New York University French Programs Newsletter
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Summer 2009 L’Arc Volume 23 New York University French Programs Newsletter Letter From The Chair I had the singular honor of Our future, then, looks as bright as our past, and the ever- addressing the graduating sen- increasing ties with the strategically morphing New York Uni- iors of CAS this spring, remind- versity in France Program (no longer in negotiation with the ing them in a Molièresque effort American University of Paris) as well as our interactions with combining amusement and in- the truly stunning group of graduate students we have struction to floss, but also urg- admitted in the past few years, assuage my worries about ing them to hope – and to love. how we are handling globalization as well as about how we It is daunting to try to imagine a can still be the most thoughtful and productive ambassadors message that is neither so of French-language literature and French and Francophone banal as to be immediately for- culture in our increasingly connected world. gettable nor so rah-rah as to be pathetic nor so serious as to We are, of course, moving into a financial period that will cer- plunge everyone listening into tainly have repercussions on our ability to hire in the next the morass of economic, geo-political, and personal woes few years and on the number of graduate students we will that seem to enthrall our journalists. Concerning the latter I be able to admit to the Ph.D. program. In a counter-intuitive mention, in particular, the coverage of the death of Michael but welcome move, the Graduate School has opted to fund Jackson - multi-talented, deprived of his own youth, and to fully five years of our students’ graduate work : Any teaching my mind a victim of the society of images that encourages they do will thus be considered salaried work, as well as us to play with identities to such an extent that we have trou- training. This extra money, as well as the generosity of the ble settling onto something we can hold onto as our core. Dulau awards (and here we must mention the terrible loss Perhaps I am especially dwelling on this as I, too, am in the of Tomàs Ryan who managed the funds for us), the new midst of changing identities: I leave the Chairmanship of The summer fellowship established in Tom Bishop’s name, and Department of French after six rollicking years, in which we the other fellowships made possible through the generosity have been blessed by hiring five extraordinary young col- and commitment of members of the Board of The Center for leagues on tenure track and clinical lines (specialists in lan- French Culture and Civilization, will make it possible for our guage pedagogy, sixteenth and seventeenth-century theatre students to finish their doctoral work in a much shorter time and performance, translation studies, cinema studies, and frame. To work out the best arrangement for our students’ eighteenth-century literature and philosophy) and by gradu- futures (in order to get the best jobs, they must have con- ally increasing our language lecturer teaching faculty to ten siderable teaching experience), a joint committee of faculty by adding not only stellar and committed teachers but also and students will discuss the implementation of their training human beings whose interests and competencies run the program during the year. gamut from haute cuisine to fiction writing to Québecois lin- guistics. Furthermore, we have renewed our office staff and Elsewhere in this newsletter, you will read about specific ac- have at last a wonderfully competent, compatible and stu- complishments of colleagues and students as well as of the dent-friendly group. We have, in the process of all these myriad activities that continue to make New York University changes, lost the daily input but not the emotional and intel- one of the major centers of French and Francophone culture lectual connection to Charles Affron, Serge Doubrovsky - in the USA. I would like to close this note, however, with two and soon Nancy Regalado and Jindrich Zezula who through quotes from two of the writers who spoke at the “Festival of retirement are also rethinking priorities and focus. New French Writing: French and American Authors in Con- versation”, a program sponsored last February by the Center for French Civilization and Culture, Culturesfrance, and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. The quote I keep Contents near me as I meditate what it means to change identities and Festival of New French Writing 3 stay true to the deepest part of myself comes, perhaps not NYU in France celebrates 40 years! 4 surprisingly, from Flaubert via contemporary author Olivier Department of French 5 Rolin: “La rage de vouloir conclure est une des maladies de - Faculty News 7 l’humanité.” And so, with the notion of not concluding, of un- - North American Society for Seventeenth Century endingness, of identities that can both change and carry French Literature Annual Conference 12 something profoundly truthful, I’d like to agree with American -The Prince of Prague Approaches the End of La Belle participant Philip Gourevitch that “Flux is good for literature” Epoque: Tom Bishop Interviews Jindrich Zezula 13 as it is for negotiating with our ghosts. - New M.A. in Translation 16 - Graduate Student News 17 - Alumni News 18 La Maison Française 20 Judith Miller, 2009 Institute of French Studies 22 Et la “Cantatrice” chanta 25 NYU in France 26 Upcoming Events 27 Who’s Who in the Department of French Faculty Denis Hollier Judith Miller Stéphane Gerson Tom Bishop Chair Director of John Moran Director of Director of the Center for Graduate Studies Director of Language Undergraduate Studies French Civilization and Programs Culture La Maison Française Henriette Goldwyn Eugène Nicole Nancy Regalado Lucien Nouis NY Director of Director of the Career Counselor and First Year Advisor Francine Goldenhar NYU in France Undergraduate Placement Advisor (Graduate) Honors Program (Graduate) Director Staff Sandi Adams Alex Teachey Brett Underhill Ellie Vance Amrit Aneja Administrator Undergraduate Graduate Assistant Assistant to the Chair NYU in France Assistant and to the Director of Program Assistant the Center for French Civilization and Culture 2 Festival of New French Writing: French and American Authors in Conversation In February, the first Festival of New French Writing took Frédéric Beigbeder, Abdourahman Waberi, and David Foenk- place at NYU bringing together well known French and Amer- inos, American counterparts included E.L. Doctorow, Siri ican writers to discuss their craft over two and a half days of Hustvedt, Francine du Plessix Gray, Philip Gourevitch, Paul encounters that attracted more than 2,000 people, as well as Berman, Stefan Merrill Block, and Mark Danner. Particularly lots of media attention in the U.S. and in France. Curated for successful and interesting pairings were Marie Darrieussecq the Center for French Civilization and Culture by Tom Bishop and Adam Gopnik, Emmanuel Carrère and Francine Prose, and Olivier Barrot (with Fabrice Gabriel (Cultural Services of and Chantal Thomas and Edmund White. Discussions cen- the French Embassy) and Paul de Sinety (CulturesFrance)), tered on why people write, what they look for in literature, the Festival paired eleven major French writers in one-on- what is "French" and what is "American" in contemporary one conversations with leading American writers. These writing. One of the most popular sessions was between eleven dialogues, moderated by cultural critics and journalists graphic novelists Marjane Satrapi and Chris Ware, with the familiar with literature in France and the U.S., such as New audience packed into the Skirball Center auditorium to hear Yorker editors Deborah Treisman and Françoise Mouly, ex- the discussion and see pictures of how each writer illustrates plored the singular qualities of each author, the similarities and writes stories. The public was even treated to clips from and differences between fiction and non-fiction writing in both artists’ animated films. The availability of simultaneous France and in the U.S., as well as the future of literature. Au- interpretation for the events attracted a large number of thors were familiar with their partner’s works and their con- American readers and helped make contemporary French versations often centered on reciprocal readings. Among the and Francophone writers better known in the U.S. The Fes- wide variety of French writers were established names like tival of New French Writing intends to continue on a biennial Olivier Rolin, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Marie N'Diaye, and Jean- basis at NYU, with the second edition scheduled for 2011. Philippe Toussaint, as well several younger writers such as Marie Darrieussecq and Adam Gopnik with Deborah Treisman Chantal Thomas, Abdourahman Waberi, Olivier Barrot, Frédéric Beigbeder, Jean-Philippe Toussaint, Edmund White, and Tom Bishop Emmanuel Carrère, Caroline Weber, and Francine Prose E.L. Doctorow and Olivier Rolin Chantal Thomas and Edmund White Mark Danner, Caroline Weber, and Bernard-Henri Lévy Chris Ware, Françoise Mouly, and Marjane Satrapi Photographs © Beowulf Sheehan 3 NYU in France celebrates 40 years! A close friend of Tom Bishop’s, Ionesco was also an impor- tant contributor to the founding of NYU in France. In honor of Bishop’s 80th birthday and Ionesco’s 100th, the party’s guests were invited to attend a premier performance of an original opera by French-American composer Jean-Philippe Calvin based on The Bald Soprano at the Athenée Théâtre Louis Jouvet. Donations from Bishop’s friends made the per- formance possible. The charming Italianate theatre was filled to capacity with the friends of NYU in France. The NYU in France staff and 40th anniversary volunteers In late April, students, faculty, alumni, University dignitaries and numerous friends of NYU in France gathered in Paris for a gala celebration of the program’s 40th anniversary.