MULOSIGE Reading List: World Literature and Planetary Catastrophe
Dr Florian Mussgnug (UCL) provides a reading list on World Literature and Planetary Catastrophe.
Postcolonial Print Cultures Conference: “How do we stop being somebody else’s image?”
Laetitia Zecchini discusses the politics of literary translation and publication, particularly surrounding the journal Quest funded by the International Council for Cultural Freedom, itself backed by the CIA. She examined the editor Nissim Ezekiel’s own positions and motivations, noting that for him Quest’s purpose was the create the conditions in which the magazine would provide the freedom to debate, argue, and hold different theoretical positions, creating a space of cultural independence which could in turn realise political independence.
Writing Rumi in Whitman’s Image: On Coleman Barks, and the Appropriation of Rumi’s Poetry
Barks looks to create a rendition of Rumi that is intelligible to him. This endeavor manifests as a form of Orientalism, however subtle: it is Barks’ project to create Rumi and Rumi's poetry in his own image.