The Mississippi State University department of foreign languages welcomed a trio of distinguished writers and scholars to campus this week to helm Mauritian Week, a series of lectures and presentations designed to spotlight the tiny island nation of Mauritius.
The 2008 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Jean-Marie Gustav Clézio, will headline the event.
Featured in this event also is Ananda Devi and Vinesh Hookoomsing, a famed author from Mauritius and acclaimed former administrator at the University of Mauritius, respectively.
Keith Moser, assistant professor in French at MSU and also a published author on the subject of Le Clézio, said this event would be the recent Nobel Prize winner’s only public appearance in the U.S.
“[Le Clézio] has been traveling around the world, making many stops in Africa,” Moser said, regarding the prize-winning author’s busy schedule.
With this being Le Clézio’s only stop in the country, our university is able to experience a rare event, Moser added.
Le Clézio will present at Lee Hall auditorium Monday at 7:30 p.m.
“It’s a rare presentation since he will be conducting this in English,” said Jack Jordan, head of foreign languages.
Also presenting on campus, Devi — who fluently speaks in English, French and Creole – will discuss the overlapping of languages as pertaining to identity.
Devi is scheduled to speak today at 4 p.m. in the Rogers Auditorium at McCool Hall.
Former pro-vice chancellor at the University of Mauritius, Hookoomsing led a forum Wednesday on acclaimed Southern writer Mark Twain.
Hookoomsing can take the credit for Le Clézio being at MSU, Moser said.
“[He] first told me that Le Clézio would be in Montreal for a conference,” Moser added.
When Moser first published his book about Le Clézio, he said he sent it to the famed French author. At the Montreal conference, Moser said he met with Clézio at a book signing, where he discovered Le Clézio had received the book and already started reading it.
“I had prepared an informal letter to see if [Le Clézio] would be interested in visiting [the Mississippi State] campus,” Moser said. “He seemed interested, so I worked with the College of Arts and Sciences and Campus Activities Board to help draft a formal request.”
In addition to his presentation, Le Clézio will also be at a book signing at the MSU Barnes & Noble.
However, this stop in the U.S. will not only serve as an opportunity for the author to share his experiences. He also plans to explore the literature and culture native to the South.
Jordan said one such experience will be a trip to Oxford where Le Clézio will make a visit to the home of Southern writer William Faulkner.
Mauritian Week was created to highlight the contributions of the island of Mauritius Jordan said.
“We’re hoping this leads to an exchange program with the University of Mauritius, where we can send a student and faculty member,” Jordan said. “We’re also hoping this will lead to the creation of courses covering Creole literature and literature arriving from the Indian Ocean.”
“Mauritius is a desert island that the Dutch settled in the early 19th century,” Moser said about the nation that lies off the coast of Madagascar. “Later, the French were able to establish a successful colony there.”
After some time, the British also colonized the island, eventually taking over, Moser said. But the French influence remains, as seen in the habitual use of French by its inhabitants, even more so than the official language of English.