Intersections Department of Comparative Literature Spring 2010

New York University Intersections Department of Comparative Literature Spring 2010

Our China and Japan Connection by Xudong Zhang In May of 2009, a delega- UTCP, the East China Nor- tion of Comparative Litera- mal University (Shanghai), ture faculty and graduate and Peking University students (Sage Anderson, (Beijing). NYU Professors Beata Potocki, Pu Wang, Uli Baer, Thomas Looser, Uli Baer, and Xudong and Xudong Zhang pre- Zhang), along with col- sented papers along with leagues from other NYU scholars from Tokyo, departments (East Asian Shanghai, and Beijing. Studies and History), trav- Amidst conference pro- elled to Tokyo to attend an grams, there were meals, international graduate stu- drinks, receptions, campus dent conference on “The tours, trips to Tokyo and Plural Present of Historical neighboring areas organized Life,” hosted by the Inter- by the local host and par- national Center for Philoso- ticipating institutions. A phy at University of Tokyo final reception dinner Sage Anderson, Beata Potocki, Xudong Zhang, and Pu Wang (UTCP). Our NYU stu- hosted by the NYU delega- These summer 2009 events of 2005. That summer, a dents and faculty had the tion was held at the terrace were the continuation of Comp Lit faculty and stu- privilege of sharing the fo- garden of the University of the ongoing development dent delegation (including rum of intellectual exchange Tokyo-Komaba Faculty of international exchange (China/Japan, Continued on with representatives of the Club. that began in the summer Page 4)

Speaking of Arachnids... …our chair Jacques Lezra and Mediterranean Studies; how we act, and how we Inside this Issue has a theory. A theory that NYU‟s Humanities Initia- imagine. You‟ll see the William Kentridge‟s 2 Comp Lit is like a spider— tive; Steinhardt‟s Media theme of imagination

Nose a spider sensitive to the rich /Culture /Communication; throughout our Newsletter.

Notes from the Com- 2 and varied vibrations of the Program in Poetics and These few words serve only

its interdisciplinary web. Theory; FAS, Tisch and to introduce the Comp Lit paratorium Alert on filaments of Gallatin Deans‟ offices; and Spider and the “Good Vi- Horizons of Translation 3 language and literature, Cooper Union School of brations” of our interdisci- Translators and Trans- 3 philosophy and theory, art Architecture—we spun an plinary web. lated and politics, the Comp intricate web of thought & Do you feel it? Music, Language, 4 Lit Spider feels and inte- design.

Thought grates, analyzes and crafts. The words “interdis- UGs in Action! 5 Proof of Comp Lit‟s web- ciplinary,” “collaborative,”

Middle Eastern Lit 6 crafting is the extraordinary “intellectual exchange,” and series of events we spon- (as the title of this issue Grad Student Awards 7 sored and co-sponsored in notes) “intersections” are Recent Dissertations 7 2009-10. Working with sometimes over-used in

Alumni News 8 FAS‟s Middle Eastern and popular academic jargon,

More from the Comp 9 Islamic Studies, Spanish, but to us they reflect the Lit Spider French, Music, European essence of how we think, Page 2 William Kentridge’s Nose by Mark Sanders On Tuesday, February 9, of Kentridge conveyed the tion as an interval of prom- project as well as in Jarry‟s this year, a packed audience significance for him of the ise before the consolidation original drawings for Ubu at Cooper Union‟s historic Russian Revolution, and of of Stalinist power with its Roi, Kentridge admitted Great Hall sat spellbound the immense artistic ener- purges and show trials. that he had begun by want- as South African artist Wil- gies of the years immedi- Whereas some figures in ing to draw something new, liam Kentridge spoke about ately after. He pointed out the arts were imprisoned or but the nose would always the creative process behind suprematist allusions in the shot, Shostakovich sur- come out the same: a his Metropolitan Opera etchings, and Vladimir Tat- vived, although his music Lithuanian Ashkenazi Jew- production of The Nose, lin‟s model for The Monu- was officially denounced. ish nose. At that moment Dmitri Shostakovich‟s 1930 ment to the Third Interna- Despite reminding us of the artist seemed to turn his opera based on the tale tional appeared in Russian this grim history, Kentridge profile to the audience, as if b y N i ko l ai G o g o l. period newsreel as part of a was as entertaining as he to demonstrate the inevita- As images from his series of film made by Kentridge for was thought-provoking. His ble autobiographical prove- etchings entitled Nose were the opera. The post- wry remarks on the various nance of his art.

projected behind him, Revolutionary years were a techniques of etching—one The event was sponsored time of hope, Kentridge can, without humor, make a by the Department of Com- explained, and their art in- “dry point,” or inadver- parative Literature; the spired politically committed tently perform a “foul Department of Media, Cul- artists in apartheid South bite”—drew laughter from ture, and Communication Africa. the audience. All along, he in NYU‟s Steinhardt School Born in 1955, the son of emphasized that, for him, of Culture, Education, and Sydney Kentridge, a famous the act of making an image Human Development; anti-apartheid lawyer, Wil- comes before any idea or NYU‟s Tisch School of the liam Kentridge grew up in meaning that may ultimately Arts; and the Irwin S. unusual proximity to deci- emerge from it. The artist is Chanin School of Architec- sive political events, and has led by the creative process. ture of The Cooper Union. gained worldwide recogni- When a member of the au- tion for his stop-motion dience noted a resemblance Mark Sanders is Professor of animated films based between the nose in the Comparative Literature. on charcoal drawings. Gogol - Shostakovich etch- ―Nose 22‖ in a series of Kentridge’s History views the years just ings, and the shape of Ubu 30 Nose Etchings (2007-2010) after the October Revolu- in a previous Kentridge

Notes from the Comparatorium by Sage Anderson Now in its third year, the wide range of intellectual tled “The Abstract Naked- In October, Comp Lit monthly Comparative Lit- focal points that makes us a ness of Being Human,” graduate students Robyn erature Colloquium is run- vibrant department of com- addressing the inscription Creswell and Ellen Xiang ning smoothly and with parative literature, the collo- of human rights and the He came together under the remarkable vitality. Oper- quium has come to repre- ambiguity of citizenship in title “Heroes of Modern ated by graduate students sent a welcome opportunity an early Haitian context. Life,” with complementary with departmental support, for communal attention and Professor Lezra turned our presentations from their the colloquium was created shared interest.. The 2009- attention to “The Public dissertation projects; Robyn as a forum for the discus- 2010 series got off to a Option,” arguing that the spoke on the formal strate- sion of current projects and promising start in Septem- concept of the public is not gies of the Arabic poet works in progress. The ber with a session devoted optional, and that political Adonis, and Ellen on the floor is open to both pro- to political philosophy and engagement may demand cultural practice of the new fessors and students, with literature, featuring Jacques engagement with unintelli- with respect to Chinese particular space reserved for Lezra, and Sibylle Fischer gibility, the productive pres- novelist Liu Qing's The new faculty and students (Department of Spanish & ervation of which is exem- Builders.

well into the dissertation- Portuguese). Professor plified by some literary lan- writing process. Given the Fischer gave a paper enti- guage. (Comparatorium, Contin- ued on Page 7) Page 3 Horizons of Translation by Hala Halim “Horizons of Translation,” World, Europe, Latin respondent. Next, Richard a lecture series organized by America, and the United Sieburth gave a talk about the Department of Com- States) and to draw on the the issues at stake in tran- parative Literature and co- expertise of comparatists, slating the music of Maurice sponsored by NYU‟s Hu- Translation Studies special- Scève‟s “Délie” in his 2007 manities Initiative (HI), ists and scholars of Middle book Emblems of Desire. The comprised six sessions that Eastern Studies and French. following talk, by Rosemary took place in fall 2009. The Another aim was to fore- Arrojo of Binghamton Uni- series was designed to ad- ground the strengths in versity, took us to Latin dress the growing impor- Translation Studies of America and the represen- tance of Translation Stud- NYU‟s Dept. of Comp Lit tations of translation in fic- ies, a field of inquiry central by engaging our department tion from that region and to the discipline, and spe- in dialogue with scholars “the subverted space of the cifically the Department of from other universities. The translator‟s footnotes.” Comparative Literature at genres of the talks were Both the representation NYU, but one that com- quite varied and comple- of translation and mands an interdisciplinary mentary, ranging from “translational” language translating Arabic fiction resonance as well. Hence, work-in-progress (whether politics, in this case of with a survey of shifting NYU‟s “Horizons of translational or critical), Ahdaf Soueif‟s fiction writ- trends in the field. Translation” series took commentary on translations ten in English, were the In addition to a number of place during an academic completed, to theoretically- subject of the next talk by dedicated attendees, the year when the presidential informed surveys of the Waïl Hassan, from the Uni- lectures drew a keen audi- forum of the 2009 Modern field and translators‟ testi- versity of Illinois-Urbana ence that tended to vary Language Association con- monies. The series got off Champaign. Drawing on his depending on the content vention was devoted to to a spectacular start experiences as a translator of the talk, with visitors, translation and the Ameri- with a session on and teacher of translations, both faculty and students, can Comparative Literature “„Untranslatables‟ in Phi- Roger Allen of the Univer- from nearby universities. It Association‟s 2010 annual losophy and Literature,” in sity of Pennsylvania is my hope that this lecture meeting is dedicated to which Jacques Lezra and brought theoretical and series will have served to “Creoles, Diasporas, Cos- Emily Apter discussed their practical perspectives to reinforce the ongoing de- mopolitanisms.” In organiz- on-going project to render bear on the issues involved bate on Translation Studies ing “Horizons of Transla- into English, with some in the different stages of at NYU and beyond. tion,” I sought to make the revisions, Le Vocabulaire translating modern Arabic program geographically européen des philosophies: Dic- fiction. In the final talk, Hala Halim is Assistant Pro- comprehensive in terms of tionnaire des Intraduisibles, William Granara of Har- fessor of Comparative Literature the subject matter of lec- with Jane Tylus, faculty di- vard University wove his and Midddle Eastern and Isla- tures (covering the Arab rector, HI, serving as insights gleaned from mic Studies.

Faculty Translators and Translated 2009-2010

John Chioles—Trans. Richard Sieburth—Trans. Avital Ronell— C.P. Cavafy‟s Poems: Gérard de Nerval‟s The Salt Addict: Fixions et The Canon (Harvard U. Smugglers (New York: Archipel- narcotextes (Bayard, Press, June 2010) ago Books, 2009) 2009); French translation of Ronell‟s Crack

John Chioles, Richard Sieburth has been Wars accomplished scholar honored for his many elegant

of philosophy, translations from both German and French. His English Avital Ronell is a literary literature and theatre, is author of edition of the Gérard de Nerval‟s Selected Writings won theorist, philosopher, etc. Her transla- numerous academic publications as the 2000 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation tions of the work of Jacques Derrida well as works of fiction in both Eng- Prize. His later translation of Maurice Scève‟s Emblems into English are core to the dissemina- lish and Greek. As translator, he was of Desire: Selections from the Délie was a finalist for the PEN tion of Derridean thought, and her recipient of a National Endowment Translation and the Weidenfeld Prizes. own innovative work has been widely for the Arts Fellowship. translated. Page 4 “Music, Language, Thought” by Magali Armillas-Tiseyra “Music, Language , between the aural and the migrations and mutations Thought,” a lecture series material. Presenters in- of particular ballads as dedicated to fostering inter- cluded Brian Kane (Music; means to rethink the disciplinary conversation Yale) who spoke about Luc category of “world litera- between the departments of Ferrari, Jean-Luc Nancy, ture” and disciplinary Music and Comparative and musique concrète; Bonnie boundaries at large. David Literature, continued its Gordon (Music; University Samuels (Music; NYU), popular cycle of events into of Virginia) who spoke responding most directly to 2009 & 2010. about castrati and the figure the imperative of the series, The series, which had its of the cyborg; and David took up the question of a first event on February 28, Copenhafer, who spoke on link between music and 2009, explores the intersec- music in David Lynch‟s language through the lens tions between philosophy, “Blue Velvet.” of recent work on language literary studies, and musi- Momentum from the spring evolution, returning, in the cology. It has its origins in continued into the fall course of his lecture, to informal conversation semester, with the very well Mozart‟s correspondence. April—and examined it in a between graduate students attended “Music, Language, The final speaker of the day broader perspective. The and faculty from both Thought III,” which took was Carolyn Abbate (Music; problem of the transience departments, centering on place on October 2. Mau- University of Pennsyl- of musical performance questions of critical reen McLane (English; vania), whose lecture, became the question of the aesthetic theory and the NYU) began the event with “Overlooking the Ephem- ephemeral, the overlooked, politics of the sensible. her lecture, “Border Trou- eral,” took up an important and, ultimately, the trace. The presentations given in ble: or, Ballad Mediality and concern for music stud- During the course of the the second event of the „World Literature,‟” which ies—the transient nature of argument, examples were series—“Music, Language, explored the ballad as a musical phenomena, which drawn from various media, Thought II,” which took genre on the border had also arisen in Prof. including photographs and place on April 4, 2009— between word and sound. Gordon‟s presentation in focused on the links Prof. McLane used the (MLT, Continued on Page 6)

(China/Japan, continued participation, and funding Finally, there were NYU Critical Theory (ICCT), from Page 1) from the partner institu- Summer Research Institutes with member centers and

former and current Comp tions and resulted in several in Shanghai and Beijing in institutes at Peking, ECNU, Lit Grads Mariano Siskind, international symposia, 2007 and 2008, focusing on Tokyo, and NYU. The goal Brad Tabas, Hui Jiang, summer seminar and lec- international modernism, is to foster a truly interna- Daniel Hoffmann - ture series, and conferences. translation (in practice and tional framework of ex- Schwartz, Ellen He, and One of these was the 2007 in theory, with the Chinese change with visiting pro- Lorraine Wong, along with NYU-ECNU Summer Re- translation of Benjamin‟s grams, events, team- classmates from English search Institute in Shanghai Arcades Project at the center), teaching, research and pub- and East Asian Studies) on “Metropolis, Modernity, and the essay as form, in lication. We hope to be able embarked on a 10-day, 4- and Culture Theory,” which which Comp Lit students to secure a series of visitor- city tour of China. The stu- featured professors Richard Yi Sun, Ellen, Lorraine, and ships and fellowships in the dent delegation participated Sieburth and Xudong Pu participated. near future to enable the in major academic conven- Zhang, and Comp Lit stu- Based on these concrete international flow of ideas tions, conferences, and bi- dents Robyn Creswell and activities and ongoing pro- and people who share con- lateral symposia in Hong Fernando Perez. Another grams, the participating cerns about theory, criti- Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, was the spring 2008 Inter- institutions have continued cism, and comparative and Beijing. The trip laid national Graduate Student to work to regularize and study of literature and cul- the foundation for Shang- Conference on the Square, expand opportunities for ture. organized by the Comp Lit exchange and collaborative hai-Peking-New York aca- Xudong Zhang is Professor of department and EAS stu- research by launching an demic exchange and coop- Comparative Literature and dents, with Sage and Pu International Center for eration, which continued Professor and Chair of East playing leading roles. with increasing momentum, Asian Studies. Comp Lit Undergrads - in Action! Page 5 We'd first like to thank and acknowledge Professor John Chioles's many years of service as Director of Under- graduate Studies. During his tenure as DUGS, Professor Chioles "grew" the undergraduate program to the point of potential -- the potential to become an active, vital component of the department. Thank you, John! (And now you can get to work on that novel....) Jacques Lezra as chair, Cristina Vatulescu as our new DUGS, and a number of exceptional Comp Lit undergrads (special kudos to Sara Pevehouse and Nicole Basile!) have now turned that potential into very real accomplish- ment. As DUGS, Cristina restructured, reorganized and introduced a number of changes to enrich the UG program. And, making substantial funding available to undergrads, Jacques and Cristina encouraged/supported projects initiated by Comp Lit undergrads themselves. In her interview with Cristina below, undergrad Jenny Furman talks of both the changes to the UG program and these exciting UG projects.

Interview with DUGS, Professor Cristina Vatulescu by Jennifer Furman As I sat down with Profes- and facilitating UG pro- sor Vatulescu for our inter- jects. view, I had a Meta Mo- Honors Thesis: ment— after a semester in “We want to make the hon- her course, “Immigrant ors thesis a more thorough Writing and Filmmaking in undertaking,” Professor the First Person,” I could Vatulescu explained. not stop analyzing myself as Students are now encour- an interviewer, thinking aged to start thinking about about the workings of a topic in the second semes- memory, picking out the ter of their junior year; a idiosyncratic details of her new departmental summer narrative. Eventually, Prof. Vatulescu with BRIO editors Sara Pevehouse and Nicole Basile fellowship has been made though I was able to focus available to partially cover and the job market. Profes- Undergrad Projects: on the actual interview... travel and living expenses sor Vatulescu noted that Undergrads took advantage After submitting the manu- while students begin their students often use their of funding made available script of her new book, research; and the capstone theses as a writing sample by the department for two Police Aesthetics – Literature, honors thesis now covers for applications. major projects this year.

Film, and the Secret Police in two semesters instead of Editors of BRIO, the dept- Internship Program: Soviet Times (mailed to her one, with a writing seminar sponsored literary journal, This program, now more publisher in a Pampers in the fall and an independ- published a redesigned, substantial, affords students box!), Professor Vatulescu ent study in the spring. special edition in the spring valuable hands-on experi- turned her attention to These changes were made 2010 semester. Also, ence. “With an internship, revamping the UG program with an eye to grad school students invited Judith But- students can bring what ler to speak at the inaugural they learn in their Comp Lit “Majors‟ Choice Lecture Fall 2009 Undergraduate Honors Theses course work to the outside Series,” a newly-instituted, Weilin Chen “Repetition, Impossibility, Literary Absolute: Guo world.” This year, students annual UG event. Professor Moruo and Chinese Romanticism in the May Fourth Era” held internships with

Vatulescu is eager to con- organizations such as the Rebecca Fox “Canonization and the Sensation of the Foreign in tinue working with under- International Children‟s Books: An Analysis of the Decision-Making New York Times, The New grads on such valuable pro- Behind the Importation and Translation of Foreign Children‟s Lit- Yorker, PBS, and MTV. erature Within the United States” jects in the future. Double Majors: Pei Shan Hoe “Myths of the Family and Nation from Colombia to We thank Professor China: Questioning National Myths in Fictional Family Narratives of True to Comp Lit‟s com- Vatulescu for her unflag- Two Texts from „Third-World‟ Literature” mitment to interdisciplinary ging effort and encourage-

Emily Kline “The „Uncivilized‟ South: A Comparative Study of study, Professor Vatulescu ment, and hope her new Southern Subjugation” is making the program book (sans Pampers box) is

Sara Pevehouse “The Short Version: Some Brief Thoughts on more accessible to double a rousing success!

Condensed History of the 20th Century” majors, from other depart- Jennifer Furman is an under- Sarah Schoonmaker “The Voice of War: Soldier Poetry of the ments in CAS, Tisch, and Stern. graduate double major in Comp Vietnam and Iraq Wars” Lit and Spanish. Page 6 Comparative Approaches to Middle Eastern Literatures by Bilal Hashmi "Comparative Approaches in both departments. Our ture, “Thou Shalt Not Quayson (University of to Middle Eastern Litera- events cover specific peri- Translate Me,” was co- Toronto); Sibel Irzık tures" is a new colloquium ods, texts and literary tradi- sponsored by the Institute (Sabancı University); Lital series devoted to exploring tions, but are nonetheless for Comparative Literature Levy (Princeton University); grounds of comparison geared toward a non- and Society and the depart- Jeffrey Sacks (UC River- between the various litera- specialist audience. ments of French and Ro- side); Armando Vargas tures and cultures of the This past semester saw a mance Philology and Mid- (Williams College); and Middle East and their coun- total of four of our events dle East and Asian Lan- James E. Montgomery terparts outside the region. held alternatively in the guages and Cultures at Co- (University of Cambridge). A product of increased Hagop Kevorkian Center lumbia University. We are "Comparative Approaches collaboration between Library and in the Great grateful to Professor Hala to Middle Eastern Litera- Comparative Literature and Room, 19 University Place. Halim for agreeing to serve tures" is organized by Car- Middle Eastern and Islamic The colloquium series as the discussant for this los Aguirre, Ozen Nergis Studies, the series provides opened in late September event, which attracted a Dolcerocca, Bilal Hashmi, an important discussion with a lecture by Kamran large number of attendees Tara Mendola and MEIS forum for graduate students Rastegar (Tufts University) from NYU and beyond. students Ahmad Diab, Lara entitled, “Surviving Images: With a successful fall se- Harb, Jeannie Miller, Amir War, Memory and Trauma mester behind us, we hope Moosavi, Eman Morsi and in Lebanese and Iranian to explore new themes in Suneela Mubayi. The series Cinemas." Rastegar's talk the months to come. Future has received generous sup- was followed by two events will examine, among port from the departments presentations in October: other things, prospects for of Comparative Literature “A Letter Named Jīm” by comparative work between and Middle Eastern and Michael Beard (University the Middle East, Africa and Islamic Studies, as well as of North Dakota) and “A Latin America, the politics the Hagop Kevorkian Cen- Genre Without Borders? of recent writing in Turkish, ter for Near Eastern Studies The Arabic Ghazal and its Arabic and Hebrew and and the Humanities Initia- Persian Cousin” by Domi- new approaches to 'Abbasid tive at NYU. See our web- nic Parviz Brookshaw intellectual history. In addi- site for details on up- (University of Manchester). tion to a talk by renowned coming events: http:// On November 16, we Moroccan writer Tahar Ben adabnyu.wordpress.com/.

hosted an event with Ab- Jelloun in April, we have an Bilal Hashmi is a third-year delfattah Kilito (Université exciting list of speakers Ph.D. candidate in the Depart- Mohammed V) whose lec- lined up for the spring: Ato ment of Comparative Literature.

(MLT, continued from Page 4) generative Grammar (_For with generous funding from silent film. Here, Prof. Alto_),” which moved be- the departments of Com- Abbate demonstrated the tween Hannah Arendt‟s parative Literature and Mu- ways in which music used “Reflections on Little sic; it was also funded by during filming to control Rock” and Anthony Brax- the NYU Humanities Initia- the actors‟ movements left ton‟s solos, developed the tive in the 2009-2010 aca- its trace in the beat or (im)probable figure of the demic year. Freelance rhythm of these move- black soloist—a figure, he graphic designer David ments. argued, crucial to under- Rager has provided the dis- Originally scheduled to standing exceptionalism and tinctive posters for each of speak on October 2, Fred black social life. the events. “Music, Language, Moten (English; Duke), was Magalí Armillas-Tiseyra is a forced to cancel, but Thought” is organized by Magalí Armillas-Tiseyra, fifth-year Ph.D candidate in the returned to NYU on Department of Comparative Amy Cimini, Michael December 4 for “Music, Literature. Language, Thought IV.” Gallope, Daniel Hoffman- His presentation, “Juris- Schwartz, and Ceci Moss, Page 7 (Comparatorium, continued Mikhail Iampolski from ment at Harvard). Professor Professor Xudong Zhang, from Page 2) Comp Lit stepped up in Apter spoke on “The Right presented, “What Is Com-

November brought two December with his remarks, to Translation: Deconstruc- parison For? Political Phi- new faculty members to the “Participation (Metexis) and tive Pedagogy in Compara- losophy and the Other Di- colloquium in response to Negation (Apophasis): Pla- tive Literature 1979/2009." mension of Cross-Cultural increasing student interest tonic Theology in Modern Her talk, which will soon Literacy,” and in February, in work on visual culture. Times,” making a complex appear as an article in graduate students Daniel Professor Jordana Mendel- and convincing case for Boundary, advocates for Lukes (Comp Lit), Alex son from the Department participation in the un- seminar activity that would Lukes (French), and of Spanish & Portuguese known as active alternative bring translation theory to Lorraine Wong (Comp Lit), shared thoughts and images to the mimetic relation to bear rigorously on institu- will present dissertation related to the public con- knowledge that dominates tional practice. Professor work in April and May. sumption of documentary Western philosophical Hamilton, speaking on For schedule information, photography in 1930s thought. “CURA-CAUTIO-CAUSA: visit our website: compara- Spain, while Professor Ara With the Great Room Linguistic Field Theory and torium.wordpress.com. For Merjian from the Depart- (a.k.a. the Fishbowl) packed Comparative Philology,” serious stimulation plus ment of Italian Languages to capacity, the new year continued the disciplinary light refreshments, stay & Literatures explored the opened with a joint presen- reflection by offering his tuned for next year. tation by Emily Apter current inquiry into securitas philosophical implications Sage Anderson is a fourth-year (Departments of Comp Lit as a demonstration of the of Giorgio De Chirico's Ph.D. candidate in the Depart- and French), and John revitalizing effect of a "metaphysical painting" and ment of Comparative Literature. its reception by his Futurist Hamilton (on a return visit philological approach. In counterparts. Professor from the Comp Lit depart- the Spring semester

Graduate Student Awards 2009-2011 Magali Armillas-Tiseyra: 2009 summer research grant from the NYU Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS); 2010-2011 Dean‟s Dissertation Fellowship

Robyn Creswell: 2009-2010 ACLS/Mellon Dissertation Fellowship

Patrick Gallagher: Penfield Fellowship 2009-2010

Daniel Hoffman-Schwartz: doctoral fellow with the DFG (Deutsche Forschsgemeinschaft, a German Research Founda- tion) Graduiertenkolleg (Doctoral Research Group), Lebensformen und Lebenswissen ("Forms of Life and the Know-How of Living")

Anna Krakus: 2009 GSAS Summer Predoctoral Fellowship

Katharina Piechocki: 2010-2011 Dean‟s Dissertation Fellowship

Beata Potocki: Dean‟s Dissertation Fellowship 2009-2010

Erica Weitzman: DFG Fellowship for the Graduiertertenkolleg "Lebensformen und Lebenswissen" at Europa-Universität

Viadrina and Universität Potsdam

Recent Dissertations Haytham Bahoora “Modernism Before Modernity: Literature and Urban Form in Iraq, 1950-1963”

Andre Cardoso “Transparent Faces: The Sentimental Code in the Early Brazilian Novel”

Ipek Celik “Realism, Violence and Representation of Migrants and Minorities in Contemporary Europe”

JP Leary “Cuba in the American Imaginary: Literature and National Culture in Cuba and the United States, 1848-1958”

Yaakov Perry “The Poetics of the Unnarratable: Testimonial Articulations and Disarticulations in the Poetry of

Uri Dan Pagis, Zvi Greenberg, and Yehuda Amichai”

Brad Tabas “After Nature: Homo oeconomicus and the Aesopic Fable”

Page 8 Alumni News

Dror Abend-David (PhD 2001) is currently chair of the English department at Ohalo College in the north of Israel. He also teaches at two research universities: Tel Aviv and Bar Ilan. His recent publications include Louis Zukofsky and The West Wing: Metaphors of Mentorship, Yiddish, and Translation at Street Level, under review with Forum: International Journal of Interpretation and Translation and the forthcoming Reality vs. Reality TV: News Coverage in Israeli Media at the Time of Reality TV in Reality Television: Merging the Global and the Local by Nova Science Publishers, an entry under Yiddish Theatre for The Shakespeare Encyclopedia published by Greenwood Press and a poem entitled Loitering to be published in Bridges: A Jewish Feminist Journal (vol. 15, no. 1).

Anna M. Brigido-Corachan (PhD 2007) is on tenure-track in English Studies at the University of Valencia.

Marc Caplan (PhD 2003) has recently completed a sabbatical fellowship at the Kulturwissenschaftlisches Kolleg of the Uni- versity of Konstanz, Germany. Upon returning to the US and Johns Hopkins, where he has been teaching since 2006, his book manuscript How Strange the Change: Language, Temporality, and Narrative Form in Peripheral Modernisms was accepted for publication by Stanford University Press. This summer (2010) he will be teaching at the NYU/YIVO Yiddish summer program and in the spring (2011) he will be a fellow at the Frankel Institute for Jewish Studies and the University of Michigan.

Andre Cardoso (PhD 2009) is teaching English-language literatures at the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), a federal university in Niterói.

Ipek Celik (PhD 2009) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in International Humanities, Department of Comparative Literature, Brown University.

Gabrielle Civil (PhD 2000) has returned from a successful Fulbright year in Mexico City where her project In and Out of Place: Making Black Feminist Performance Art in Mexico allowed her to meet and work with many Mexican artists. This spring, she will resume her teaching, advising and service duties at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN where she remains Associate Professor of English, Women's Studies and Critical Studies of Race & Ethnicity. This spring she will also be exhibiting con- ceptual art pieces, short video works, photos and stills from her Mexico project at a show at the Obsidian Arts Gallery in Minneapolis.

Alice Craven (PhD 1990) is teaching as an Associate Professor in Comparative Literature and Film Studies at the American University of Paris in a permanent position. 7 Robin Truth Goodman (PhD 1996) published Policing Narratives and the State of Terror in 2009, and has a forthcoming title from Palgrave, entitled Feminist Theory in Pursuit of the Public, due out in September 2010.

Robert McKee Irwin (PhD 1999) published, with coeditor Mónica Szurmuk, Diccionario de estudios culturales latinoamericanos (Mexico City: Siglo XXI/Instituto Mora).

Edgar (Ned) Jackson, Jr. (MA 1991) contributed to the volume Jesuit Education and the Classics (Cambridge Scholars Pub- lishing) and published one of his chimpanzee stories in the volume Double-Circus Story-Book, which also contains illustrations by his wife and stepson.

Birgit Kaiser (PhD 2006) received tenure in 2009 as Assistant Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Department of Modern Languages at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Dalia Kandiyoti (PhD 1999) has been teaching in the English department at the College of Staten Island-CUNY, where she has been since 2001. She was a visiting professor at New York University in Toronto in 2008-09. Her book Migrant Sites: America, Place, and Diaspora Literatures was released in fall 2009 from Dartmouth College/University Press of New England, in the series Reencounters with Colonialism: New Perspectives on the Americas

Susan Matthias (PhD 2005) published her translation, with introduction, of Chapter Three of the 1890 novel, The Lissome Maiden, by Greek naturalist writer Andreas Karkavitsas, in Metamorphoses (Fall 2009, Volume 17, Issue 2). Susan is a faculty member of NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. In 2010, she is to teach two courses; the first devoted exclusively to the Iliad, the second devoted exclusively to the Odyssey.

Mary Helen McMurran (PhD 1999) recently published The Spread of Novels: Translation and Prose Fiction in the Eighteenth Cen- tury as part of the Princeton University Press Translation/Transnation series. This is a much revised version of her Ph.D. thesis. Mary Helen also received tenure and will be Associate Professor of English at the University of Western Ontario as of July 1, 2010.

Page 9 Fabienne Moore (PhD 2000) is currently Associate Professor of French at the University of Oregon. In March 2009 she was a visiting professor in Paris at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) where she gave lectures based on her first book, Prose Poems of the French Enlightenment: Delimiting Genre (June 2009, Ashgate) and her book in progress, Cha- teaubriands Lost Paradises: Discourse/Counter-discourse on Colonialism (1795-1830). In October 2009, Moore was invited to present her new book project on Chateaubriand during the annual Journes d'études hosted at the Maison de Chateaubriand.

Fernando Perez (PhD 2009) is teaching at Universidad Alberto Hurtado, a research university, where his time is split between the newly created aesthetics department, and the literature department. Starting in late January, his literature department‟s literary review (www.letrasenlinea.cl), which he contributes to as well, went online in a new format. The last issue of the review, edited by Fernando and friends can be viewed at: http://revistavertebra.wordpress.com/

María del Pilar Blanco (PhD 2007) has been a lecturer of Latin American Literature and Culture, in the Department of Spanish & Latin American Studies at University College London since January 2009. The university is part of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities. Her job is permanent with de facto tenure.

Laura Tanenbaum (PhD 2003) continues as a tenure-track assistant professor at LaGuardia Community College, City Uni- versity of New York. She has recently published fiction in failbetter and Steel City Review and book reviews in Open Letters Monthly.

Mark Christian Thompson (PhD 2001) published Black Fascisms: African American Literature & Culture Between the Wars (University of Virginia, 2007).

Jason Weiss (PhD 1998) has recently written a book entitled Always in Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk, the Most Outra- geous Record Label in America (Wesleyan, 2011).

Peter Wolfgang (BA 2004) is currently employed as a Senior Product Strategist at the DUMBO-based interactive strategy firm HUGE, Inc (www.hugeinc.com), where he works with clients such as Hearst Media and Target.com on improving their online business strategies. He continues to serve as Business Manager for the independent publishing company New York Tyrant (www.nytyrant.com), which is set to launch a line of books in 2010.

More from the Comp Lit Spider... Occasionally, even the Comp Lit Spider misses publication dead- lines. Here are a few events that took place later in the spring— Later, perhaps, but still rich fibers in our interdisciplinary web.

Ernesto Lauclau and Barbara Fuchs Judith Butler Tahar Ben Jelloun Chantal Mouffe “Plotting Spaniards and “Remembrance: Benjamin, A seminar with this A public symposium Spanish Plots,” a lecture in Politics and Present Time,” acclaimed Moroccan celebrating the 25th our year-long “Early inaugural lecture of Comp writer on his novel, anniversary of Hegemony Modernities” series Lit UG‟s “Majors‟ Choice Leaving Tangier and Socialist Strategy Lecture Series” DEPARTMENT OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY 13-19 University Place, 3rd Floor New York, NY 10003

Web: http://www.nyu.edu/fas/dept/complit