the notion of repair, particularly in the context of enduring societal and personal traumas, is a complex subject that resonates deeply across various cultures and historical periods.
the savoy-sarr report, in its examination of compensation and reparation, highlights how some individuals perceive the possibility of healing profound grief, while others acknowledge that certain phantom pains, much like a phantom limb, may never fully dissipate, defying any definitive treatment.
kader attia's work meticulously investigates pathways to repair.
his research, presented through intellectually stimulating yet emotionally accessible artistic creations, creates a space for alternative perspectives and knowledge systems. his video works often feel deeply collaborative, actively making room for voices that offer a departure from conventional ways of thinking.
redefining borders and artistic expression
the interpretation of themes, such as the abstract concept of borders, has been broad, manifesting in numerous exhibitions, special commissions, and pavilion projects.
these endeavors have allowed the idea of boundaries to transcend purely geographical definitions, taking on a more abstract register. new artist commissions have played a significant role, with some exhibitions functioning less as curated displays and more as contemplative spaces for visitors to reflect on contemporary art in light of art history.
the art world increasingly showcases compelling, large-scale installations by emerging artists who challenge conventional narratives.
artists like julia weist and nestor siré, for instance, delve into multimedia explorations of internet access and information dissemination in cuba. kim heecheon's video, "every smooth thing through mesher," ingeniously connects popular culture phenomena like pokemon go and instagram with cryptocurrency through casual video conversations, demonstrating a unique approach to linking disparate elements of modern life.
this curated selection of works often frames contemporary issues within a broader historical context, emphasizing shared human experiences.
it offers alternative portrayals that contrast with more monolithic and controlled media narratives, such as those found in some state-controlled press coverage. the focus frequently shifts to intimate, one-on-one interactions rather than grand, overarching narratives.
art as a tool for activism and personal reflection
artists like nicholson openly declare their intention to influence policy, particularly concerning asylum seekers in their home country, australia.
such work can distill significant political issues into personal interactions, exposing profound societal inequities in a way that is both emotionally resonant and uncomfortably real.
a three-channel video installation, though unassuming in its presentation, can be profoundly arresting.
each segment of a trilogy might be designed for independent viewing, with individual headsets and seating for two, fostering a more intimate experience. the repetition of interviewees across screens, with their stories unfolding non-linearly, highlights the artist's skill in weaving together single-subject interviews into coherent thematic threads.
works that explore themes of 'shifting borders' offer expansive, historically informed, and cross-disciplinary perspectives on regions, often crafted by artists who serve as both creators and keen observers of foreign dynamics.
these projects often move beyond the formality and emphasis on hospitality typically experienced by art tourists, directly engaging with the enduring pain and anxieties stemming from state violence, a pain that persists regardless of geopolitical outcomes.
modernity, technology, and the spiritual realm
a new, fractal understanding of geography is often fueled by our collective obsession with progress.
whether examining society as a whole or the individual, there is a persistent admiration for science as a modern gift, a means to escape unsatisfactory realities.
one might ponder what earlier generations would have thought of the 21st century had different forms of virtual reality existed historically.
the concept of the virtual has always been present; indigenous traditions across the globe, from america and europe to africa and southeast asia, speak of spirits having an awareness of the internet long before its materialization. a shaman in vietnam, for instance, shared insights into how spirits might 'attack' the internet due to its rapid, uncontrolled growth, leading to the auto-regeneration of negative spiritual entities—akin to how computer viruses function.
humanity has historically grappled with the realities of natural and cultural evolution by creating myths and belief systems that help individuals cope with the pain of loss and death, often through the concept of life's continuity in a virtual or spiritual realm.
art, deeply intertwined with themes of mortality and emerging from ancient burial sites, also plays a role in this process. the question arises: have ancient beliefs in parallel, immaterial worlds truly vanished? what forms of belief bridge the gap between our contemporary world and the past?
the fundamental change, perhaps, is not in the existence of belief, but in our lived experience within virtuality, facilitated by technological advancements rather than spiritual sites.
the illusion of connection in the digital age
social media platforms foster a sense of virtual togetherness, yet this connection is mediated through technological devices, creating a form of unity by proxy rather than genuine physical presence.
this dispossession can be seen as a continuation of historical forms of devotion, where individuals historically submitted to religious or cultural doctrines, engaging in collective action, conflict, and celebration in tangible reality, rather than through mediated experiences.
modern warfare is characterized by the dehumanization of mass executions, with capitalism and science playing significant roles in this process.
the dissolution of physicality, from public gatherings to battlefields, serves an agenda to grant psychological advantages to the wealthiest and most technologically advanced groups, enabling them to impose their ideologies across economic, political, and cultural spheres.
modernity and capitalism, particularly since the era of colonialism, have embodied this agency, driven by the perceived power of science to dehumanize those who deviate from its uniform supremacy.
kader attia's artistic practice over two decades has explored the cultural, political, and social transformations initiated by colonialism.
examining the aesthetics of repair and societal wounds
attia's installation, "the repair: from occident to extra-occidental cultures," juxtaposes traditional senegalese sculptures with archival photographs of world war i soldiers who underwent rudimentary cosmetic surgery for their injuries.
within a western framework, repair often implies restoring something to its original, intact state, as seen in plastic surgery's aim to conceal the evidence of physical reconstruction.
in contrast, an artifact that foregrounds the aesthetics of its own repair exists in an impure state, bridging different cultural understandings.
here, repair signifies not a return to origins, but an ongoing evolution for both objects and the people who shape them. dialogues recorded and presented in individual cubicles delve into the psychological impact of genocide, migration, colonization, and capitalism.
this comparative approach offers dual benefits: it provides a valuable lens for analyzing the internal dynamics of african societies through the prism of mental health, while also critiquing western psychiatric methods and their often rigid distinctions between reason and unreason.
historical perspectives on madness and colonial projects
historian michel foucault argued that during the european middle ages, conditions like melancholia and delirium were associated with insight.
however, starting in the 17th century, madness began to be defined as the antithesis of reason, progressively pathologized. this era culminated in what foucault termed the "great confinement," leading to the institutionalization of asylums in the 19th century, where individuals deemed mad or deviant were routinely incarcerated and compelled to confess their supposed ailments.
foucauldian analysis suggests that the shift from pre-modern mysticism to modern rationality was not a simple rupture.
rather, the concept of madness as spirit possession continued to influence psychiatric disciplines well into the 20th century, particularly as questions of madness became entangled with european imperial endeavors.
psychoanalysis, while appearing as a tool of the late colonial state, also initiated experimental treatment methods in the mid-20th century, aiming for the psychological reintegration of individuals within their cultural contexts.
these therapeutic approaches, often involving family and community, recognized the value of socialization.
in a video filmed in dakar, attia engages in a dialogue with professor momar guèye, who notes the relatively low rates of reported schizophrenia in africa.
guèye attributes this partly to a higher societal tolerance for behaviors that might otherwise be deemed pathological. in such contexts, individuals are seen not as problems requiring confinement, but as members of the community to be lived with.
transcultural psychiatry and the legacy of art brut
the discipline of transcultural psychiatry, while progressive in its attention to cultural factors, has also presented unforeseen contradictions.
attia examines the legacy of "art brut," a term coined by jean dubuffet in the 1940s to describe art created by untrained, isolated, and sometimes mentally disturbed individuals. this connects to attia's broader critique of the demonization of madness in european culture.
francis théodore, a physician specializing in ethnopsychiatry, suggests that many art brut practitioners spent significant periods in psychiatric hospitals.
he posits that art-making in these environments provided a means for individuals to externalize and give form to overwhelming inner obsessions. for patients experiencing psychosis, who often struggle to differentiate between the real and the imaginary, art can serve as a crucial intermediary, mediating between internal states like delusions or hallucinations and external reality.
these artistic practices also offer vital methods for addressing the traumas associated with mass displacement, deracination, and culture shock in contemporary society.
attia interviews therapists working with diasporic communities from north africa and sub-saharan africa residing in europe. one such therapist, a swiss-moroccan psychologist, works with newly arrived migrants from north africa, noting that some develop physical or psychological illnesses only after gaining asylum.
these conditions, often manifesting as post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd), cannot always be traced to a singular trauma experienced before or during their departure from their home countries.
the stress of acculturation, the psychologist argues, relates to a growing cultural, civilizational, and social divide in the world.
interestingly, these interviews also present an alternative to the divisive nature of contemporary geopolitics. african patients who navigate multiple realities simultaneously—embracing modern medicine for conditions like epilepsy while consulting traditional healers—move between what western perspectives might perceive as incompatible domains.
this fluidity, too, can be viewed as a form of repair.
the cyclical nature of injury and reparation
the artwork often highlights a profound connection between injury and repair. this relationship is conceptualized as a paradox, where the existence of an injury inherently implies the possibility of repair.
the process of repair, therefore, is inherently linked to the wound itself; to deny the injury is to perpetuate it.
western modernity often seeks to erase wounds, thereby negating history and time. cracks and fissures in aging wood, for example, serve as testaments to its history, defining it through our correlative relationship with it.
conversely, attempts to suppress or replace these traces with modern materials to achieve greater speed can lead to stagnation and a false sense of certitude.
in filmmaking, the depiction of raw, unvarnished reality can be challenging. in abel gance's film, when he sought to film actual broken faces to convey the horror of war, actors initially refused, fearing the emotional toll.
decades later, as nazism rose, gance revisited this theme, portraying characters calling out to the dead of world war i to dissuade further conflict.
collaborating with descendants of senegalese colonial infantry, attia sculpted broken faces into century-old trees, drawing from hospital archives.
these sculptures, set against a backdrop of gance's film, create a powerful tableau of shattered visages frozen in time, confronting viewers with the human cost of conflict.
art plays a critical role in the process of reparation. it functions as both a form of reparation itself and a catalyst for questioning broader societal and political horizons.
while art can be controversial, it remains a potent force for engaging with emotion, a concept attia refers to as catharsis. artistic creations, in various forms, act as mirrors reflecting past, present, and future histories.
art as a conduit for confronting historical trauma
the narrative of power, inherited from slavery, colonization, and genocide, is often presented as a hegemonic, universalist story that denies the existence of the "phantoms of wounds" it has generated.
these wounds continue to grow, persisting despite the temporal distance from the original trauma.
like phantom limbs, these persistent wounds underscore the necessity of reparation, even when full healing seems impossible. attia's art probes diverse fields, from politics and science to myths and beliefs, asserting that human invention is often a process of discovering pre-existing universal principles.
sound, for instance, is conceptualized as spatial and sculptural, existing independently of humanity.
attia's work draws inspiration from Ernst Chladni, a pioneer in acoustics. one installation features a wall displaying a comprehensive bibliography, collages, and album covers, spanning acoustic sciences and vocal arts, alongside filmed interviews with ethnomusicologists and experts in arab-andalusian music.
beyond its function as a natural musical instrument, the voice conveys emotion through words.
central to this exhibition is a black room with circular trays of couscous semolina. these are connected to soundtracks from films and concerts by arab post-colonial divas, evoking attia's childhood memories. the semolina is manipulated by electromagnetic waves, creating natural and universal patterns.
these "sound sculptures" visualize chladni's discovery that certain frequencies produce patterns found throughout nature.
the intersection of art, knowledge, and political action
a telescopic arm holding screens, alongside an african art object, can facilitate discussions about the production and circulation of images representing the non-west, and how these images can foster fear—a significant element in our current security-obsessed climate.
these conversations extend to reading strategies and opportunities for artists and thinkers to challenge and subvert dominant knowledge flows.
the assertion that knowledge can no longer exist in isolated, discrete forms, divorced from political contexts, aims to unlock its active potential.
attia suggests that specialization, while sometimes necessary, carries the risk of fostering certainty. he notes how anthropologists, when describing traditional repair practices, sometimes prioritize formal description over allowing for critical distance between the viewer, the object, and themselves.
scholars, as scientists, seek to establish truths through rigorous methodology.
artists, however, possess the unique ability to create connections through "ellipses"—unexpected correlations. this approach is likened to the ethos of the john soane museum, where seemingly unconnected objects are juxtaposed, creating a rich tapestry of associations.
the challenge lies in balancing specialized knowledge with broader understanding, enabling individuals to address significant societal issues.
the dialogue between broad concepts and practical application is crucial for effective political action. this involves navigating the tension between understanding the big picture and focusing on the specific lived conditions of the present.
permission, postcolonial critique, and new methodologies
the question of "permission"—the freedom to work differently, to draw from diverse histories and cultures—is central to postcolonial critique.
attia views permission not as something received, but as something actively struggled for, suggesting that politically critical practice necessitates new methodologies.
his work often addresses colonial legacies, including instances of dispossession and reappropriation.
attia has created pieces examining the removal of traditional objects and the roles of missionaries and the vatican in this pillaging. the pervasive domination of humanity over humanity manifests in complex, far-reaching ramifications.
within this context, the freedom to adopt alternative methodologies in the creative process emerges naturally.
this permission is radical in its pursuit of freedom of thought. attia frames his lecture as a proposal, exploring cultural scales that can imprison individuals, serving as the root of various crises, from economic and environmental to inter-group relations.
this discussion touches upon the shift to a planetary scale of thinking.
the collapse of established international communities and the rise of border fortifications create a paradox, reflecting an increasingly incomprehensible global political landscape. the metaphor of sisyphus, endlessly pushing a boulder uphill, illustrates the cyclical nature of our efforts and their recurring setbacks.
for attia, the true significance of contemporary art lies in its ability to offer alternative ways of thinking and to identify new entry points into complex problems, rather than simply providing solutions.
while scholars strive to begin at the foundation, artists have the latitude to commence in the midst of a situation, a strategy attia finds particularly insightful.
art as a counterpoint to scientific certainty
artists, unlike scientists, often approach knowledge from a different perspective.
attia notes that even acclaimed scientists emphasize the role of imagination alongside observation and intuition. this freedom from the constraints of absolute knowledge, he suggests, serves as a necessary mirror to the certainty often advocated by science, maintaining an essential societal imbalance.
attia references the work of serge gruzinski on inca and aztec civilizations.
gruzinski discovered that representations of corn in aztec codices could also signify human flesh, particularly when linked to calendar dates for sacrifice or ritual. this detail underscores how the representation of corn and human flesh could be fundamentally intertwined, a concept that challenges conventional western modes of thinking, which rely on signifier-signified processes.
in contrast, traditional societies, like the inca, often viewed representations as embodying the actual thing they depicted—whether human flesh, corn, or natural elements.
this holistic understanding goes beyond dualistic thinking. attia poses the question of how we might analyze the subconscious of traditional societies and ancient civilizations through their surviving artifacts.
the critical question is not simply how to critique, but the manner of critique.
this approach offers an alternative to established knowledge systems. attia highlights how historical antecedents amplify fear, with layers of 19th, 20th, and 21st-century anxieties building upon previous alarmist and prejudiced imagery.
while historical methods of border fortification might have once provided stability, the spatial politics of fear have dramatically shifted.
in an era of widespread instability—manifested in events like terrorism—spatial vulnerability is a key concern. the transformation of an airplane into a weapon striking a building represents a new spatial understanding, just as aerial bombing in the early 20th century fundamentally altered perceptions of space and vulnerability.
politicizing space and the management of fear
attia finds the politicization of space particularly compelling, as it spatializes the crucial challenges of coexistence.
migration, a fundamental human drive for survival, has been a recurring theme throughout history. america, for instance, was built on this myth, at the expense of its indigenous populations.
both attia and his interlocutor share a profound interest in the politics of fear, its destabilizing effects, and its instrumentalization.
while fear cannot be simply explained away, the classroom can serve as a political space to address fear not as an intuitive response, but as a calculated political strategy.
this fear extends beyond extremism to include anxieties about unemployment, precarity, and a futureless existence.
it also encompasses the fear that education and knowledge may no longer guarantee a secure future, as once promised.
this multifaceted fear has, in attia's view, become a commodified aspect of capitalism. he cites a statement from a hezbollah chief, suggesting that an enemy's ultimate power lies in instilling the fear of losing one's life.
however, if life's ultimate accomplishment is seen as death or martyrdom, this power collapses. this concept resonates across different cultural and historical narratives.
martyrdom, myth, and political agendas
the concept of martyrdom, as exemplified by the story of imam hussein, a figure revered in shia islam, illustrates how historical narratives and myths can be adapted for political purposes.
the annual commemoration of hussein's death through blood rituals, known as ashura, reinforces this narrative.
in iran, the reactivation of this legend served to cultivate a generation of soldier-believers ready to die for the islamic revolution. this demonstrates how the myth of martyrdom can be recontextualized to serve political objectives.
the struggle against fear, in this light, becomes an ideological act of resistance, deeply intertwined with the evolving geopolitical landscape.
fear and capitalism: a symbiotic relationship
fear is also central to neoliberal ideology. milton friedman's observations of concentration camp survivors reinforced his belief in the potent force of fear, particularly the fear of fear itself.
chile under pinochet exemplifies this, where the disappearance of citizens created pervasive fear, far exceeding the impact of their actual deaths.
margaret thatcher's policies also generated a different kind of fear—socio-economic anxiety, stemming from the threat of job loss or homelessness.
the frankfurt exhibition, "sacrifice and harmony," explores themes that align with these discussions, drawing from the philosopher rené girard's mimetic theory.
girard proposed that sacrifice brings harmony to a group. historically, human sacrifices evolved into animal sacrifices, but the underlying notion of sacrifice remained crucial for group cohesion and balance.
girard's work, particularly "the scapegoat," suggests that myths are often inspired by real events.
he uses a medieval poem describing a pogrom—a massacre blamed on jews—to illustrate how societies have consistently identified scapegoats to restore balance. in our globalized era, the concept of sacrifice for group harmony has taken on a global dimension, as we increasingly consume things linked to pseudo-concepts.
the logic of sacrifice in a neoliberal world
attia questions whether sacrifice within a neoliberal system signifies an inability to detach from its logic, suggesting that individuals may have little choice but to operate within this framework.
the relationship with death in postmodern neoliberal systems is obscured by the illusion of perpetual peace. this fabricated peace is problematic, as it diminishes our concern for the suffering of others.
in the aftermath of world war i, pacifist movements gained traction.
however, in 1938, as the nazis rose to power, abel gance remade his film, featuring a scene where a charismatic figure addresses a vast cemetery of unnamed graves from the war. a silhouette emerges from the earth, walking towards the camera.
the actors in this scene were actual former soldiers, bearing the "broken faces" of the war.
world war i, with its advanced weaponry and outdated battle tactics, resulted in an estimated 6 million facial injuries. doctors like hippolyte morestin and suzanne noël faced immense challenges in repairing these injuries, transforming faces to an almost unrecognizable state.
many of these soldiers, despite undergoing repair, were ostracized by society, experiencing psychological devastation far exceeding their physical wounds.
artists like otto dix and george grosz captured this societal trauma. in senegal, attia sculpted busts from wood of the same age as the injured soldiers represented in his work, using archive portraits from various museums.
this creates a dialogue between the film, the wooden busts, and the viewer, prompting reflection on why these individuals, already traumatized by their appearances, agreed to be filmed.
they believed pacifism was an urgent necessity.
monstrosity, war, and the failure to reintegrate experience
attia discusses a new form of "monstrosity" emerging in the 20th century. unlike earlier forms, which were often accommodated within cultural narratives influenced by religious values, the monstrosity of world war i became detritus, an anomaly pushed to the margins.
this leads to a broader question about the inability to reintegrate the experiences of subsequent wars—vietnam, the gulf wars, cambodia, afghanistan—into collective cultural narratives.
this inability to reintegrate is linked to the illusory necessity of war for societal well-being.
if wars are framed as essential for restoring well-being, then the monstrosity they produce becomes antithetical to this narrative of success.
a capitalist narrative also plays a role, where "repair" is often synonymous with an inability to reintegrate. capitalism's rhetoric suggests it can fix anything, but it also creates new addictions, rendering previous ones obsolete, replacing perceived needs with new, unnecessary ones.
the paradox of modernity and the logic of repair
the first world war, as the paroxysm of modernity, presents a paradox when viewed through the lens of monstrosity.
in germany, injured soldiers were often seen as a national shame, whereas in france, their injuries could symbolize heroism within the public sphere. monstrosity, visually disturbing the modern psyche's obsession with perfection, was thus met with apprehension.
however, wars occurring after this rupture in the modern narrative of well-being have broken this smooth progression.
attia was initially drawn to the injured faces of soldiers because world war i represented a profound conflict between the classical and modern eras. while modernity's conceptual origins are earlier, its technological and technical climax is arguably the first world war.
weaponry advanced dramatically, while battlefield tactics remained largely traditional.
concurrently, colonial empires reached their zenith in economic, cultural, political, and military power, roughly twenty years after the berlin conference. this context illuminates the interdependent relationship between war and art, mirroring the endless processes of life, which at times are embodied and personified, representing the notion of repair.
conceptually, repair cannot exist without an injury.
repair is sustained by injury, and vice versa. the individuals who experienced these extreme conditions had no choice but to undergo repair, much like fixing a broken piece of wood.
early repairs observed in archives (1914-1918) were crude, often involving wire or leather.
as the war progressed, repair techniques became increasingly sophisticated. surgeons utilized bone prostheses, wooden implants, and resin for facial reconstruction.
towards the end of the war, the primary goal of facial injury operations shifted towards the complete concealment of these injuries.
modern science's ambition was to eliminate evidence of wounds. conversely, traditional societies often embraced visible repairs.
visible repair and the critique of capitalist logic
in traditional cultures, when an object like a pot, mask, or shield was repaired, the repair was intentionally made visible.
this practice signifies that the object has a history, has been broken, and has been restored, often imbuing it with a new life. the japanese art of kintsugi, which repairs broken pottery with gold lacquer, exemplifies this philosophy.
this approach contrasts sharply with capitalist logic, where the offense and the means of repair are perceived as mutually reinforcing, part of the same continuous cycle.
modernity's progress is often framed as a series of repairs, finding new solutions for self-created problems. capitalism, however, often eschews history and the inscription of offenses, presenting itself as inherently non-offensive.
plastic surgeons, by definition, cater to individuals seeking to return to a perceived prior state.
the capitalist drive, meanwhile, often involves denial of history, a stark contrast to traditional repair practices in non-western cultures or pre-modern western societies. these traditions acknowledge and preserve traces of the wound, allowing for aesthetic forms that imbue repaired objects with new life.
michel feher's insights suggest that the principle of neoliberal capital lies in accumulating credit—promises for the future—rather than tangible wealth.
this accumulation fosters growth and broader horizons. this creates a tension between the perpetual promise of the present and the recognition that we are propelled forward by a series of offenses, necessitating increasingly sophisticated technologies to address them.
this dynamic highlights two contradictory logics: the pursuit of credit and the inevitability of speculative bubbles that have historically led to market crashes.
banks, often responsible for these crises through risky lending, are frequently bailed out with public funds. the concept of repair, intrinsically linked to injury, becomes an oxymoron in this context.
scarification, paradox, and the contemporary fear of conflict
scarification, practiced across cultures and historical periods, including medieval europe, historically mapped social structures.
it served as a medical process, but its fascinating aspect lies in the paradoxical relationship between injury and repair, from nature to culture, constantly leading to oxymorons.
attia believes that the fear of a new major conflict is a profoundly contemporary issue.
he references the period just before world war ii, suggesting a direct trajectory towards a major global war. the heroic act of the "broken faces" lies in their transgression of their own fear of being seen.
attia recounts an earlier intention to make a film with a severely burned man, a regular customer at a bar he worked in.
the project, however, never materialized, perhaps due to a combination of factors including laziness, overconfidence, or political correctness.
in contemporary traditional societies, even in africa, broken plastic baskets are often repaired using traditional methods.
the dictates of consumerism and capitalism, however, promote replacement over repair when an item is damaged.
natural selection as a form of repair
attia returns to the concept of repair, emphasizing its paradoxical nature, inherent in the presence of injury.
he draws a parallel with charles darwin and alfred Russel wallace's theory of evolution, which posits that species must adapt to their environment to survive. natural selection, therefore, acts as a form of repair, compensating for the weaknesses of individual members to ensure the species' continuity.
this process is driven by an unconscious survival instinct.
attia cites a documentary showcasing a bird in papua new guinea that mimics sounds from its environment, transforming itself through this act of mimicry. this adaptation is a testament to the evolutionary chain.
the industrial revolution, marking the beginning of the end of environmental supremacy, is seen as a human-induced catastrophe.
wallace believed a supernatural force guided species' ability to interact with their environment, while darwin attributed it to random chance. within any species, flaws are repaired; otherwise, the species would collapse, making repair a matter of survival.
different bee species, for instance, have adapted to their specific environments, demonstrating the pervasive nature of repair across diverse life forms.
attia expresses skepticism about the current excitement surrounding the "anthropocene," viewing it as a retrogressive concept.
contributions to literary and cultural discourse
cécile david-weill, a regular contributor to the french news magazine le point, writes a column titled "letters from new york." odile jacob, meanwhile, has published extensively on french culture and literature.
caroline weber, with a phd in french literature from yale university, specializes in 18th-century french literature and culture, focusing on the enlightenment and the french revolution.
her publications include "terror and its discontents: suspect words and the french revolution" and "fragments of revolution."
edouard louis's concise narrative offers a glimpse into "hillbilly france," a subject rarely explored in contemporary french fiction. the text also touches upon the political landscape of the people's republic of congo in 1960, marked by a marxist-leninist revolution and the oppressive reign of dieudonné ngoulmoumako at an orphanage in pointe-noire.
christine angot's audacious novel, which delves into an incestuous relationship, made her a controversial figure in contemporary france.
tess lewis's translation brings this provocative work into english.
franz ritter, an insomniac musicologist in vienna, spends a restless night recounting significant moments from his life, including his fascination with the middle east.
the article concludes with references to organizational activities, including the albertine book club, and mentions a project by the cultural services of the french embassy.