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The XXIst International James Joyce Symposium, titled Re-Nascent Joyce, took place June 15-20, 2008 in the medieval town of Tours in France. It was hosted by the Universite Francois Rabelais. It was organized locally by Claudine Raynaud and John Pier. The academic program was coordinated by Daniel Ferrer, Sam Slote and Andre Topia.
Please email me if * You have photos you would like to contribute * In photos marked with *** you know the name of someone I did not recognize * You don't like a photo you are in, and want me to take it off |
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The conference was dedicated to Margot Norris who was not able to attend.
Tours has a beautiful flower market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I saw a flower called Margot, so I dedicate it to Margot Norris as well. |
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The conference gave a place of honor to Fritz Senn. His countless credits include:
* coining "harmless maniacs" as a descriptive for Joyce readers and enthusiasts. I immediately recognized myself in it * having the most papers written on Joyce, as indexed by Bill Brockman in the James Joyce Checklist * proposing a ban on the format "Joyce and..." in the title of papers, panels, books or otherwise literary works * authoring one of my absurdly favorite quotes - about chocolate and cigarettes * submitting (reluctantly) to a catechetical interrogation, and accepting (gracefully) to have it published * being one of only 2 people present at every James Joyce symposium since 1967, when it was started in Dublin. The other is Father Jean Schoonbroodt from Belgium. * and many others |
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Most people arrived by the train station, a few by airplane.
Tours is bordered by the rivers Loire (north) and Cher (south). Tours is a major access city to the Loire valley and its magnificent castles. The inhabitants of Tours are Tourgeaux (feminine Tourgelles). |
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The main site of the symposium was the Centre International de Congrès Vinci. I did not think the building was very pretty, but it was designed by award-winning architect Jean Nouvel who also designed the very interesting IMA in Paris. The Centre was built under mayor Jean Royer who led several 'urban expansion' projects that put Tours into huge debt at the time, but made it a major 'convention city' of France. Royer is also credited with the preservation of the 'Vieux Tours', the historic medieval section of downtown. |
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The front sign of the Centre Vinci announces the conference, with the train station reflected in the glass. Many of the lecture halls, I later realized, were named after writers who were born or lived in Touraine: Rabelais (b. around 1493 in Chinon, "the garden of Touraine"), Descartes (b. 1596 in La Haye en Touraine, a town thereafter renamed Descartes), Balzac (b. 1799 in Tours), Dujardin (b. 1861 in Blois, mid-way between Tours and Orleans). Curiously there was a Salle Proust, though Proust was from Paris.
(Photo by Fritz Senn) |
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These are the local students (Université Francois Rabelais de Tours) who worked very hard, behind the scenes: Chloé Deroy, Camille Deseille, Anne-Sophie Gallene, Romain Rivaux and Tiffany Le Roi. They stood with smiles (and tears) to say goodbye when the conference broke up, and let me take their picture. Then they biked away into the night. |
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Tours is in the departement of Indre-et-Loire. It was previously the capital of an area called Touraine, that was dismantled in 1790. Tours is the largest city (150k inhabitants) in the Centre region of France, though Orléans is the regional capital. It is famous for its original medieval district called 'Vieux Tours' with timber-framed buildings, centered in the Place Plumereau, a busy tourist area.
(Photo by Fritz Senn) |
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This is the Basilique St Martin, in the Vieux Tours. It was built in the 19c. at the site of the medieval abbaye of St Martin containing the relics of the saint. In 1860, excavations were conducted by Léon Papin Dupont that recovered some fragments of the old architecture. The building was designed by architect Victor Laloux in a mixture of Romanesque and Byzantine styles. Victor Laloux (1850-1937) also designed the City Hall of Tours. The basilica was consecrated in 1925.
(Photo by Fritz Senn) |
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Tours is of relevance to Ulysses in that it is the city of St Martin (born in Szombathely, Hungary), and the setting for the opera 'Les Huguenots' by Meyerbeer that includes the aria 'Au beau pays de la Touraine' (U18.1189) |
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Joyce visited Tours in 1903 |
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but of course readers of Joyce will see his signature everywhere. One of the streets bordering the cathedral is called Rue Fleury, for an 18c. Archbishop of Tours. We wondered if he was related to Henry Fleury of Gordon-Bennett fame (U15.3003). |
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Anne Fogarty during the opening ceremony. |
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The panel on "Joyce, Irish Modernism and Primitivism": Greg Winston, Teresa Caneda Cabrera, Maria McGarrity, John McCourt, and Chair Claire Culleton. |
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The panel on "Joycean Scholarship": Michael Groden, Terence Killeen, Luca Crispi and William Brockman. |