The
Tompkins County Public Library will host award-winning SUNY Cortland English
Professor Denise Knight for a presentation of “‘One is Not Fond of Overripe
Pears’”: Conduct Literature and the Call for ‘True Womanhood’” August 16 at 6
p.m. in the BorgWarner Community Room.
Held in conjunction with the 2012 Community Read of Romain Gary’s “The Life Before Us,” Knight’s lecture will explore cultural assumptions about “appropriate” conduct and appearance of women in America from the late 19th century through World War II.
By highlighting social etiquette guides, medical advice books and training manuals for male supervisors of women workers, Knight will illustrate how literature placed pressure on women to attain beauty, practice deference and exercise self-control.
This program is free and open to the public and has been made possible by the New York Council for the Humanities.
“The Life Before Us,” is told by Momo, an orphaned Arab boy and Madame Rosa, the former lady of the night who cares for him and an ever-changing cast of children with the aid of monthly checks she receives from their prostitute mothers. When the checks stop coming and Madame Rosa’s health begins to fail, the book’s real stories of love, belonging, identity and loss begin to emerge.
Multiple copies of the book are available to borrow from the Library’s collection, courtesy of Cornell University.
For more information about Community Read programming, contact Carrie Wheeler-Carmenatty at (607) 272-4557 extension 248 or cwheeler@tcpl.org. For more information about the Community Read, or to request free copies of the book for a book group or not-for-profit organization, contact Community Read Coordinator Sarah Glogowski at (607) 272-4557 extension 255 or sglogowski@tcpl.org.
Held in conjunction with the 2012 Community Read of Romain Gary’s “The Life Before Us,” Knight’s lecture will explore cultural assumptions about “appropriate” conduct and appearance of women in America from the late 19th century through World War II.
By highlighting social etiquette guides, medical advice books and training manuals for male supervisors of women workers, Knight will illustrate how literature placed pressure on women to attain beauty, practice deference and exercise self-control.
This program is free and open to the public and has been made possible by the New York Council for the Humanities.
“The Life Before Us,” is told by Momo, an orphaned Arab boy and Madame Rosa, the former lady of the night who cares for him and an ever-changing cast of children with the aid of monthly checks she receives from their prostitute mothers. When the checks stop coming and Madame Rosa’s health begins to fail, the book’s real stories of love, belonging, identity and loss begin to emerge.
Multiple copies of the book are available to borrow from the Library’s collection, courtesy of Cornell University.
For more information about Community Read programming, contact Carrie Wheeler-Carmenatty at (607) 272-4557 extension 248 or cwheeler@tcpl.org. For more information about the Community Read, or to request free copies of the book for a book group or not-for-profit organization, contact Community Read Coordinator Sarah Glogowski at (607) 272-4557 extension 255 or sglogowski@tcpl.org.
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