In January, 2015, two gunmen carried out a terrorist attack on the French satire weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, killing 12 people and injuring 11 others. Among the injured was journalist Philippe Lançon, who, three years later, released a memoir about his experiences with recovery. The English translation, Disturbance: Surviving Charlie Hebdo, was released late 2019.
On January 24, 2020, Lançon discussed his memoir with professor of French Abdourahman Waberi in the Marvin Center Amphitheater. The discussion mirrored the content of his book, as Lançon chose not to linger on the two minutes of terror, but on the year of recovery, reckoning, and rediscovery that followed. He explained the philosophies and literature he appealed to for guidance, and effortlessly wove quotes from Proust, Shakespeare, and Kafka into his narrative.
The discussion occurred entirely in French, with an English translation transmitted through earpieces to the audience, like we were privy to a casual conversation between two authors. Lançon and Waberi held nothing back, freely flowing between any topic they found interesting, from Lançon’s personal experiences to his philosophy on journalism and the struggles of translation (which was ironically relevant to the event). Ultimately, the discussions were a view into Lançon’s mind, and paired well with the philosophy of his memoir.
The event was part of Lançon’s book tour on the East Coast of the United States. The program was sponsored by the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, the GW Department of Romance, German, and Slavic Languages and Literatures, the GW Department of History, the Elliott School of International Affairs, and the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies.
The author also spoke in depth to the Washington Post about his new book and experience. Washington Post Philippe Lançon