Walls and Bridges
Walls and Bridges is a 10-day series of performances and critical explorations uniting French and American thinkers and artists from social sciences, philosophy, literature and live arts.
Found in translation
20 Cooper Square (at 6th street)
10003, 7th Floor
Discussion. Co-presented by The Graduate Center-City University of New York, Services culturels, Ambassade de France aux Etats-Unis, Public Books, The Humanities Initiative-New York University, The New York Institute for Humanities-New York university, Words Without Borders and The New Inquiry.
11AM-11.30AM Key Note
Featuring: Frédéric Boyer (Translator and writer / FR) ,
Avital Ronell (Critical theorist and writer / US)
11.30am-1pm in praise of babel: arguments against a single world language
Featuring: Esther Allen (Translator and writer / US), Robyn Creswell (Poetry Editor of The Paris Review and translator / USA), Camille de Toledo (Writer / FR)
Can we consider linguistic diversity an opportunity? Highlighting the gaps and hesitations between words and pointing out the cultural cracks between languages can generate more reflection and cultural comprehension than embracing a unified global language like English. American and European writers and translators discuss why translating and listening to the many languages of the world not only benefit literature and culture but also are political tools in a globalized world.
Hosted by Jacques Lezra (Translator and writer / US)
Free | Reservation required
2pm-3.30pm Translation as muse: writers who translate
Featuring: Mary Jo Bang (Translator and poet / US), Frédéric Boyer (Translator and writer / FR), Keith Gessen (Translator and writer / US)
Many writers also translate. What role does translation play in their creative process? For some writers and playwrights such as Frédéric Boyer, the two activities aren’t even distinguishable: returning to works of the past and rewriting them in another language is the requisite for a new writing. In other cases, does translation nurture writing or can its ontological uncertainty be an impediment to the development of one’s own voice?
Hosted by Eric Banks (Director of the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU / US)
Free | Reservation required
4pm-5.30pm Workshop on Translation & literary HUB
Featuring: François Bon (Writer / FR), Camille de Toledo (Writer / FR)
Join us and hear more about TLHUB, a brand-new web 2.0 platform for writers, translators and publishers, a social network for texts that demand translation by human hands and minds. TLHUB is a collaborative site, open to all, dedicated to building a translating community beyond languages and
nations. Here, writers Camille de Toledo and François Bon will discuss what it is to translate and be “multilingual” in the digital age. A detailed presentation and demonstration of the platform will accompany the discussion.
Free| Reservation required
Hosted and introduced by Jane Tylus (Professor of Italian and director of the Humanities Initiative at NYU / US) and Emmanuelle Ertel (Professor of French and director of the Master of Arts in Literary Translations at NYU / FR)
