UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Efthymia Rentzou, associate professor of French literature in the department of French and Italian at Princeton University, will present a lecture titled, “Beyond the Human: Universalism, Humanism and the 1930s French Avant-garde,” at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5, in Room 102 of Kern Building.
Rentzou studies avant-garde and modernist literature and art, particularly poetics, the relation between image and text, social analysis of literature, politics and literature, and the internationalization of the avant-garde. Her first book, “Littérature malgré elle: Le surréalisme et la transformation du littéraire,” published in 2010, examines the construction of literary phenomena in the production of an anti-literary movement, surrealism. She is currently working on a second book, tentatively titled, “Concepts of the World: Avant-garde and the Idea of the International,” that explores the conceptualization of the “world” in the work and activities of writers and artists within and around historical avant-garde movements —futurism, dada, and surrealism — during the period 1900-1940.
This event is a part of the Comparative Literature Luncheon lecture series, a weekly, informal lunchtime gathering of students, faculty and other members of the University community. Each week the event begins at 12:15 p.m. — coffee, tea and light lunch fare are provided. At 12:30 p.m. there will be a presentation, by a visitor or a local speaker, on a topic related to any humanities discipline. All students, faculty, colleagues and friends are welcome. For a full list of Comparative Literature lunches, visit http://complit.la.psu.edu/news-events/comp-lit-luncheon-series.