The Department of French in the Faculty of Arts, in collaboration with the French Embassy, is pleased to announce the visit and upcoming lectures of French sociologist Claude Poissenot, from the Université de Lorraine. Claude Poissenot is specialized in the sociology of reading, and has published extensively on reading habits and the role of the library. His lectures, which will be held in French, are open to all interested colleagues and students.
Date: 6 December 2022
Time: 13:00
Venue: Faculty of Arts Library (Old Humanities, second floor) - University Msida Campus
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Is Proust dead? As we celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the great French writer's death, we can witness substantial evolutions in the practice of reading in France. Claude Poissenot will show both its relative decline as well as the trivialisation of its status. For example: literature no longer occupies a major role in the training of elites. The talk will conclude with an analysis of the renewed relationship to reading, as illustrated by the success of mangas and webtoons among the younger generations.
Date: 7 December 2022
Time: 18:00
Venue: University Valletta Campus, Small Hall
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To understand France and the French, it is necessary to think about the process of individualisation, which can be defined as the movement by which persons come to think of themselves as singular and autonomous. Claude Poissenot, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Lorraine, will discuss examples related to the couple, the family and schooling. He will underline the tensions and difficulties faced by institutions which used to function under a different notion of the individual.