Translating at the Edge of Language: Eroticism, Rebellion, and the Algerian War in Pierre Guyotat’s Idiocy – A Discussion with Peter Behrman de Sinéty

Published in French in 2018 and awarded the Prix Médicis, Idiocy is a searing autobiographical account of Guyotat’s formative years, his rebellion against familial and military authority, and his imprisonment during the Algerian War. Blending linguistic experimentation with a meditation on state violence, eroticism, and the possibility of artistic resistance, the memoir is both an indictment of colonial domination and the formal culmination of a literary vision that Edmund White once described as belonging to “one of the few geniuses of our day.”

About the Translator:
Peter Behrman de Sinéty grew up in Maine and lives in Paris. He was a lecteur d’anglais at the École Normale Supérieure, where he has taught since 2011. His translations include Éric Chevillard’s QWERTY Invectives and Maël Renouard’s Fragments of an Infinite Memory.

This event was made possible through the generous support of the Robert Bacon Fund and the French+ Initiative at MIT.

Please contact Selma Laghmara (selma_laghmara@fas.harvard.edu) with any questions about this event.