Project for Visiting Scholar (BEPE) at University of Michigan: Ann Arbor under the supervison of Prof. Gareth Williams

Abstract

This project aims to achieve a grant for a period abroad (Bolsa de Estágio de Pesquisa no Exterior), to be held at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, from September 4th to December 4th, under the supervision of professor Gareth Williams, from the departments of Romance Languages and Literatures and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. The research project linked to the masters program currently focuses on Roberto Bolaño's novel 2666 within the theoretical framework of World Literature (as an alternative or unfolding of Comparative Literature, give the difficulty in circumscribing contemporary literature to a national territory), aiming to go beyond the binarisms offered by sociological world-systems such as center-periphery and global-local, looking to encounter what exists in between these extremes. Resisting ideas that defend the existence of a cultural hegemony, but with denying the assymetrical nature of the cultural flow, 2666 is investigated in light of multiplicities and particularities, omprehending the erring of characters as a means for a new cultural cartography. The nomadic wandering displayed by the characters makes way for a new relation between man and territory, in which the very concept of the individual and identity is problematized. Given the novelty of both issues (World Literature and Roberto Bolaño), a period abroad is justified by Gareth William's affinity with both the theoretical framework and the object at hand and the inclusion in his research group will certainly be an asset for the research process and the further education of the researcher. (AU)