Besedna postaja v Knjigarni FF: Better Living through Literature

Sodelujeta: prof. dr. Robin Bates in prof. dr. Igor Maver; Pogovor je potekal v angleščini
Uvodne besede prof. dr. Igorja Mavra
Introduction by Prof. dr. Igor Maver
»Dear viewers, welcome, today's guest in the interview series Word Stations of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana is Professor Robin Bates. Dr. Robin Bates received his B.A. from Carleton College and his M.A. and Ph.D in English at Emory University in Atlanta. He spent his career teaching at St. Mary's College of Maryland near Washington DC, during which time he twice received Fulbright Scholarships for the University of Ljubljana. He has recently published two books, How Beowulf Can Save America: An Epic Hero's Guide to Defeating the Politics of Rage and his most recent book Better Living through Literature: How Books Change Lives and (Sometimes) History. In 2018 he retired to Sewanee, Tennessee, where he grew up as a child. In addition to his teaching and scholarship, Dr. Bates and his wife Julia, in honour of their oldest son Justin, who died in an accident, set up a student exchange between St. Mary's College of Maryland and the Department of English of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana. The student exchange has seen 30 Slovenian students study at St. Mary's College for a semester and a comparable number of American students study at the University of Ljubljana. The Bateses see the scholarship as a means of thanking Slovenia for the many rich experiences their family has had in the country. In 2023 Professor Bates was, nominated by the Faculty of Arts, awarded a Recognition Pro Universitate labacensi of the University of Ljubljana for his unstinting work for the students of English. I personally have had the occasion to enjoy debating books, social and cultural history with him whenever he has visited Slovenia. In the interview we will be discussing his just released book on how much literature matters and how powerful literature is and can be in »changing lives and (sometimes) history«, if I quote from the book's title: Better Living through Literature: How Books Change Lives and (Sometimes) History, published by Quoir from Chico in California, 2024 , 385 pp. The book is arranged chronologically and the authors range from classical literature to the 17th, 18th and 19th century British literature, all the way to Brecht in the 20th century. Literary theory, with regard to the impact of literature on our lives, is addressed separately, from classical antiquity to S. Freud, W. Booth, H. Bloom, all the way to the contemporary M. Nussbaum, to just mention a few. Some of the chapters are titled, for example, »The power of literature«, »Force for moral transformation«, »Force for social transformation«, »Voice of the oppressed«, »Training ground for citizenship«, etc.«
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