Dr Anja Mrak mill-Università ta’ Ljubljana se tagħti taħdita pubblika bl-Ingliż bit-titlu “Trends in contemporary Slovenian fiction”. It-taħdita hija miftuħa għall-istudenti, l-akkademiċi, u l-pubbliku ġenerali, u se ssir il-Ġimgħa 4 ta’ Novembru fit-3.00pm, fis-Sala Pietru Pawl Saydon (ALT), l-Università ta’ Malta.
It-taħdita se tagħti ħarsa ġenerali lejn il-letteratura kontemporanja Slovena u kif din żviluppat wara t-Tieni Gwerra Dinjija, partikolarment wara l-1991, meta s-Slovenja kisbet l-Indipendenza. Se tiffoka fuq xejra interessanti fil-letteratura Slovena ta’ wara s-sena 2000, meta l-ġeneru tan-narrattiva storika reġa’ kiseb il-popolarità b’rakkonti ġodda dwar it-Tieni Gwerra Dinjija u l-perjodu ta’ wara. Din il-perspettiva se tiġi ppreżentata permezz ta’ analiżi tar-rumanz rinomat I Saw Her That Night ta’ Drago Jančar, li jittratta l-assassinji politiċi waqt u wara t-Tieni Gwerra Dinjija. Fost l-oħrajn, Dr Mrak se tittratta r-relazzjoni bejn il-letteratura u l-istorja, il-modi li bihom in-narrattiva letterarja tispjega l-kunċett ta’ trawma nazzjonali, il-memorja kulturali, u l-identità nazzjonali. Se tħares ukoll lejn kif ir-rappreżentazzjoni tat-Tieni Gwerra Dinjija nbidlet fl-era tal-Jugoslavja u wara l-Indipendenza tas-Slovenja. .
Anja Mrak taħdem fid-Dipartiment tal-Letteratura Komparattiva u t-Teorija Letterarja, fil-Fakultà tal-Arti, fl-Unversità ta’ Ljubljana. Għandha dottorat dwar ir-realiżmu maġiku u t-tekniki narrattivi femministi. Fir-riċerka tagħha tispeċjalizza fit-teorija letterarja femminista, l-istudji tal-ġeneru, in-narratoloġija, u l-letteratura kontemporanja femminista. Il-proġett ta’ riċerka postdottorali dwar it-tlaqqigħ tal-estetika u l-femminiżmu transnazzjonali li wettqet ma’ Silvia Schultermandl fl-Istitut tal-Istudji Amerikani, fl-Università ta’ Graz, issarraf fl-esej “The Affective Aesthetics of Transnational Feminism.” Tat taħditiet fl-Università ta’ Łódź, il-Polonja, l-Università ta’ Vilnius, il-Litwanja, u l-Università tal-Ewropea Ċentrali, Budapest.
Waqt iż-żjara tagħha, Dr Anja Mrak se tagħti taħditiet u tmexxi seminars mal-istudenti tal-Malti li qed isegwu l-kors tal-Baċellerat u oħrajn postgradwatorji.
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Dr Anja Mrak from the University of Ljubljana is giving a one hour public lecture in English on “Trends in contemporary Slovenian fiction” at the University of Malta (ALT) on Friday 4th November at 3.00pm. The talk will be followed by a discussion with students and colleagues. This event is open to all students, academics and the general public and is hosted by the Department of Maltese in the Faculty of Arts of the University of Malta.
The lecture offers a brief overview of contemporary Slovenian literature and its development after World War Two, particularly after 1991, when Slovenia attained independence. It centers around an interesting trend in Slovenian literature after 2000, when perhaps somewhat surprisingly a resurgence of the historical narrative occurred, a narrative that considers anew World War Two and the period directly after it. This trend will be presented through an analysis of the critically acclaimed novel I Saw Her That Night by Drago Jančar, which deals with political killings during and after World War II. In this lecture about World War Two, Dr Anja Mrak touches upon the relationship between fiction and history, how novels explain national trauma, cultural memory, and national identity. She also deals with how the theme of World War Two changed in the age of Yugoslavia and later in independent Slovenia.
Anja Mrak works at the Department of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. She completed a PhD on magical realism and feminist narrative techniques. Her research is mainly in feminist literary theory, gender studies, narratology and contemporary feminist literature. She conducted a postdoctoral research project on the intersections of aesthetics and transnational feminism with Silvia Schultermandl at the Institute of American Studies, University of Graz, which resulted in the co-authored essay “The Affective Aesthetics of Transnational Feminism.” She has given lectures at the University of Łódź, Vilnius University, and Central European University Budapest.
During her visit to the University of Malta, Dr Anja Mrak will be giving lectures and conducting seminars with students of Maltese at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
