Description
In this talk I explore some elements of the varied career of one Julien Poydras of False River, Louisiana: enslaver, terrible poet, defender of Roman law practices relating to the Mississippi. These elements have in common a particular relation to the bank of the river. Drawing on the history of the French term “riverain,” – literally dweller of the riverbank, but eventually coming to mean something more like “resident” – I ask how the view from Poydras’s riverbank might illuminate questions of residency, settlement and displacement in colonial Louisiana.
Cost and Registration Information
This talk is free and open to the public. No registration in advance is required.