Meet the panelists of Marina Warner's Holberg Masterclass 2015
— It is a profound honor to be accepted to take part, says Houman Sadri, one of five PhD-candidates selected to participate in the first ever Holberg Prize Masterclass on June 8, in which Marina Warner initiates a discussion about what happens to the culture and history of displaced populations.
— We received many applications with an overall high academic level and are proud to present the five candidates, says academic director, Ivar Bleiklie. The candidates comes from University of Helsinki, Gothenburg University, University of Iceland and Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Join the discussion with Marina Warner the Nordic PhDs at the Masterclass at Litteraturhuset in Bergen on June 8th: Living in Words: The Question of Myth.
Houman Sadri from the University of Gothenburg. Age: 43.
«I believe that this masterclass has direct and vital bearing upon my work, and that it is a profound honor to be accepted to take part.»
— Houman Sadri
Houman is a doctoral candidate and teacher of English Literature at the University of Gothenburg. His field of research is, essentially, based around Joseph Campbell's Monomyth, to which he is attempting to unpack and interrogate using primary texts based around female and feminist heroic characters who are informed by mythological and folkloric tropes.
Marion Poilvez from the University of Iceland. Age: 28.
«Marina Warner's approach of myth and exile will definitely leave a mark on my dissertation.»
— Marion Poilvez
Trained in France in both philosophy and literature, Marion is currently writing her PhD-dissertation on the role of fugitives and criminals in medieval Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland, under Prof. Torfi H. Tulinius' supervision. I am particularly interested in the question why such figures were so popular in medieval times as much as in contemporary Icelandic folktales.
Anna-Liisa Tolonen from the University of Helsinki. Age: 30.
«I wish to elaborate on the making of martyrs from the viewpoint of their story-tellers.»
— Anna-Liisa Tolonen
Anna-Liisa is employed by the Finnish Academy funded Centre of Excellence, 'Reason and religious recognition’, at the University of Helsinki. Her dissertation is a historical comparative analysis of the popular traditions of the story martyrdom of the mother and her seven sons, common to all the three monotheistic religions.
Per Esben Svelstad from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Age: 27.
«Exploring and being familiar with myths are fundamental aspects of literary research, and I feel very fortunate to discuss the role of myths in Marina Warner's masterclass.»
— Per Esben Svelstad
Per Esben is a PhD-candidate in Comparative Literature at the Department of Language and Literature at NTNU, Trondheim. His project focuses on queer readings of the work of the Norwegian writer Åsmund Sveen (1910–1963). He has also studied French and Classical Greek, and did his master's degree on the French Renaissance poet Louise Labé.
Eemeli Hakoköngäs from the University of Helsinki.
«I have found topics of remembering processes of lost home and connections between atavistic forms of nationalism and mythical stories highly interesting.»
— Eemeli Hakonköngäs
Studying social psychology, Eemeli is especially interested in the different ways of collective remembering and narrative transmission of history. In his PhD dissertation Eemeli’s focus is on the role of nostalgia and its appearance in everyday-life.
We encourage the audience to participate in this important and current issue, and hope to see you at Litteraturhuset i Bergen June 8th from 15:00 (3PM). We hope and encourage the audience to participate in the discussion of this current and important topic.