A Paris errand
Harvard’s pre-eminent scholar of post-colonial literature, Homi K. Bhabha — born in India, educated in England, and a longtime professor in America — has traveled the world, including many stops in Paris. Bhabha is there today to represent the intellectual and academic world in front of an international body whose chief mission is peace through education and culture. The United Nations Education, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) is hosting an installation ceremony for Director-General Irina Bokova. The 61-year-old native of Bulgaria was just elected to her second four-year term. “She’s an extremely powerful but modest person,” said Bhabha, the Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities, of Bokova, a onetime ambassador, foreign minister, and parliamentarian. “She’s a great listener,” he added, saying, “She does not sit easily with commonplace ideas.” The installation ceremony is part of a UNESCO plenary session. On hand for Bhabha’s 10-minute speech, one of three for the evening, were...