This is a Hold up!' : A Literary Bandit in France

This talk explores the relationship between literature and crime in the works of the author-criminal Abdel Hafed Benotman (1960-2015). Drawing on Eric Hobsbawm's concept of "social banditry," it considers Benotman's account of his first major heist in 1979 in his final, posthumous work, A Garden in the Courtyard. In doing so, it sheds light on the literary-political imaginary of banditry in 1970s France and provides insights into Benotman's self-figuration as an anti-capitalist "gentleman robber." --- Event Details: