ROUND #6 - The exile experience

For the ROUND #6, in the heart of the exhibition Stéphane Duroy - Again and Again, Alexis Nouss, lecturer in comparative literature at the Université d'Aix-Marseille, holder of the chair "Exile and migrations" at the Fondation maison des siences de l'homme - FMSH, and the photographer Arno Gisinger think together on the representation of a contemporary exile, influenced by the history of the 20th century.

How can we understand and represent the contemporary exile ? Does the image, by its ability to represent which isn't there anymore, to make present the absent, have a particular likeness with the exile experience ? Which role does the collective memory and the relationship with history play in the setting up of this experience ? Is the contemporary exile experience, despite its specifics, universal ?

Host : Sylvain Bourmeau, journalist, producer of La Suite dans les idées on France Culture and lecturer associated with EHESS. 

Arno Gisinger is a photographer. He works in the documentary photography, on the relationship between history, memory and representation. Through his projects, he gives a contemporary reading of forms and shapes of history. He is very influenced by the biography and work of Walter Benjamin, produced during his own exile. In 2009, he published Konstellation, Walter Benjamin en exil.

Alexis Nuselovici (Nouss) is a lecturer in comparative literature at the Université d'Aix-Marseille, the director of "Transposition", an interdisciplinary research center (Laboratoire EA4235) and holder of the chair "Exile and migrations" at the Fondation maison des siences de l'homme - FMSH. His last work is La condition de l'exilé, published by Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme.

Podcast of the meeting (in French) :