New publication by former Fellow Jean Jonassaint

Following his residence at the IAS-Nantes in 2013-2014, Jean Jonassaint, Professor of French and Francophone Studies published the article untitled Un Christophe ignoré des Césairiens in the Il Tolomeo journal by Ca’Foscari Publishing at the university of Venezia.

After the triumph of King Christophe in Salzburg in 1964, Europa Studio, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann, co-produced with Austrian television a TV show of Jean-Marie Serreau’s production, directed by Ottokar Runze and aired on 20 January 1965. This historical moment of Francophone theatre and Césaire’s work, with the exceptional presence of Mathilde Beauvoir, is ignored by critics until today. Why? This is the first question we addressed going back to the genesis of this TV production. In this way, we also question his autoriality (authors and right holders), and then show how this theatrical genetics makes it possible to better read the texts, to understand their passage from an indigenous semiotic to an exogenous one – a key question for Francophone studies.

The full-length article is available on the following website, here and for further information on Jean Jonassaint, check his profile page.