yale department of french fall 2018 AS I PAUSE TO CONTEMPLATE the senior level as well, and we are hoping GREETINGS another busy and successful year in to have very exciting news to announce in the Yale Department of French, I am this regard shortly. FROM THE deeply grateful to everyone who made We were very happy to welcome back it possible. I am especially grateful to ALYSON WATERS to teaching this past CHAIR PIERRE SAINT-AMAND for agreeing year. As many of you know, in addition to to be the Director of Graduate Studies editing Yale French Studies, Alyson has a so soon after arriving at Yale, and for the thriving career as a translator. Now that extremely effective work he did preparing she is once again teaching her popular our students for the job market. I am courses on translation, we have been ALICE KAPLAN equally grateful to for able to add a translation track to our filling in for Pierre as DGS when he went undergraduate major. This year, we will TOM CONNOLLY on leave in the Spring. also experiment with two new courses on did a wonderful job during his two years French for the professions—one devoted as Director of Undergraduate Studies to medicine and one to business—which and will now be handing over the reins to will be taught by MORGANE CADIEU . I am happy to say our new lector, RUTH KOIZIM that has agreed to stay on LÉO TERTRAIN, as the director of our language program. (left)who joins Over the past year, we conducted a us fresh from th th major international open-rank search in the completing a PhD fields of 16 and/or 17 -century French at Cornell in 2016. literature and culture, to help rebuild our I am happy also early modern team in light of the departure to announce the CHRIS SEMK of and the upcoming reappointments of NED DUVAL retirement of . After reviewing LAUREN PINZKA more than 90 nominations of scholars at and MARYAM SANJABI as Senior the senior level and the dossiers of the most Lecturers; FRANÇOISE SCHNEIDER, Fellow. Tsivia completed her PhD in Romance promising junior scholars from around the CONSTANCE SHERAK, and CANDACE and Latin American Studies at the Hebrew world, I am very pleased to announce that SKORUPA as Senior Lectors; and MARIE- University in Jerusalem with a dissertation CHRISTOPHE HÉLÈNE GIRARD as Visiting Professor. devoted to the writing of Edmond Jabès. SCHUWEY Once again, our wonderful group of While at Yale, she will study the place of (right) is joining students from the École Normale Supérieure, Algeria in French-Jewish Culture with our us this year. CHLOÉ FOLENS, MARC LOZANO, growing team of specialists devoted to Christophe DAVID STOLERU, and ALICE THIBAUD Algeria and North African Francophone received his PhD (see page 6)were actively involved in the life literature—TOM CONNOLLY, JILL in 2016 from the of the department. In addition to teaching, JARVIS, and ALICE KAPLAN. universities of hosting language tables, and serving as Last year saw the publication of Paris-Sorbonne writing tutors, they organized an exciting TOM CONNOLLY’s new book , Paul and Fribourg, French Film Club Celan’s Unfinished Poetics: Readings in where he wrote series centered the Sous-Oeuvre. And this coming year a brilliant around the themes we will celebrate CHRIS MILLER’s book dissertation on the Mercure Galant and the of “Travailleurs, Literary Hoaxes and Cultural Authenticity, enterprising figure of its editor, Donneau de travailleuses” and which will be published in late 2018 by the th Visé. A specialist of the History of the Book, “Exile.” University of Chicago Press. I am happy Christophe also brings expertise in 17 - This year to say that several of our faculty members century theater and performance, as well our department received awards for their publications— ALICE KAPLAN as a deep interest in the digital humanities. also welcomed wonCONTINUED the Gustav ON PAGERanis 2 Given the importance and richness of TSIVIA FRANK- Prize awarded by the MacMillan Center these fields, the Yale administration has WYGODA (right) 1 provisionally allowed us to make an offer at as a Postdoctoral GREETINGS FROM THE CHAIR, continued from page 1 for the best book on an international of Benjamin Fondane, which was co- subject written by a member of the organized by TOM CONNOLLY and our Yale Faculty for Looking for the Stranger illustrious alum, JULIE ELSKY, now an (Chicago, 2016), and I co-won the MLA’s Assistant Professor at Loyola University Scaglione Prize for the best book in French in Chicago. Studies for The Right to Difference: French Speaking of conferences, it is with a Universalism and the Jews (Chicago, 2016). bit of heavy heart that I invite everyone As of this past year, Yale will once to attend “French Renaissance Literary again be considered a Center of Excellence and Scholarly Legacies: A Conference in of the Cultural Services of the French Honor of NED DUVAL,” to be held at the Embassy of the United States. Our Center Whitney Humanities Center on December 7, of Excellence will be housed within Yale’s 2018. The conference is meant as a send- Department of French, but we hope Christine Angot and Morgane Cadieau off to Ned, who has devoted so many years colleagues from across the university of service to the Yale French Department, will see it as a way to further research We also hosted a 5-day workshop, and it will feature many of his former on topics relating to France or involving co-sponsored with ATLAS, devoted to students and close colleagues celebrating cooperation with French educational “Translating Critical Thought.” Run by two his outstanding contributions to the field. institutions. The French Consulate is distinguished translators, Patrick Hersant Yale French Studies is publishing a volume currently accepting applications for major and Catherine Porter, the workshop brought in honor of Ned, edited by Jessica DeVos research projects. They have indicated that together translators into both French and and Bruce Hayes, to go along with the they are particularly interested in projects English to discuss their craft and hone their conference. I look forward to seeing many that further President Macron’s challenge skills in the difficult endeavor of translating of you there as we thank Ned and wish to “make the planet great again,” but they critical theory. A round table moderated by him bon voyage. Details of this event are are also open to other sorts of projects. Alice Kaplan on the theme of “Translators, posted at: https://duvalconference2018. We very much look forward to collaborating Editors, Publishers” brought together wordpress.com. with colleagues across the university in the Harold Augenbraum from Yale Review, years to come. Yves Sintomer, from Paris 8, Nancy Toff, We hosted a number of especially from Oxford University Press and Alyson exciting events in the department this past Waters, managing editor for Yale French year. In our very own Festival d’automne, Studies for a lively conversation. Professor entitled “Versions of Reality: Four Talks by Souleymane Bachir Diagne of Columbia Acclaimed French Writers,” we welcomed University gave the keynote address at the some of the leading voices in French fiction workshop, entitled “Portrait du philosophe today: Edouard Louis, Christine Angot, en traducteur.” Mathiasl Énard, and Éric Chevillard. All of Every other year, the department these writers gave riveting discussions of sponsors a conference organized by the their most recent work and engaged with graduate students. This year, in a nod to the members of the department in fascinating commemoration of 1968, their topic was JASON debates. “Revolution/Révolution.” Led by HONG and SOPHIA HELVERSON, the Let me conclude by thanking the conference brought members of the administration for their young scholars from expert and generous support of our EMILY BAKEMEIER across the US and many endeavors: , TAMAR GENDLER abroad for a weekend of Deputy Provost; , exciting conversation. Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; AMY HUNGERFOR Professor Madeleine D, Chair of the JOHN Dobie of Columbia gave Humanities Divisional Committee; MANGAN the keynote address. , Senior Associate Dean of FAS; DOREEN NEELANS In collaboration with and , Operations IAN SHAPIRO the Beinecke Library, Manager. , the Director of the department also the MacMillan Center, deserves our special hosted a conference thanks for providing research support for This year’s cohort of students from the Ecole Normale: Hugo Darroman, dedicated2 to the work faculty and students in French. Thomas Dumont, Ghislain Tchuisseu, Jules Colmart — Maurice Samuels FACULTY MORGANENEWS CADIEU This past year, was on nominated for the Malcolm Bowie Prize for a Morse Fellowship to work on her second best article published by an early-career book, Rewriting Rastignac: Social Mobility researcher in the broader discipline of in the Twenty-First Century. Her first book French Studies. Last summer, she was invited Marcher au hasard: clinamen et création to facilitate a workshop on Queens consort dans la prose du XXe siècle is forthcoming at the Attending to Early Modern Women at Classiques Garnier. She was elected conference. to the MLA Executive Committee on MARIE-HÉLÈNE GIRARD published a Twentieth- and Twenty-first Century French critical and annotated edition of Théophile Alice Kaplan with Jacques Ferrandez Literature, and published an article in Sites, Gautier’s Voyage en Italie in two volumes titled “Stratification of the Urban Space in at Librairie Honoré Champion, Paris last ALICE KAPLAN Contemporary Paris: Modiano, Vasset, and lectured at Georgetown January. the Data Centers of Memory.” She was invited University, at the Collège de France in at Cornell, Dartmouth, and the University This year, JILL JARVIS saw two of her Antoine Compagnon’s seminar (see here: of Copenhagen to present her research on projects in print.