About Wonder: Literature in Diaspora

In this lecture, Nadia Yala Kisukidi conceives of literature through a spatial understanding of "diaspora," at the crossroads between two territories: France and the DRC. In Yala's writings, a certain idea of the Congo runs through and recomposes the French lived experience. Landscapes and borders come together in private lives and create new spaces for the imagination, where diaspora isn't necessarily about origin or cultures and countries tearing each other apart, but rather gives way to a reflection on the notion of wonderment.

This talk will begin by a reading of Yala's novel, La Dissociation (Paris, Seuil, 2022), an excerpt translated for this occasion by Yasmine Seale.

Nadia Yala Kisukidi was born in Brussels, from a Congolese (DRC) father and a Franco-Italian mother. She is Associate Professor in philosophy at Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis University. She was vice-president of the Collège International de Philosophie (2014-2016) and is a member of the editorial committee of Cahiers d’études africaines (EHESS). Kisukidi is specialized in French and Africana philosophy. Her publications include Bergson ou l’humanité créatrice (CNRS, 2013), Dialogues transatlantiques (Anacaona, 2021) co-written with the Brazilian philosopher Djamila Ribeiro, and many articles in philosophy.

Host or Publisher Institute for Ideas & Imagination