Alice Béja, maitresse de conférences à Science Po Lille, présentera son ouvrage intitulé Voltairine de Cleyre: Anarchisme, Féminisme et Amour Libre (édition de l’Atelier, 2025) qui est une biographie de l’anarcha-féministe étasunienne Voltairine de Cleyre le 14 mai 2025 de 11h à 12h.
Le mardi 4 mars 2025 nous aurons le plaisir d’accueillir Mike McCormack qui interviendra dans le cadre du dispositif des conférencier.es invité.es. Il animera une rencontre littéraire à partir de 12h30 au théâtre du Globe ainsi qu’un séminaire de 16h30 à 18h en salle B1.603 sur le campus Pont-de-Bois à Villeneuve d’Ascq.
Mike McCormack n’était pas prédestiné à l’écriture et souhaitait devenir ingénieur afin de gagner sa vie après la disparition de son père. Néanmoins, n’étant pas passionné par ses études, Mike McCormack trouva rapidement un travail et commença à lire un livre par jour avant de commencer à étudier la littérature et la philosophie à l’Université de Galway.
Au cours de carrière, Mike McCormack a écrit et publié deux recueils de nouvelles et quatre romans. Son travail fut récompensé de nombreuses fois, notamment sa première nouvelle Getting in the Head (1995) qui a été acclamée par le New York Times dans la liste Notable Books of the Year et qui remporta l’année suivante le Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Mais son travail le plus célèbre est le roman Solar Bones (2016), qui a remporté de très prestigieux prix comme le Dublin Literary Award, le prix Goldsmiths ou bien le prix de roman de l’année à la cérémonie des Irish Books Awards. Son travail le plus récent est le roman This Plague ofSouls publié en 2023 et récemment traduit en français sous le titre La Nuée des Âmes.
Résumé de l’Intervention de Mike McCormack
Irish novelist Mike McCormack was invited Professor at the university of Lille from March 3 to March 10, 2025. He contributed to the research group on the political work of the domestic (« Programme d’ouverture inter-axes »), CECILLE) and to the research in Irish studies of CECILLE. During the week, he presented his work as a writer and as a lecturer and more particularly two of his novels: Solar Bones (2016) and This Plague of Souls (2023). Writing for 30 years, he is now considered one of Ireland’s most established contemporary writers. Mike McCormarck is also a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Galway. His writing encompasses a wide literary range of genres and styles, such as hyperrealism, science-fiction, high-modernist and video game-inspired texts. He is currently in the process of writing a collection of short stories which he considers an attempt at science-fiction, deeming that while Ireland is revered for its numerous short stories, it rarely is for the science-fiction genre. An exhibition surrounding his own work, as well as works and places which inspired him throughout his life was also set up from March 3 to March 7 at the “Bibliothèque des études anglophones.”
On March 6, he was first at the “Théâtre du Globe” for a literary meeting in order to present his most recent novel The Plague of Souls, which was recently translated in French, where he read an excerpt of the book and discussed it. Nicolas Richard, who translated both Solar Bones and This Plague of Souls in French (as D’os et de lumière and La nuée des âmes) was also present to take part in the dialogue and talk about the process of translating his novels. Mike McCormack mentioned that it had been difficult to get Solar Bones published, despite its eventual success. Although he had earned a reputation as a writer from his first few books, the novel was turned down many times, until a small publishing house, Tramp Press (Dublin) accepted it – he jokingly comments that his agent still won’t tell him how many rejections it faced to this day. He also talked about how these two novels have a different feel and vibe. Solar Bones is set in the middle of the day and feels like a very bright novel whereas This Plague of Souls is dark, nocturnal, and has tighter and sharper rhythms and was inspired by the continental noir of France.
Later that afternoon, Mike McCormack was also present for a research seminar in Irish studies and for the project “Politics of the Domestic”, during which he discussed the place of politics and domesticity within his two novels Solar Bones and This Plague of Souls as the third professor invited for this project. Domesticity is a major theme of Mike McCormack’s work and it is actually reminiscent of his personal experiences. Mike McCormack had a conservative upbringing and always felt that what set him apart from other boys was his interest for reading as he read “without discrimination.” His father died when he was just 18 years old and one of his favorite memories of all times was, when alongside his brother, they had built their own house. He cherishes the fact that he will always have physical evidence of an amazing memory. Moreover, Mike McCormack always considered the house to be a living object, just as the electricity and the water running through the walls in Solar Bones. The plot of this book had actually lived inside his head for more than 20 years before he wrote it. As the man of the house, he felt that he needed to look out for his family and decided to pursue a career in engineering, which was very-short lived. Once he became a writer, the original idea of Solar Bones came back to him with the main character being an engineer and while neither Solar Bones or This Plague of Souls are autobiographical novels, they were inspired by McCormarck’s own personal experiences. Mike McCormack believes that engineers were never celebrated when in reality the profession was particularly interesting as they are the ones who create the world, he stated: “God created angels and hearts and handed things over to engineers.” He describes Solar Bones and its protagonist Marcus Conway as the perfect juncture between the domestic, the political and the religious. Mike McCormack wanted to celebrate his Irish roots coming from his mother’s side, as he was particularly interested in a piece of folklore from County Mayo stating that dead people come back to their home every year on November 2nd. The form of the book was also heavily influenced by the fact that the main character was dead; writing the story in a single sentence allowed the character to remain present whereas a full stop would have made him disappear. The book Solar Bones depicts the domestic as a place of love, certainty and conversation. Yet, the domestic is contained within the walls of the house and it is particularly striking to talk about domesticity in the Irish context as the house market is very precarious. Still, domesticity can also be affected by politics just like the cryptosporidiosis virus in Solar Bones affects people, exposing bad political decisions and their consequences literally making their ways into people’s bodies. However, the virus led to a change of the domestic life as the main character is bound to take care of his sick wife creating a new intimacy between characters that was lost. While the house had become quiet, the illness that came into their lives forced the characters into new roles. The ghost in an empty house is also reminiscent of the phenomenon of ghost estates in Ireland, that are domestic spaces built during the Celtic Tiger, a period of economic growth, left empty as a result of politics. Mike McCormack also mentions that Marcus himself can be found marvelling at politics when his daughter Agnes was born; the birth certificate is an incredibly enabling document to Marcus, representing a place being made in society for his daughter and he entirely dismisses the fact that it is the very first object of surveillance in humans’ lives.
Domesticity and politics are therefore not unusual themes in Mike McCormack’s writing, which not only reflects his personal background but also the history of Ireland. Although Solar Bones and This Plague of Souls are set in domestic settings, he still tackles issues surrounding Irish politics which invade and sometimes even threaten a place he considers a safe place.
Ce book club est organisé dans le cadre du groupe de recherche « Le domestique comme lieu de production du politique » coordonné par Hélène Cottet, Hélène Lecossois et Hélène Quanquin.
Le lundi 27 mai, de 18h à 19h30, nous aurons le plaisir de retrouver Sarah Schulman qui nous présentera la traduction française de son ouvrage Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences, traduit par Les liens qui empêchent : l’homophobie familiale et ses conséquences(parution en France le 10 mai 2024). Cette rencontre aura lieu à la librairie Le Bateau Livre(154 rue Léon Gambetta, 59000 Lille).
Ce book club est organisé dans le cadre du groupe de recherche « Le domestique comme lieu de production du politique » coordonné par Hélène Cottet, Hélène Lecossois et Hélène Quanquin.
Le mardi 5 mars 2024 de 17h à 18h30, nous avons eu le plaisir d’écouter Olivier Esteves nous parler de son ouvrage Inside the Black Box of ‘White Backlash’ Letters of Support to Enoch Powell (1968-1969).
Vous pouvez retrouver cet article dans notre rubrique “Evènements”.
Nous avons le plaisir de vous informer qu’une journée d’étude intitulée “Matérialités et espaces” se tiendra en hybride le lundi 12 juin de 9h30 à 16h30. Vous pourrez à la fois nous retrouver en présentiel en salle A1. 152 sur le campus Pont-de-bois de l’Université de Lille à Villeneuve d’Ascq, ainsi que sur zoom.
ID de réunion : 920 0754 2793 Code secret : 458535
Vous pouvez retrouver cet article dans notre rubrique “Evènements”.
Cette journée est co-organisée avec Marjorie Meiss et le laboratoire IRHiS dans le cadre du projet “Le domestique comme lieu de production du politique”.
Veuillez trouver le programme ci-dessous :
9h30: Accueil
10h-13h
Catherine Richardson: “The political work of the early modern middling household: connecting spaces and material cultures” (online)
Aude Barthe-Monié: “‘Behind repair’: moralizing house work in the late 19th century, France and United Kingdom”
Bruno Blondé: “Between office and kitchen. Gender, space and materiality in Antwerp, 16th-18th centuries”
Anaïs Albert: “Travail domestique et inégalités de patrimoine : les rapports de genre dans une famille paysanne (Tarn, 1895-1921)”
13h-14h: Pause déjeuner
14h-15h30
Vanessa Alayrac: “Quand le politique s’invite à table: espace domestique et céramiques dans Swallow Hard: the Lancaster Dinner Service de Lubaina Himid”.
Aurore Clavier: “‘Hard and soft goods’ : objets domestiques et transmissions politiques dans la poésie autochtone des Etats-Unis'”
Margaux Lardet: “Dolls’ Houses in England: Toying with the British Empire in Miniature Scale (1700-1850)”
Dans le cadre du projet de recherche « Le domestique comme lieu de production du politique », l’objectif de ce carnet est de rendre accès aux personnes intéressées les informations relatives au projet. Ainsi que de fournir une trace écrite des différents Book Clubs et journées d’étude qui seront organisés.