This lecture by Morgane Cadieu (Cornell alum and Yale faculty) presents the work of French author Annie Ernaux—the 2022 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. As Ernaux wrote in one of her published diaries, Exteriors (1993), “I realize that I am always searching for the signs of literature in reality.” How can life be literary? Through a selection of quotes, we will see why Ernaux favors literature over other fields of knowledge, especially when it comes to apprehending sociological or economical topics such as class mobility. Co-hosted by the Cornell China Center and Yale Center Beijing.

Speaker: Morgane Cadieu, Associate Professor of French, Yale University, teaches courses on contemporary literature, social mobility, and everyday life (trains, supermarkets). Her first book in French, Marcher au hasard, examined a 20th-century experimental group of writers using mathematical models to produce novels, reflect on creativity and free will, and propose new ways of envisioning literary walks in urban settings. Her second book in English is centered on French writer Annie Ernaux, and is forthcoming with The University of Chicago Press under the title On Both Sides of the Tracks: Social Mobility in Contemporary French Literature. Cadieu received her PhD from Cornell University in 2014.

Event Details: Sat. February 11, 2023, 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) / Sun. February 12, 2023, 10:00 am - 11:00 am China Standard Time (CST). Event language: English.

Register here for free to obtain a Zoom Conference access link, which will be sent to your registration email or phone. Please enter the Zoom room 15 minutes before the starting time. When the room is full, latecomers will not be able to access the Zoom conference. Please email chinacenterbeijing@cornell.edu if you encouter any problems.