Primo Levi’s Writing: Between Testimony and Fiction, Philippe Mesnard, Professor of Comparative Literature at University of Clermont Auvergne and the Institut Universitaire de France, where he directs the program "The place of Witness and Testimony". Amongst other books, he wrote a biography of Primo Levi (Fayard, Hardcover, 2011, paperback, 2019) and is the editor of the Sonkerkommando archives in France, Spain, The Netherlands, and Italy.
For the seminar he will compare two works Primo Levi wrote at the same time, in February 1946, when he began If this is a man, his first book of testimony. The first text formed part of If this is a man as the penultimate chapter. The second is the first tale of what would become a long series of tales published many years later. At first glance, these two writings look very different from each other, nevertheless, they are intimately connected and a close reading reveals how testimony and fiction can work together to build what we could call “the Truth of the Witness” according to Levi.
Readings: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qcxhjfdwxgfwvfs/AADpdec0Q4a9B3brlB7Pu9uda?dl=0
