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Patrick Badonnel

Patrick Badonnel Professor Emeritus, specialist in American culture and imaginaries

Professor Emeritus of American Literature and Civilization at Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Patrick Badonnel uses literature to decipher societies, their myths, divisions and contradictions.

From Philip Roth and William Styron to Richard Ford and Ernest J. Gaines, he explores major voices in American literature to illuminate questions of freedom, race, religion, violence, identity, memory and the American Dream.

Languages
English, French
Duration
45 to 90 min
Formats
Conference, In-depth conversation, Cultural lecture series

Biography

Professor Emeritus of American Literature and Civilization at Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Patrick Badonnel has spent several decades exploring the links between literature, the history of ideas, psychoanalysis and society.

Literature as a way to understand the world

For Patrick Badonnel, literature is not an escape from reality. On the contrary, it reveals what runs through a society: its fears, desires, conflicts, representations and ideologies.

A leading specialist in the United States

From William Styron and Philip Roth to Richard Ford and Ernest J. Gaines, Patrick Badonnel analyses major voices in American literature. Through them emerge some of the deepest divisions in the United States: race, religion, violence, identity, memory and the American Dream.

Reading beneath the surface

Patrick Badonnel also examines the invisible mechanisms that shape our perception of the world. Ideology, the unconscious and collective narratives: he shows how words and representations influence the way we think.

Rigorous yet accessible transmission

His aim is not to deliver a university lecture, but to open a space for reflection, connect literary works with our own time and give audiences new ways of reading the world. Culture thus becomes a tool for lucidity.

Understanding America through its stories.

— Patrick Badonnel
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Conferences

Patrick Badonnel uses culture and literature as tools for understanding the contemporary world. His talks shed light on the myths, divisions, representations and ideologies that shape societies, with a particular focus on the United States.

01

A Fractured America: Understanding the United States Through Its Stories

Reading America beyond its myths.

Freedom, race, religion, violence, the frontier and the American dream: the great tensions of the United States have run through its literature for decades. Through Roth, Styron, Gaines and Ford, Patrick Badonnel offers another way of understanding America.

  • Decipher the great American myths
  • Understand the country’s divisions
  • Connect literature, history and society
Ideal for Institutions, graduate schools and international conventions
Format Conference or in-depth conversation · 45 to 90 min
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02

Are We Prisoners of Our Ideologies?

What shapes our view of reality without us knowing it.

Are our opinions really our own? Patrick Badonnel shows how discourse, culture, media and representations quietly shape our perception of the world.

  • Understand what ideology is
  • Identify the narratives that structure our thinking
  • Develop critical thinking
Ideal for Institutions, media, executives and cultural events
Format Conference · 45 to 90 min
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03

What Is Literature?

Why do great works continue to speak to us?

What distinguishes a great work from an ordinary text? Patrick Badonnel explores the value of literature, the way we judge works and their ability to transform our perception of the world.

  • Understand the mechanisms of reading
  • Question our criteria of judgment
  • Rediscover the power of storytelling
Ideal for Libraries, universities, festivals and general audiences
Format Conference · 45 to 90 min
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04

Literature as a Tool for Lucidity

Can great works teach us to see more clearly?

A literary work often reveals what a society would rather not see. Patrick Badonnel shows how writers bring our collective contradictions, desires and blind spots to light.

  • Gain perspective
  • Understand human behavior
  • Question collective narratives
Ideal for Executive seminars, cultural events and graduate schools
Format Conference or in-depth conversation · 45 to 90 min
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05

Literature and Psychoanalysis: Reading the Unconscious

What texts say without saying it.

Violence, desire, identity and guilt: literature often gives form to what remains invisible. Through Freud, Lacan and major American novelists, Patrick Badonnel explores the unconscious forces at work in literary works and their characters.

  • Read beyond the narrative
  • Understand desire and the unconscious
  • Connect literature and psychology
Ideal for Cultural audiences, universities and psychology-related events
Format Conference · 45 to 90 min
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06

American Civilization: Myths, Divisions and Contradictions

Why does America fascinate as much as it divides?

Patrick Badonnel explores the roots of American civilisation and the paradoxes that run through it: freedom and exclusion, individualism and religion, optimism and violence. A talk designed to help you understand the United States beyond the immediate news cycle.

  • Understand America’s major founding myths
  • Decipher the contradictions of American society
  • Gain perspective on current events in the United States
Ideal for International events, institutions and graduate schools
Format Conference · 45 to 90 min
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For which events?

Patrick Badonnel speaks at the key moments where people, performance and impact matter.

  • Seminars and conventions
  • Leadership committees and strategic talks
  • Product launches
  • CSR and climate events
  • Institutions, schools and universities

Possible formats

Formats adaptable to your goals and context.

  • Inspiring talk
  • Impactful keynote
  • Participative workshop
  • Panel
  • Webinar

Why choose them?

A unique experience serving strong, useful messages.

  • Field experience backing the message
  • Authentic and inspiring stories
  • Human, demanding and accessible approach
  • Tailored content aligned with your stakes
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Publications

  • Philip Roth, American Pastoral — with Derek Parker Royal and Daniel Royot, Atlande, 2011
  • A Multitude of Sins — Richard Ford — with Claude Maisonnat, Armand Colin / CNED, 2007
  • The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman — Ernest J. Gaines — Armand Colin / CNED, 2005
  • Sophie’s Choice — William Styron — Armand Colin / CNED, 2004
  • R. Chandler — The Big Sleep — with Claude Maisonnat, Klincksieck
  • La Nouvelle anglo-saxonne. Initiation à une lecture psychanalytique — with Claude Maisonnat, Hachette Éducation, 1998
  • William Styron, le désir foudroyé — Presses universitaires de Nancy, 1993
Would you like to invite Patrick Badonnel to your event?
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