A French Presence: Travelling texts in Waitaha Canterbury

Join book historian Emma Johnson at the Alliance Française for a talk that explores the role and influence of French culture in nineteenth-century Christchurch and Banks Peninsula through a history of reading.

Celebrating archival material, this talk explores a forgotten area of our regional history: how a French presence, achieved through the diffusion of cultural goods, continued long after the land became colonised by the British.

Inherently social and signifying social differences, Francophone reading materials connected people reading in the region to a global readership. How the global phenomena that was French language and literature was transformed in service to local needs in a coastal colony offers us a fascinating window into historical experience. Book a free ticket to find out more.

Emma wishes to thank the Alliance Française for hosting this event, which is part of the Christchurch City Council's Heritage Festival.