Episodes

  • A World of Difference
    Apr 1 2026

    If the hallmark of literary representation is that it is an unfaithful representation of the real, then perhaps the most literary texts are those that betray (disclose or let slip) that infidelity even as they indulge in it themselves.

    By Jon Beasley-Murray, University of British Columbia.

    00:00 Introduction

    02:07 Patterns of Commonality and Difference

    03:36 Questions

    04:57 Growing Up and Betrayal

    14:24 Romance Studies as Minor Literature

    20:09 Credits


    For RMST 202.

    Website: https://rmst202.arts.ubc.ca/

    #romancestudies #rmst202

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    20 mins
  • On Romance Studies (II)
    Apr 1 2026

    A Conversation for RMST 202.

    With Anita Traninger (Freie Universität Berlin) and Jon Beasley-Murray


    Lecture video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etyrdFxPV-o

    Website: http://rmst202.arts.ubc.ca

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inventingromancestudies/

    #romancestudies #rmst202

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    22 mins
  • Djaïli Amadou Amal in Conversation
    Mar 29 2026

    A Conversation for RMST 202 about Djaïli Amadou Amal's The Impatient. With Djaïli Amadou Amal and Jon Beasley-Murray.

    Interpretation by Julien Mowang Ngoula. Many thanks also to Irem Ayan for her advice and help.


    Short: https://youtube.com/shorts/snVovb7I0qo

    Lecture video:

    Website: http://rmst202.arts.ubc.ca

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inventingromancestudies/

    #romancestudies #rmst202

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    30 mins
  • Faces in the Crowd: Valeria Luiselli’s Haunted Times and Places
    Mar 26 2026

    This is a novel that is both in transit and in translation.

    By Jon Beasley-Murray, University of British Columbia.

    00:00 Introduction 02:23 Politics as Necropolitics11:08 Questions 14:03 Burrowing through Space26:21 Credits

    For RMST 202. https://rmst202.arts.ubc.ca/

    #romancestudies #rmst202

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    27 mins
  • My Brilliant Friend: Elena Ferrante on Class, Capital, and Language
    Mar 24 2026

    The best they can do, it seems, is embrace their fate, fight for their own servitude.

    By Jon Beasley-Murray, University of British Columbia.

    00:00 Introduction02:04 Acquiring a Taste for Domination06:53 Questions11:00 Mobilizing the Politics of Language19:33 Credits

    Full text here: https://rmst202.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2022/02/brilliant-friend.pdf

    For RMST 202. https://rmst202.arts.ubc.ca/

    #rmst202 #romancestudies

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    20 mins
  • On Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend
    Mar 24 2026

    A Conversation for RMST 202. With Ann Goldstein (Ferrante's translator) and Jon Beasley-Murray.

    See also the lecture video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl434Ui-dhs

    #rmst202 #romancestudies

    http://rmst202.arts.ubc.ca

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    28 mins
  • Death with Interruptions: José Saramago on Necropolitics and Resurrection
    Mar 22 2026

    Art may not be able to evade death, but through performance it can be a vehicle of resurrection.

    By Jon Beasley-Murray, University of British Columbia.

    00:00 Introduction 03:18 Politics as Necropolitics07:25 Questions 10:14 Reading as Resurrection20:03 Credits

    For RMST 202. https://rmst202.arts.ubc.ca/

    #romancestudies #rmst202

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    20 mins
  • José Eduardo Agualusa in Conversation
    Mar 19 2026

    A Conversation for RMST 202 about José Eduardo Agualusa's The Book of Chameleons. With José Eduardo Agualusa and Jon Beasley-Murray.


    11:46 An Absurd Reality: Violence, the Fantastic, and Exuberance16:59 Literature and Dreams: Disquieting Reminders, Sudden Creativity20:19 Dreams as Preparation for Reality: Nightmares and Tears21:55 Enter the Gecko: Finding the Voice of a Laughing God25:37 Nature and Animism: Paying Attention to Life and Death28:02 Writing and Reading to Understand the Other30:14 Credits

    #rmst202 #romancestudies

    http://rmst202.arts.ubc.ca

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    30 mins