Yale Department of French Fall 2015
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yale department of french fall 2015 GREETINGS IT WAS AN “ANNÉE MARQUANTE”— international conference on “The Bazin in the best and worst sense: PATRICK Era: French Postwar Journals and the FROM THE MODIANO’s Nobel Prize in November, the Politics of Popular Culture.” (See program Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher attacks here.) One of the highlights of the event CHAIR in January, and now, as we go to press, the was the screening of a rare print of Nicole terror of November 13, which has split Verdrès’s film La vie commence demain— our world violently into a before and after. featuring Gide, Sarte, and Le Corbusier Fluctuat nec mergitur. playing themselves! Here on campus, in the fall of 2014, The year was particularly rich in MAURICE SAMUELS kindly stepped in as lectures—some of them responding acting chair during my leave, and when we met again at the start of spring semester, it was to gather together as a department in a meeting to discuss the January events and the French demonstrations that followed. Being in a French Department took on a new meaning for most of us, suddenly called upon by students and by colleagues across the campus to make sense of “laïcité,” French satire, Republicanism. As I wrote this chair’s message, our colleague PATRICK WEIL had just published Le Sens de la République, giving new meaning to old CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 notions and opening up fresh debates. In late February DUDLEY ANDREW and YUE ZHUO organized a brilliant CAN A 3D PRINTER INTERPRET LITERATURE? In the fall of 2014, MORGANE CADIEU organized a an object that Vladimir Nabokov famously characterized as collaboration between the French Department and the Center virtually impossible to picture: Charles Bovary’s hat. for Engineering Innovation and Design, to test how literary Engineering Dean KYLE VANDERLICK, Deputy Dean realism transfers to a technological context. The goal of the VINCENT WILCZYNSKI; research support specialist project was to print in three dimensions Emile Zola’s locomotive GLENN WESTON-MURPHY; postgraduate associate NGOC “La Lison” as it appears in La bête humaine (1890). In the novel, DOAN; French majors JOHN SUNUNU, SIENNA JUN, and descriptions of the machine are often evasive and metaphorical. ALEXANDRO GONZALEZ-CALVILLO; and senior digital Zola tends to linger on elements of the train (the steam, officerPATRICK LYNCH all contributed to the success of this the whistle or the headlight) and thus to favor metonymy. unique venture. For more see the Yale News Service interview with Because of its imprecise, indeterminate qualities, the text Professor Cadieu and this article in Yale Engingeering. had to be interpreted by the group of readers and engineers in order to build a functional train. For instance, they chose to exaggerate the size of the whistle so as to acknowledge its evocative power and mimic its lengthy description in the novel. The outcome of this project was unexpected: the 3D train ended up looking very similar to the real trains that had inspired Zola—a triumph of close reading! Cadieu plans to pursue her collaboration 1 with the CEID by attempting to print in 3D GREETINGS FROM THE CHAIR, continued from page 1 BERGOUGNOU FRANÇOIS EXPERT to the moment, such as PIERRE of growth and change, and was instrumental , , PAUL LANGLOIS DESCHAMPS BIRNBAUM’s “A New Antisemitic in revitalizing the undergraduate major. As , and EMILIE POLAK Moment in Contemporary France,” and an intellectual historian of the 1930s, 40s . th others connecting to our ongoing search and 50s, as well as a specialist of Bataille We are also especially fortunate for a senior scholar in 18 - Century and Barthes, she made meaningful bridges to welcome two new faculty members Studies. (See Evénementiel, page 4.) with colleagues in history and comparative this fall semester. With the excellent Crowning the year was the annual Naomi literature. We will miss her inquisitive spirit. problem of enrollment overloads, we were RAMLA BEDOUI Schor lecture, given this year by SUSAN Two esteemed colleagues received delighted that from SULEIMAN—a preview of her important secondary appointments in French: Connecticut College graciously agreed new book on Irène Némirovsky and her to join the team of instructors for French SOUMIA KOUNDI legacy. 140 chaired by . On NATASHA LEE THOMAS KAVANAGH entered the graduate faculty, , a his last year of specialist of the Enlightenment, already phased retirement; a known to several of our students for her reception in his honor brilliant summer courses at the University after his last class in of Geneva, is offering a seminar on December was the “Identity and Difference in Eighteenth- occasion for much Century France.” joyful appreciation. CAROLYN DEAN (above, left) from Finally, we celebrated the life and PIERRE CAPRETZ MAURICE SAMUELS, the History Department, a cultural and career of in a beautiful RUTH in a memorable toast, intellectual historian of modern Europe; memorial service organized by KOIZIM said how much he would miss Tom’s and ARDIS BUTTERFIELD (right) from in the Battell Chapel. (See th questions at talks, which were always the English and Music Departments, whose program here.) We continue to reach out to th gallant in an 18 -century way but had work encompasses literature and music in former Yale students, both undergraduate th a sharp edge. And he added that poker France and England from the 13 to the majors and Ph.D.s, and in this issue players all over the world are quaking in 15 century. publish the first in a series of “récits de their boots at the thought that Tom will In 2014-2015, we welcomed four vie” recounting both academic and non- now have a lot more spare time. lectors from the Ecole Normale Supérieure: academic careers. Our online format gives We also said farewell to Assistant SOLANGE ARBER, CLEMENT BADY, us the opportunity to include pictures and Professor YUE ZHUO, who has been CAROLINE BOUQUET, and ALICE links. Please send us your news! PROVENDIER named Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow . They ran a successful — Alice Kaplan in the Humanities and Humanistic Sciences French film club—by now an ENS-Yale at the University of Pennsylvania. Yue was tradition. This fall 2015 has brought another LAURA Director of Undergraduate Studies at a time dynamic group of normaliens: Newsletter published annually by the Department of French. Your comments, suggestions and news are most welcome! Agnès Bolton French Newsletter P.O. Box 208251 New Haven, CT 06520-8251 [email protected] Editors: Agnès Bolton Elaine Piraino-Holevoet Robyn Pront Erin Townsend Photographers: ) Nathalie Batraville and Jennifer Carrr (Special events ) (Faculty portraits and departmentalMichael Marsla groupnd photos The 2014-2015 normaliens from left to right: Alice Provendier, Caroline Bouquet,2 Solange Arber, Designer: and Clement Brady Elaine Piraino-Holevoet/PIROET BILAN GOUVERNEMENT election, and we were delighted by the 2012 Yale King Visitor, for The Other Thank you to the following people who news that RUTH KOIZIM was chosen Americans in Paris: Businessmen, Countesses, made the Department work so well: to be one of the 22 members of the Wayward Youth (1880-1941). Acting Department Chair, fall 2014: Faculty Senate in its inaugural season. MAURICE SAMUELS MAURIE SAMUELS was selected for a CHRIS MILLER DGS: DISTINCTIONS 2015-16 Guggenheim (continuing in 2015-2016) HOWARD BLOCH Fellowship, which CHRIS SEMK could be seen in DUS: Paris in the summer of 2015, teaching will give him a much (continuing in 2015-2016), his celebrated course on cathedrals as he deserved leave from his FRANÇOISE SCHNEIDER LPD: prepares a MOOC on the subject. duties as Professor of for the past 3 years. MORGANE CADIEU French and Director of , in her first year Yale’s Program for the as Assistant Professor of French, lead her Study of Anti-Semitism. undergraduate class in a literary experiment that was subsequently captured in a video One of the greatest on Yale’s web site: “Next stop: Bringing a honors of the literary train to life with a 3D printer.” (See season went to our undergraduate page 1.) BENJAMIN TOM CONNOLLY major, won a Morse MAPPIN-KASIRER, fellowship for 2015-2016. He and his (left) class of 2014. wife Helena welcomed Yael into the world Benjamin was in December 2014. Changing of the Guard in the Registrar’s elected a Rhodes NED DUVAL Office: SONIA BAUGUIL (above left) was awarded the Harwood Scholar, class returned to France in May. As much as we F. Brynes/Richard B.th Sewell Teaching Prize, of 2015, and will study both medicine and will miss Sonia, we are fortunate to have the highest honor that a Yale teacher can literature at Magdalen College, Oxford; on April 27 the wonderful and very capable ERIN receive, . In the words of one his tutor in French is our esteemed TOWNSEND (right) as our new registrar. student: “He is equal parts teacher and colleague Toby Garfitt. maestro.” DOREEN NEELANS (right) now oversees JALONS RUTH KOIZIM our business will serve as Director operations, and of the Language Program for a three- FRANÇOISE has already proven year term, succeeding SCHNEIDER invaluable in helping , as well as a member of the solve problems both faculty senate. (See above.) large and small. CANDACE SKORUPA, KATHLEEN BURTON FRANÇOISE SCHNEIDER We’re grateful to IAN , SHAPIRO, Director of the MacMillan have been reappointed as Sr. Lectors. Center, for providing research fund support We bid farewell to AUDREY HOFFMANN, for faculty in French. lector extraordinaire, who moved to Ohio for her husband’s job at Ohio State We are still learning the new structures in University. the Deans’ and Provost’s Offices. With Jonathan Holloway reading the citation TAMAR GENDLER as Arts and Sciences Dean, AMY HUNGERFORD as Chair of the ALICE KAPLAN chaired the jury for Humanities Divisional Committee, EMILY the second annual American Library in BAKEMEIER, still our revered associate Paris Book Award (with Sebastian Faulks provost, joined by JOHN MANGAN, Senior and Pierre Assouline).