Zadie Smith’s novels are read and appreciated by a wide and heterogeneous readership. However, they have also received critical responses for their creation of some flat, clichéed characters and their sometimes monodimensional depiction of 'other' spaces. At times, they almost appear to resist readerly expectations of being served multidimensional, nuanced descriptions, especially when it comes to the representation of 'other(ed)' worlds and experiences. Could this be a strategy?

Miriam Nandi will shed light on the moment of opacity in Smith’s novel Swing Time. In her response, Rebekah Herring will draw our attention to the omnipresent expectations placed in Black individuals in Western contexts to act as translators of culture.

Miriam Nandi is Professor of British literature in a postcolonial frame at the University of Leipzig. She holds a PhD degree and a habilitation from the University of Freiburg and is an alumna of the School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University. Her research interests include postcolonial theory and literature, early modern life writing, and transnational memory studies. She is the author of M/Other India/s (Winter, 2007), Gayatri Spivak (Bautz, 2009), and Reading the Early Modern Diary (Palgrave, 2021).

Rebekah Herring studied German Language and Literature and French at the University of Cologne. She works as a press and public relations officer and deals with topics such as feminism and anti-racism. In her private life, too, she is committed to anti-discrimination and constantly tries to accompany young women on their way to more self-acceptance.

Lecture/response E. Discussion E/G.

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