(DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
Diaspora literature from the Balkans will be the focus of this year's Albanian Studies Annual Lecture on Saturday, as two European professors come to DePaul.
Belfjore Qose teaches modern world literature at the University of Tirana in Albania, while Christian Voss heads the Department for South Slavic Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin.
Their 5 p.m. lecture, "Ulysses 2.0? The return to the Balkans in today's transnational literature," will examine how Southeastern European authors write often in languages that are not their mother tongues, creating bilingual tales. Consistent themes in these works include alienation and loneliness, both in one's country of origin and the writer's new host country, that challenge traditional ideas about national identity and belonging.
Following the lecture will be a question-and-answer session moderated by Albanian writer and DePaul faculty Gazmend Kapllani.
The DePaul Albanian Studies Annual Lecture is presented by the DePaul Hidai "Eddie" Bregu Lectures in Albanian Studies in cooperation with Germany's Martin Camaj Association.
DePaul Albanian Studies Annual Lecture
Saturday, April 15
5 p.m.
Levan Center, Room 100
RSVP
Scott Butterworth is an editor of Newsline.