UW professor to share ways global lit can help illuminate the world May 21

In a presentation titled "Global Literature: How Learning About 'Over There' Helps Us Understand 'Over Here'," award-winning University of Washington professor Anu Taranath will use examples from global literature to showcase this extraordinary body of talented writing and to suggest ways of reading that invite conversation on often difficult topics of power, privilege, voice and agency.

Taranath will speak from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday, May 21, in Fairhaven College Room 340.

A novel from Nigeria, Sri Lanka or Trinidad illuminates local cultures but also invites us to reflect on our own culture, be it in Pullman, Friday Harbor or Seattle. Characters and stories in novels might speak like us or seem totally dissimilar, and in figuring this out during our reading process we begin to form an impression of what we are like, how we define ourselves, and where these definitions come from. Literature from around the globe helps us picture “people over there” and brings texture and depth to our lives “over here.”

This presentation is co-sponsored by Liberal Studies Department and Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies.