In 1985, the writer best known by the pen name Antoine Volodine published the first of what at present count are forty-eight books of experimental dystopian political fiction, encompassing a cycle that the author has named “post-exoticism.” At once an invented literary category, an imagined community of dissident writers, and a sustained performance in which the author speaks for that community in public appearances, post-exoticism is one of the most singular artistic endeavors in contemporary French writing. Post-exoticism is now nearing its end, with Volodine on the cusp of publishing the forty-ninth volume in this cycle, which the author has publicly stated will be the last. To commemorate the closure of this chapter of literary history, we are holding a two-day mini-symposium on May 7-8, during which we will hear from scholars, editors, and translators who have worked closely with Volodine's fiction. 

If you would like to attend the symposium virtually, please register to receive a Zoom link HERE.

All events are in the Class of 1930 Room (Rockefeller 106) unless otherwise noted.

Friday, May 8

Dartmouth Hall 105 10:00-11:00: Antoine Volodine, Keynote (Zoom), "Retour au goudron, une aventure terminale"

Dartmouth Hall 105 11:00-12:00: Lionel Ruffel (Université de Paris VIII), "Apprendre à finir"

12:00-13:30: Conference Lunch

13:30-15:00: Morgane Cadieu (Yale University), "Railroad Substance and Sequences" and Joshua Armstrong (U of Wisconsin-Madison), "Volodine's Inanimations"