Nicole Tung

Saturday, March 23 Common Room/Grand Salon Samedi, 23 mars Old Chancellor Day Hall 9:00 17:00 Faculty of Law McGill University 3644 Peel Street

OUT OF PLACE
Law, Literature & Migration Droit, Littrature et Migration Student Colloquium Colloque tudiant
Human beings have always moved, in search of economic opportunities or of greater political stability. For the past sixty years, we have witnessed an acceleration of this mobility thanks in large part to the democratization of mass media and intercontinental transportation and simultaneously, a new relationship between the community and the border, the migrant, the immigrant, the foreigner, has arisen. Migration has morphed from a natural phenomenon into a major economic, legal and political issue, and the migrant has become a subject/object to be controlled. On the level of the imaginary, the many consequences of these recent developments continually bring the figure of the migrant back to her peculiar vulnerability as well as to her singular agency. Such characteristics, often too little accounted for in the legal sphere, beg the question of her representation. Where indeed can the migrant speak from when the very status of migrant can be summed up by the notion that she has lost all access to her own space, i.e., a habitable and inhabitable space? It is over this question that law meets literature and that literature attends to law. For, if the function of law is to resolve conflict, literature thrives on its ability to do so. After one academic year of debates, the students of the seminar will present the results of their individual research projects. The programme of the colloquium can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/ca9gbqj. All are welcome. For organization purposes, please register with William Martin, coordinator of the Oppenheimer Chair, at: william.martin@mail.mcgill.ca. De tout temps, ltre humain sest dplac, la recherche de ressources conomiques ou en qute de stabilit politique. Depuis une soixantaine dannes, on observe une acclration de cette mobilit grce, notamment, la dmocratisation des moyens de communication et des transports de masse et, avec elle, un nouveau rapport de la communaut envers la frontire, le migrant, limmigrant, ltranger. De phnomne naturel, la migration est devenue un enjeu politique, juridique et conomique de taille et le migrant un sujet/objet contrler. Au plan de limaginaire, les nombreuses consquences de ces rcents dveloppements renvoient la figure du migrant sa propre vulnrabilit tout come sa singulire agentivit. Ces caractristiques, souvent trop peu prises en compte par lespace juridique, posent la question de sa reprsentativit : do peut parler, en effet, un sujet dont le statut mme peut se rsumer dans lide davoir perdu tout accs un espace propre, cest-dire un espace habitable et habit? Cest ici que droit et littrature se rencontrent, car si la fonction du droit est de rsoudre les conflits, la littrature, quant elle, se nourrit de sa propre inaptitude le faire. Aprs une anne de dbats, les tudiants du sminaire prsenteront les rsultats de leurs projets de recherche. Le programme du colloque peut tre consult ici: http://tinyurl.com/ca9gbqj. Lvnement est ouvert toutes et tous. Pour des fins dorganisation, prire de sinscrire auprs de William Martin, coordonnateur de la Chaire Oppenheimer: william.martin@mail.mcgill.ca.