Border Literature (2021)

The 7th Seminar of the UniGR-Center for Border Studies organised by Université de Lorraine was held online on the 20th and 21st May 2021.

Beyond the different approaches and definitions of borders, many scientists stress that borders are above all representations. They are certainly representations of a geopolitical nature, carrying essentially different worldviews (Foucher, 2012 and 2016). But they are also societal representations. The border is a social construct - as Georg Simmel wrote, "the border is not a spatial fact with sociological consequences, but a sociological fact that takes a spatial form" (Simmel, 1908). Among the societal representations of the border, those offered by literature constitute a rich material of analysis, which reflects and contributes to create new images of borders.

The objective of the seminar is to explore the ways in which the border is written and represented. In what way does literary creation constitute a means of access to the ideality of places, to the imaginary of territory, to the border paradigm? Can we say, as Bertrand Westphal asserts, that "fiction does not reproduce reality, but rather actualizes virtualities that have not been expressed until now, which then interact with reality"? With the recent development of "field literatures" (Laurent Demanze, Dominique Viart, 2019) - which on the model of the humanities and social sciences, offer singular textual forms in direct contact with society, the investigation and the journey of a territory -, contemporary literature offers a possibility of testing and questioning the border devices through which we represent the world. How does literature speak of these societal objects and reveal a discourse other than that of the geographer on his traditional terrains?

The second day of the seminar will be devoted to the working groups and to the presentation of the work of researchers interested in the UniGR-CBS network and initiators of new projects and working groups.

In parallel to the seminar, a round table entitled: "The literature of borders, at the borders an art of transgression" animated by Carole Bisenius-Penin and gathering Colette Fellous journalist and Olivier Weber writer, reporter and diplomat was filmed and will be broadcasted later on the UniGR-CBS networks.

Scientific Contacts: Carole Bisenius Penin (carole.bisenius-penin@univ-lorraine.fr) and Grégory Hamez (gregory.hamez@univ-lorraine.fr) 

Organisation: Kheira Oudina (kheira.oudina@univ-lorraine.fr)

The program is available in French and German.