Thursday 30 September 2021, 16:00-17:30.
Location: United College. Lower College Hall (click to see map).
Reading group theme: Glissant on Identity, Relation and Opacity
Ten years after his death, the ideas of the Martinique-born poet, novelist and philosopher Édouard Glissant (1928-2011) are gradually acquiring a notable place in anglophone discussions on cultural identity and memory. The publication in 2020 of the first English translation of his Treatise on the Whole-World (published originally in French in 1997) attests to this growing reputation and the richness of Glissant’s vision.
In this reading group we will discuss an essay from the Treatise that touches on the hybridity of culture and identity, the role of imagination in enabling a relation to the world, and the right to opacity. In Glissant’s formulation, the right to opacity does not entail a “closing oneself off” or a withdrawal from relating to others, but rather the intuition that the pursuit of total or transparent understanding is at odds with the capacity to relate to others.
Of the suggested readings, the text by Lorna Burns—from St Andrews’ School of English—provides an excellent introduction to Glissant’s work as a whole and puts the evolution of his thought into context.
Key readings:
Édouard Glissant, “The Cry of the World,” in Treatise on the Whole-World (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2020), pp. 8-20.
Suggested additional readings:
John E Drabinski, “Sites of Relation and “Toute-Monde,””Angelaki 24, no. 3 (2019): pp. 157-172.
Catherine Reinhardt, “Introduction,” in Claims to Memory. Beyond Slavery and Emancipation in the French Caribbean (New York: Berghahn Books, 2006), pp. 1-21.