We are pleased to invite you to a live performance of selected passages from Reflections: Writings of a Young Blind Woman in Post-Revolutionary France, (NYU Press). This brief yet surprisingly expansive treatise on blindness was probably dictated in desperation to one or more sighted scribes in the early nineteenth-Century French equivalent of a renter's résumé, only to be rejected, set aside, and lost for almost two-hundred years. The blind author's first-hand observations about blind people and their social status, rules for marriage, prospects for romance, and appropriate pedagogical approaches paint a portrait of a bygone place and time with hauntingly familiar themes which remain with us to this day. The style is 100% over-the-top, unedited nineteenth century, translated French hyperbole, with all of the linguistic curlicues and semantic serifs one could possibly wish for. Blind women are referred to as "female companions of misfortune," and chapters have titles such as "On the Inflection of a Sweet Voice on the Heart and Senses of a Blind Person." Nevertheless, an amazing amount of what she has to say strikes strong resonant chords in today's blind world. Even when her observations seem antique or deliberately demure, her writing raises deep questions as to why her experience was what it was, and why ours is what it is (or isn't).
We welcome Carrie Paff - a treasure of stage and screen - who will read for us, and Professor Catherine J. Kudlick - the manuscript's re-discoverer and translator - who will help us to place Adele Husson in her proper historical context.
The relaxed wine and cheese reception following the presentation will be an extraordinary opportunity for open discussion and exchange of ideas. We anticipate attendees from a rich maelstrom of interlocking backgrounds including disability and gender studies, history, disability rights, rehabilitation and rehabilitation engineering, and of course the Holman Society and broader Bay Area blind community.
This event promises to be thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking, and follows in the informal, yet deeply stimulating tradition of the Holman Society. We hope you will attend.
Therese-Adele Husson (1803-1831) was born in the provincial French countryside as the only blind sibling in a large peasant family. In the early 1820's she left home destined for Paris with the intent of unburdening her family and becoming a novelist.
Dr. Catherine J. Kudlick is a Berkeley resident and professor of History at the University of California at Davis where she teaches classes in women's history, disability history, and the history of medicine. She is widely recognized for her publications and leadership in the area of disability history, and is currently working on a book comparing modern French and American attitudes toward blind people.
It is an honor to welcome Carrie Paff for her Holman Society debut. She will next be seen at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and on the West End in London with Joan Rivers in her autobiographical show, "Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress by a Life In Progress." Most recently, she was seen in the world premiere of "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" with Arizona Theatre Company and San Jose Repertory Theatre, where she also appeared in "The Haunting of Winchester." Based in the San Francisco Bay area, Ms. Paff's credits include Blanche Dubois in "A Streetcar Named Desire" at Marin Theatre Company, "After the War" at American Conservatory Theater, "Small Tragedy" and "Betrayal" at Aurora Theatre Company, "The Mousetrap," "How the Other Half Loves" (Shellie Award-Best Actress), "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," and "Becoming Memories" at Center Repertory Theatre, and Charles Grodin's "The Right Kind of People," at the Magic Theatre. New York credits include "The Death of Griffin Hunter" at Soho Rep and "Fortinbras" at 78th Street Theater Lab. Film credits include Presque Isle (Rob Nilsson) and Opal's Diary (Dina Ciraulo). She holds a Master's degree in educational theater from New York University and is the cofounder of StageWrite, Building Literacy through Theatre.
The event will be held at the East Bay Center for the Blind, 2928 Adeline Street in Berkeley, one block north of the Ashby BART Station. To reach the Center by BART, exit the station to the right (west) and turn right (north) when you reach the curb. Walk for about 100 feet until you reach a flight of steps leading up. Take the steps and follow them through some turns until you reach street level. Exit toward the street (Adeline) and turn left. Walk to the corner (approximately 200 feet) and cross Ashby**. Continue north half a block to the Center (2928 Adeline) on the left.
You can find out more about "Reflections" -- the book on which our performance is based -- by visiting its Google Books page.
This book is also available from the National Library Service as a digital talkingbook download.
The Holman Society is a shadowy underground of blind and sighted individuals interested in exploring the implications of blindness and its representations and manifestations in history, literature, and popular culture. The Society periodically hosts salons, book clubs, author talks, and cocktail parties to explore topics of interest to its members.