Kerry-Jane Wallart (University of Orléans) will be giving a hybrid lecture entitled “Recesses and Motionless Flights: Imaginary Journeys in Contemporary Anglophone Caribbean literature” on Monday 13 April at 5 pm in ‘Grande Smart Room’ (CIPL - A4) at ULiège (also on Teams).

Should you wish to join us online, please reach out to Delphine.Munos@uliege.be by April 12^th, 6pm. The Teams link will be sent to you closer to the date.

Below is an abstract of the talk.

In the context of Caribbean literature, the motif of the journey is both a symptom of, and a response to, European colonization, as evidenced in numerous instances of post-colonial counter travel writings. This lecture examines the evolution of the motif of journeying in post-2000 Anglophone Caribbean literature. My hypothesis is that travelling is then prevented or re-routed more often than made possible; narratives therefore shift into the mental, imaginary, even dystopian realms. Relying on selected texts by Dionne Brand, Edwige Danticat, Derek Walcott, my talk will discuss a few examples of travelling undertaken outside of any realistic framework – what I call “pirate” travelling.

All welcome!