"When Freedom Returns...": Exile for Victor Hugo and Other Engagé Writers

On April 15-17, 2010, the Müller Colloquium, with Page Barbour Fund support, explored what exile means for Victor Hugo and other engagé writers.

UVa specialists on exiled authors from other cultures joined Parisian Hugo biographer Jean-Marc Hovasse and U.S. Hugo scholars, as well as student presenters, to look broadly at the exile phenomenon.
Thus the French Department's Müller Colloquium continues the exile conversation which begins with the March Colloquium on Exile organized by the Departments of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, and History in collaboration with the Colegio de México.


Professors responsible for organization: Marva Barnett (French) and Hanadi al-Samman (Middle Eastern & South Asian Languages & Cultures).

Departments involved: French; Spanish, Italian & Portuguese; Middle Eastern & South Asian Languages & Cultures.

All talks, receptions, and Hugo Live are free and open to the public

“When Freedom Returns . . .”:
Exile for Victor Hugo and Other Engagé Writers

Departments of French; Spanish, Italian & Portuguese; History; Middle Eastern & South Asian Languages & Cultures



Famously writing “When freedom returns, I will return,” Victor Hugo rejected Napoleon III’s amnesty for French exiles during the Second Empire. One of the most renowned nineteenth-century exiled writers, Hugo became an exemplar of the exiled author and a citizen of the world by tenaciously supporting the French Republic in the face of the Emperor. Exile for reasons of politics and censorship was common in the nineteenth century; and still today many writers are forced into exile—or choose exile—because of their ideas.

• What does the exile phenomenon tell us about authors' roles?
• What can students learn about the value of community engagement by considering how following their conscience leads some writers to leave their homeland?
• What do writers lose and gain by going into exile?

We are looking broadly at exile by expanding the French Department’s Müller Colloquium on Victor Hugo and connecting it with the Colloquium on Exile organized in March by the Spanish and History Departments in collaboration with the Colegio de México. French culture, literature, and history has profound and long-standing connections with both Latin American and Middle Eastern culture; in addition, Hugo’s ideas have had enormous impact in Latin America and Spain. We enhance our exchanges with a performance of Alain Lecompte’s one-man show Hugo Live, recounting Hugo’s life through his poetry set to music.

Through the Colloquia, outside scholars, U.Va. faculty, and students—and also high-school teachers and members of the general public—will examine the impact on writers of exile for reasons of political oppression, social injustice, or artistic freedom. Colloquia participants will explore connections between writers and society, between the past and the present, and ultimately between literature and life.
Those who attend the free Hugo Live concert will be musically moved by Hugo’s perseverance. Inspired by the timelessness of Hugo’s arguments for democratic ideals in the face of a tyrannical government and by our connection with the Colegio de México, we are excited about the provocative discussions that will result from our coming together over this universal topic.

[Full printable (PDF) description of the project here]