Episode Overview

Podcast: LSE: Public lectures and events
Episode: Academic Inspiration: Favourite works of fiction II (LSE Literary Festival)
Date: March 1, 2013

This special episode celebrates the LSE's fifth annual Literary Festival by inviting prominent LSE academics to read from and discuss their favorite works of fiction. The episode explores the power and personal resonance of literature, featuring readings and reflections in a multilingual, multicultural context. Each speaker shares not only a passage from a chosen text, but also personal insight into its significance and relationship to their own academic or personal interests.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction and Context (00:00-00:45)

• Host Amy Mullet introduces the festival and explains that academics were asked to contribute their favorite fiction. The goal is to celebrate literary inspiration across disciplines and backgrounds.

2. Arne Westad on ‘Hunger’ by Knut Hamsun (00:45–06:13)

• Introduction to Hamsun and Context (00:45–01:51)

  • Arne Westad (Director, LSE IDEAS) chooses Hunger for its exploration of Norwegian urban migration in the 19th century and for its literary beauty.
  • He addresses Hamsun’s problematic legacy due to Nazi collaboration but argues for appreciating his literary merits.
  • Notable Quote:

    “He is one of those who write the most beautiful Norwegian that I know of. ... He deals with a period in Norwegian history that no one has ever dealt with better than he does.” — Arne Westad (00:45)

• Readings from ‘Hunger’ (01:51–06:13)

  • The narrator reads vivid and somber descriptions of hunger and daily life in Christiana (Oslo), reflecting urban alienation with atmospheric details.
  • Passages highlight existential despair, the mundane struggles of survival, and sharp powers of observation in poverty.
    • Vivid scene: “I had grown nervous and irritable. A few times I had kept my bed for the day with vertigo..." (01:51)
  • Memorable Moment: Westad alternates between English translation and select lines in Norwegian, emphasizing linguistic beauty.

3. John van Reenen on ‘The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte’ by Karl Marx (06:13–08:16)

• Marx as Literary Prose (06:13–08:16)

  • John van Reenen (Director, Centre for Economic Performance) reads from the introduction, highlighting Marx’s historical perspective and literary power.
  • Focuses on how historical patterns repeat and the burden of tradition on living generations.
  • Notable Quote:

    “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please. ... The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.” — Karl Marx read by John van Reenen (06:43)

• Reflection

  • The passage demonstrates how language and storytelling shape historical interpretation and collective memory.

4. Fatima El Isawi on ‘The Messenger with Her Hair Long to the Springs’ by Unnamed Lebanese Poet (08:16–10:26)

• Poetry as Emotional Geography (08:16–10:26)

  • Fatima El Isawi (Research Fellow, Polis) chooses a work of Lebanese poetry (read in English translation), selecting a passage filled with vows, longing, and the language of intimate devotion and national love.
  • The passage fuses themes of desire, sacrifice, homeland, and the ambiguity of love.
  • Notable Quote:

    “I swear to fade out for the sake of your happiness like stars at day. ... I swear to love you without knowing how much.” — Fatima El Isawi (08:33–10:26)

• Reflection

  • The reading underscores poetry’s power to articulate mixed personal and political emotions, echoing exile and belonging.

5. Simon Glendinning on ‘Before the Law’ by Franz Kafka (10:26–14:52)

• Kafka’s Allegory of Law and Literature (10:26–14:52)

  • Simon Glendinning (Reader in European Philosophy) reads Kafka’s parable, in which a countryman seeks entry to “the law” and is eternally denied by an ever-present doorkeeper.
  • Glendinning admires the text for its self-conscious literariness—how it exemplifies, through style and structure, the boundaries of literature and authority.
  • Notable Quote:

    “One of the things that this text says better than many others that I know is that it seems all the way through it to say, this is literature.” — Simon Glendinning (10:26)

  • Memorable Ending:

    “No one else could ever be admitted here. Since this gate was made only for you. I am now going to shut it.” — Kafka, read by Glendinning (14:34)

• Reflection

  • Kafka’s story becomes a metaphor for personal fate, the paradoxes of law, and the irreplaceable yet isolating nature of individual experience.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Arne Westad on Hamsun’s appeal, despite his politics:

  “A lot of younger people have taken him to their heart ... simply because he writes beautifully and because he deals with a period in Norwegian history that no one has ever dealt with better.” (00:45)

• Narrator (Reading Hamsun):

  “It was during the time I wandered about and starved in Christiana ... this singular city from which no man departs without carrying away the traces of his sojourn...” (01:51)

• John van Reenen citing Marx:

  “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please... The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.” (06:43)

• Fatima El Isawi, on love and devotion:

  “I swear to be the world's rapture between you and be in its solitude. I swear to call out for you so happiness will answer the call.” (09:55)

• Simon Glendinning, introducing Kafka:

  “One of the things that this text says better than many others that I know is that it seems all the way through it to say, this is literature.” (10:26)

• Kafka’s closing revelation (via Glendinning):

  “No one else could ever be admitted here. Since this gate was made only for you. I am now going to shut it.” (14:34)

Segment Timestamps

• 00:00–00:45 – Introduction (host, Amy Mullet)
• 00:45–06:13 – Arne Westad on Hunger by Knut Hamsun
• 06:13–08:16 – John van Reenen on The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte by Karl Marx
• 08:16–10:26 – Fatima El Isawi on Lebanese poetry (The Messenger with Her Hair Long to the Springs)
• 10:26–14:52 – Simon Glendinning on Before the Law by Franz Kafka

Tone and Style

• The episode is contemplative, intellectual yet deeply personal, and marked by a sense of literary reverence.
• Each academic speaks with passion for both the literary qualities and the personal or cultural connections associated with their choices.
• Readings vary between dramatic, melancholic and intensely lyrical, showcasing both the diversity of literature and the unique perspectives of each reader.