DR. TRUDIER HARRIS, J. CARLYLE SITTERSON PROFESSOR EMERITA, TO GIVE THE HUTCHINS LECTURE ON APRIL 13TH AT 4PM AT THE UNC ALUMNI CENTER
The last Hutchins Lecture of the year welcomes Trudier Harris, J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor Emerita on April 13th. Her lecture is entitled, “Imagining His Body Violated: James Baldwin’s Sexual Construction of the South.” This lecture will explore Baldwin’s recurrent efforts to cast the South as a sexual predator bent upon seducing/raping/ emasculating him. What leads Baldwin to cast himself in the role of sexual victim? Why does he picture the South as the rapist who will violate him? What history does he bring to bear in this construction? Why is he never able to move beyond a visceral response to the South? What is there about the territory of the South that leads Baldwin repeatedly to cast himself in relationship to it as violent sexual encounter?
She has lectured and published widely in her specialty areas of African American literature and folklore. She is the author of numerous books, including From Mammies to Militants: Domestics in Black American Literature; Saints, Sinners, Saviors: Strong Black Women in African American Literature; and Fiction and Folklore: The Novels of Toni Morrison. She is also coeditor of a number of anthologies, including The Oxford Companion to African American Literature. From 1996-97, she was a resident fellow at the National Humanities Center and in 2000, was presented with the William C. Friday/Class of 1986 Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her latest book, entitled, “The Scary Mason-Dixon Line: African American Writers and the South,” was published by LSU Press in May of 2009. Choice designated it one of the “Outstanding Academic Titles” for 2009 in its “best of the best” listings.
Please join us in on April 13th at 4 pm in the UNC Alumni Center’s Royall room. Light refreshments served. Parking is limited and directions are here. All Hutchins Lectures are free and open to the public.