Louie Palu | The Idea of North in Literature and Photography

Palu’s talk centers on distinct representations of the Arctic in literature and the visual arts, exploring this often-misunderstood region as both imagined otherworld and real-life landscape. Palu is especially interested in how texts such as John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost (1667) and Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818) imagine the Arctic in the early decades of polar exploration, creating literary topographies which impact subsequent work not only in literature but the visual arts as well, including Palu’s film and photography. Across these various media, Palu shows how inherited notions of the Arctic shape present-day discourses on subjects including climate change, resource extraction, indigenous rights, colonialism, and the militarization of polar territory.

Hosted by: Department of English

In conjunction with: American Indian Studies Program, College of Fine & Applied Arts, Creative Writing Program, Department of Anthropology, Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Communication, Department of Earth Science & Environental Change, Department of Geography, Department of History, Department of Journalism, Department of Media & Cinema Studies, Humanities Research Institute, Krannert Art Museum, Russian, East European & Eurasian Center, School of Art + Design