Reading group on Ailton Krenak
Event information>
This reading group, led by Visiting Fellow at the University of London Institute in Paris, Dr Jamille Pinheiro Dias, will consist of three meetings dedicated to discussing books by Indigenous Brazilian leader and environmental activist Ailton Krenak, whose work challenges dominant modern colonial perspectives on nature and invites us to reevaluate our place within the web of life.
This reading group will consist of three meetings dedicated to discussing books by Indigenous Brazilian leader and environmental activist Ailton Krenak, whose work challenges dominant modern colonial perspectives on nature and invites us to reevaluate our place within the web of life. The group, led by Dr Jamille Pinheiro Dias, will focus on titles that Krenak published from 2019 to 2022 with São Paulo-based Companhia das Letras, now translated to English. Each meeting will delve into one of the works as listed below.
Dr Jamille Pinheiro Dias is the director of the Centre of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) at the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies (ILSC) at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study (SAS), where they are also a Lecturer.
Jamille is also Co-Director of the SAS Environmental Humanities Research Hub, of which the University of London Institute in Paris is a partner. Besides their engagement in teaching and research, their work as a translator specialising in the Humanities and Social Sciences led them to translate books and essays by Ailton Krenak, Marilyn Strathern, Alfred Gell, Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Judith Butler and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, among others. During March 2024, Jamille is Visiting Fellow at the Institute in Paris.
Session 1 - Ideas to Postpone the End of the World
Friday 15 March, 14:00 - 15:30 CET, room 103
The first title, Ideas to Postpone the End of the World (House of Anansi, 2020, translated by Anthony Doyle), presents reflections on environmental issues, Indigenous rights, and the urgent need for societal transformation to address the ecological crisis.
Readings:
- Introduction: Tomorrow Is Not for Sale
- Ideas to Postpone the End of the World
Session 2 - Life is Not Useful
Friday 22 March, 14:00 - 15:30 CET, room 103
The second title, Life is Not Useful (Polity, 2023, translated by Alex Brostoff and Jamille Pinheiro Dias), urges readers to reconsider values and priorities in a world driven by consumption and exploitation.
Readings:
- Introduction by Natalia Brizuela
- Dreams to Postpone the End of the World
Session 3 - Ancestral Future
Wednesday 27 March, 14:00 - 15:30 CET, room 103
In the third title, Ancestral Future, forthcoming with Polity (2024, translated by Alex Brostoff and Jamille Pinheiro Dias), Krenak challenges prevailing notions of the future, suggesting that it is deeply intertwined with the enduring presence of ancestral wisdom. Each meeting will delve into one of the works.
Readings:
- Introduction: The Affective Alliances of Translation - By Alex Brostoff and Jamille Pinheiro Dias
- Greetings to the Rivers
- Cartographies for After the End
If you would like to participate in any of the sessions, please email Dr Shela Sheikh for the reading selections.
This page was last updated on 18 March 2024