GOH

Nemo Martin (Bread and Barricades), David Montgomery (The Siècle), and Prof. Briana Lewis (The Les Misérables Reading Companion) in conversation about their experiences in podcasting: how the process and the audience differ from teaching, academic writing, and journalism; how their engagement with their topics has changed; and benefits and pitfalls of the medium. Audience Q

Les Misérables takes place during the Bourbon Restoration and its immediate aftermath, and is to a significant degree the only familiarity many people have with this overlooked period. But the Bourbon Restoration represented a crucial historical turning point — a period of conflict over which Revolutionary changes were permanent, which could be reversed, and which were still playing out. Join David Montgomery of The Siècle podcast for a look at how the Restoration shaped Les Mis and the entire world.

In this talk Nemo presents findings from their quantitive study of 1525 works of fanart from over 200 artists posted on tumblr between 2012-2021, cataloguing the formulation of racial identity in Les Misérables fanwork. Nemo argues that fanartists see race as skin-deep and non-specific, easily interchangeable and without consequence, rarely as active cultural or ethnic identities. Nemo compares these representations to ‘canonical’ mentions of race in the novel by Victor Hugo.