Dr Petra James

Petra James is the Chair of Czech Literature and Director of Centre d’Etudes Tchèques at Université libre de Bruxelles. She received her Ph.D. degree from Sorbonne University in Paris and Masaryk University in Brno in 2009 (Slavic Studies and Comparative Literature). She is the author of the monograph Bohumil Hrabal: “Composer un monde blessant à coups de ciseaux et de gomme arabique” (Paris: Les Editions Classiques Garnier, 2012). She co-directed several volumes and has published articles on various topics, most recently on Cultural Memory and Trauma in Central European literatures. Her main research topics are the comparative history of the avant-garde and the representation of Cultural Memory and Trauma in Central European literatures. She is currently involved in research projects on dissident movements and movements of international solidarity hosted by Université libre de Bruxelles. In May 2017, she co-organised a large conference on Charter 77 and Jan Patočka, involving multiple partners (ULB, Catholic University of Leuven, Czech Center Brussels, Czech Embassy in Belgium, European Parliement and the Prague House in Brussels). In April 2018, she organised two panels on dissident movements and movements of international solidarity. The panels including 10 participants (mainly doctoral and post-doctoral students from ULB) were presented at the BASEES Congress at Cambridge University, England.