:
Daniel Chartier is full professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Research Chair on Images of the North, Winter and the Arctic and director of the International Laboratory for Comparative Multidisciplinary Study of Representations of the North. In recent years, he has published some twenty books and a hundred articles on the representation of the North, the Arctic and Winter, Québec, Inuit and Nordic cultures, cultural pluralism, including The End of Iceland's Innocence (2010), Le lieu du Nord (2015) and a multilingual essay in 8 editions (French, Norwegian, English, Swedish, Russian, Danish, Yakut and Northern Sámi) on What is the ‘Imagined North’? He has lectured in many universities around the world.
The lecture will be preceded by the release of the Marathi translation of the autobiography in French of a legendary Inuit leader Taamusi Qumaq “Je veux que les Inuits soients libres.” This translation has been done by Prof. Jayant Dhupkar, EFLU and published by the Centre for European Studies, University of Mumbai.
Do join us for tea at 5.00 p.m.
- Prof. Vispi Balaporia, Hon. Secretary - ASM
- Mrs. Sanjeevani Kher, Chairperson – ASM LitClub
- Prof. Meenal Kshirsagar , Convenor - ASM LitClub