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Speaker: Dominique Brancher (I Tatti / Yale University)
In the travel journal he kept during his journey through France, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy from September 5, 1580, to November 30, 1581, Montaigne reveals a genuine fascination with the thirty or so kidney stones he passed along the way and described in detail, in the manner of a health diary. The geology of Montaigne's humoral body is strongly connected with natural (rocks and minerals) and 'culturalized' elements (epigraphy, architecture) of the landscape, suggesting a lithic continuum between naturalia and artificialia. Brancher will examine the overlooked role of medical anthropology in shaping notions of individuality in early modern Europe, and conversely, the capacity of Montaigne’s diary to reimagine medicine—particularly hygiene—through a holistic vision of the human being fundamentally grounded in environment.
As Professor of French at Yale University, Dominique Brancher is a literary specialist interested in three main areas: the interplay between “literature” and other forms of knowledge, the history of sexuality, and an archeology of Western thinking of life - in particular the boundary between the animate and the inanimate. By establishing a dialogue between literary criticism and life sciences, she has contributed to the foundation of a new subfield, the biological humanities. Her most recent publications include “Montaigne en Asie” (direction of a special issue, 2024) and Héritages botaniques et zoologiques de Pline au XVIe siècle (volume co-edited, 2023). She is now preparing a book on Montaigne and medicine. Before coming to Yale, she held the chair in ancient French Literature at the University of Basel.
Image: Veduta dei Bagni di Lucca, detti alla Villa, Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana
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