Open lecture on uses of cinema in literary works

On September 10th at 18.15, the UT College of Foreign Languages and Cultures is holding its third research seminar

Professor Sara Bédard-Goulet is giving an open lecture titled “Uses of Cinema in Les Grandes Blondes and Envoyée Spéciale by Jean Echenoz".

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Sara Bédard-Goulet has summarised the lecture as follows:

“In this paper, I will analyse how the cinematographic image can be included in literary works and, more particularly, how it affects contemporary narratives in Jean Echenoz’s novels Les Grandes blondes (1995, translated in English as Big Blondes in 1997) and Envoyée spéciale (2016, translated in English as Special Envoy in 2017). This contemporary French author sustains tight links with cinema, whether through direct references – to certain films, such as Alfred Hitchcock’s – or indirect ones, to film genres (road movie, adventure or spy movies, etc.) or through “cinematographic metalanguage”, which transforms characters into actors and their environment in a set. However, his works cannot be considered within the scope of remake, since they do not aim to re-present entire film sequences nor do they try to extend them. Although, in the context of cinema recycling and re-use, we can consider these novels through what Nicolas Bourriaud calls, in the field of contemporary art, “postproduction” and use this concept in order to identify the stakes and forms of cinema uses in both novels, as well as their effect on the readers.”

Sara Bédard-Goulet is Professor of Romance Studies* at the University of Tartu.

The lecture is held in UT's Jakobi 2 building, room 114. Wine and snacks are served and attendance is open to all.

The Research Seminar of the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures is a new, interdisciplinary seminar at the University of Tartu, organised by the professors of the college. It aims to be a forum for scholarly discussion and presentation of ongoing research.

The position of the professor of Romance Studies is financed by the European Union Regional Development Fund through University of Tartu's ASTRA project “PER ASPERA”.