You are invited to a Salon
featuring Jane Weston Vauclair
speaking about her PhD thesis which examines Charlie Hebdo
Thurs March 19 at 20:00
Hosted by Erin Byrne
Jane Weston Vauclair has a PhD in French Studies from the University of Bristol. Her thesis, which she is currently preparing for publication, examined humour in Hara-Kiri and Charlie Hebdo in its theory, practice and subsequent mythologisation. Over the course of her research, she was able to spend time at the offices of Charlie Hebdo and to interview its contributors on their work. She has lived in Paris since 2005 where she now works as a translator, teacher and independent researcher. She also enjoys travel, choral music and creative writing.
Charlie Hebdo became a global name following the tragic events of January 7 2015 in Paris. Following this, two competing, somewhat reductive forms of commentary on Charlie Hebdo rapidly emerged in the global media. Could Charlie Hebdo effectively be sidelined as a case of egregiously irresponsible and offensive satire, even if the attacks per se were inexcusable? Or could its cartoonists instead be championed as martyrs to free speech, having proved to have a backbone of conviction and courage that had been lacking elsewhere in the media? I will look to highlight how Charlie Hebdo’s contributors have been engaging with these tensions, both in the ‘survivor’s issue’ of 14th of January 2015 and in other spaces of commentary.