In this seminar Dionne discusses her book project, Staging Justice, which explores French adaptations of the Greek tragedies, Iphigenia, Antigone and Medea. Here, Dionne focuses primarily on the early modern period, when these plays were addressing revolts against authority, violations of justice, and court intrigues, to analyze the power struggles of an emerging modern State. Like the Greek tragedies, these later adaptations followed two different paths: they validated contemporary social institutions or, at times, questioned their legitimacy.

Dionne’s focus on justice allows an interrogation of sacred, violent, and ritualistic aspects of the judicial system and the designation of particular groups as scapegoats to be sacrificed (Agamben, Girard). Dionne is particularly interested in state violence, the criminalization of non-state violence, and the appropriation of state protection by an elite. In this context, ending with Medea is especially meaningful. Medea’s murderous anger provokes horror, but it can be seen as a just recourse for an individual deprived of all agency. The violent response of Medea, the grand-child of the sun god Helios, is that of a goddess deprived of any rights, silenced, and humiliated for far too long. Thus, due to a sense of shared experience, Medea’s actions continue to resonate with marginalized people in the contemporary world.

Speaker:

Prof Valérie M. Dionne.

Valérie M. Dionne is Professor of French and was director of the Oak Institute for Human Rights (2018-2023) at Colby College. After studying in Montreal, London, Paris, and Fribourg, she earned her PhD from Princeton University. Her research examines the correlation of politics, rights, and ethics in Early Modern French Literature. Recently she has turned her focus to decolonizing the western philosophical tradition. Her multidisciplinary approach to the early modern period allows her to explore topics that range from gender theory to political philosophy. Her major publications include: Montaigne, écrivain de la conciliation (Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2014); Staging Justice in Early Modern France, a volume she co-edited with Michael Meere for the journal Early Modern French Studies, 2020; and another volume Revelations of Character: Ethos, Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy in Montaigne (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007).

For enquiries email: centreforhumanitiesresearch@uwc.ac.za