FALL 2008 • VOL. XXII INDIANA UNivERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN frit FONTAINE STRAviNSKY, PARIS, BY NiKI DE SAINT PHALLE AND JEAN TiNGUELEY, 1983. PHOTO BY SONYA STEPHENS A FRIT welcome SONYA STEPHENS, CHAIR elcome to your new-look newsletter. Our continually changing, diverse faculty receive fellowships made possible by funding WWhatever your interest in the department, will take students to new places in the coming from the College and from alumni and friends. we hope you will find news and features that will year, whether here on campus or through one The Department of French and Italian continues keep you in touch both with friends and develop- of IU’s many study abroad programs. Margaret to be a stimulating place through the mix of ments in FRIT and the disciplines it represents. Gray has come to an end of her stint in Aix-en- ideas, the sense of tradition and of exciting future As professors Patrick Bray and Rebecca Provence, and in this issue, we hear her stories of possibilities, and the many opportunities we have Wilkin leave to take up positions at the Univer- the year just gone. As French and Italian majors to enjoy and share the rich cultures of Italy and sity of Illinois and at Pacific Lutheran University, return to campus, others prepare for yearlong the French-speaking world with the campus and respectively, the department is benefiting from adventures immersed in foreign cultures. We also wider community. the new perspectives of Marco Arnaudo and wanted to share with you, then, news of IU’s Bolo- As I come to end of my first year as chair, I Colleen Ryan-Scheutz, who joined the faculty gna and Florence programs, as well as of our High am immensely grateful for these opportunities, in recent years and are both featured in this School Honors Program in Foreign Languages, for those who make it all possible through gen- issue. In addition, we will welcome three visiting now in its 46th year, with two centers in Brittany. erous gifts to our programs, and to my faculty professors in French this coming year, as well as Fourteen bright new graduate students will colleagues, the staff, and the students of FRIT, two new faculty members in Italian. join our programs this fall, some of whom will who make it all happen. Membership Matters. This publication is paid for in part by dues-paying members of the IU Alumni Association. THE PiECES OF THE PUZZLE A TUMULTUOUS YEAR IN PROVENCE DESTINATION: fiRENZE FRIT creates fund in honor of professor JULIE AUGER has challenged established dogmas in the “Without Dr. Albert Valdman, I would never fields of French linguistics and language have had a career in academics.” pedagogy. Rather than study “good” French Sally Magnan, PhD’81, professor of like most of his colleagues, he specialized in French at the University of Wisconsin, re- the study of colloquial French, and he aimed members the first paper she published in the to better prepare learners to interact with real Modern Language Journal. “Later as editor of native speakers. Going against the prevalent that journal for 14 years, I thought of that ar- view that only the French of France is worth ticle often,” Magnan wrote, “and how [Albert U studying, he turned his attention to varieties Valdman’s] tutorship to writing it had framed of French spoken in other francophone coun- thinking I later used in editing that journal as S NADEA I tries and published the first comprehensive well as my future writing for other venues.” O Ç book on this topic. Finally, at the urging of his His commitment to graduate students FRAN future wife Hilde, Valdman has devoted an continues into retirement, as he still directs important part of his research and teaching dissertations and serves on doctoral commit- ne cannot talk of French linguis- programs to the language spoken in Haiti, tees. Thanks to a Mellon Emeritus Fellowship Otics at Indiana University without developing teaching materials for Haitian grant from the National Science Foundation; mentioning the founder and, for Creole and publishing a dictionary of this his commitment to the teaching of Haitian language, which had never been done before. Creole; and his ongoing work as editor of almost 50 years now, the soul of this Throughout his IU career, Valdman has Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Vald- program: Albert Valdman. been a mentor to countless graduate students. man provides financial support to four gradu- While his many achievements could fill In addition to directing 45 dissertations and ate students in French linguistics in 2008–09. several pages, I would like to focus on two serving on numerous dissertation commit- In light of his contributions to the Depart- aspects of my colleague that best summa- tees, he has contributed to developing the re- ment of French and Italian and his uniquely rize the career path he has chosen and the search, teaching, and editorial skills of many patient, thoughtful, and nurturing approach impact he has had on the field: his willing- more students. Former students testify to the to research, the department created the ness to challenge received wisdom and his impact that he has had on their lives. Joel C. Albert Valdman Graduate Student Research profound commitment to his students. Waltz, MA’71, PhD’75, professor emeritus of and Travel Fund in French linguistics. This There are many ways in which Valdman French at the University of Georgia, writes, endowed prize has been initiated by contri- butions from several friends and colleagues as our small gesture of thanks. Visit www.indiana.edu/~frithome to learn how you can show your appreciation for Best recent Professor Valdman by making a contribution to the Valdman Graduate Student Research works from and Travel Fund. France frit is published by the Indiana University Alumni Association in cooperation with the Department of French and Italian to encourage alumni interest in and support for Indiana University. The newslet- Films Books ter is paid for in part by dues-paying members of • Indigènes (Days of Glory), by Rachid Bouchareb, • La stratégie des antilopes, by Jean Hatzfeld (Prix the IU Alumni Association. For information about re-creates the journey of four North African soldiers Médicis 2007), is the last installment in a gripping membership or activities, call (800) 824-3044 or who join the French army to help liberate France from fictional trilogy about the 1994 Rwanda genocide and e-mail [email protected]. Information can also Nazi occupation during World War II. its long-lasting consequences. be found online at www.alumni.indiana.edu. • Les amitiés maléfiques (Poison Friends), by Em- • Baisers de cinéma, by Eric Fottorino (Prix Femina Department of French and Italian manuel Bourdieu, tells the story of a group of literature 2007), follows a man seeking answers about his past. www.indiana.edu/~frithome graduate students at the Sorbonne dominated by He knows little more than that this photographer Chair ........................................Sonya Stephens André, a fascinating anti-hero. father claimed his birth was the result of a “baiser de Editor ..................................... Isabel Piedmont • Molière, by Laurent Tirard, depicts Molière’s life as cinéma,” a phrase that can have multiple meanings. College of Arts and Sciences an aspiring young artist at odds with political author- • Alabama Song, by Gilles Leroy (Prix Goncourt Dean .................................Bennett Bertenthal ity and social rules of his time, while mirroring some of 2007), presents a reimagining of the relationship be- Executive Director of Development the situations and plot-twists from his plays. tween American literary “enfants terribles” F. Scott and and Alumni Programs ...........David Ellies • Lady Chatterley, by Pascale Ferran, is an adaptation Zelda Fitzgerald through Zelda’s eyes. of the second version of D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatter- • Dans le café de la jeunesse perdue, by Patrick IU Alumni Association ley’s Lover. This film has won severalC ésar awards. Modiano, is a deeply melancholy and fascinating President/CEO ............................... Tom Martz • Le Scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and portrayal of 1960s Paris through its cafés, streets, and Director of Alumni the Butterfly), by Julian Schnabel, was inspired by the stories of love and loss. Programs ............................Rachael Crouch real-life experience of Elle magazine editor Jean-Domi- • No et moi, by Delphine De Vigan, tells the tale of a Editor for Constituent nique Bauby, who is left mute and paralyzed after a brilliant young adolescent from a dysfunctional family Periodicals .......................Sarah J. Preuschl stroke and dictates ~ frit his fall autobiography 008 by blinking. who befriends a homeless girl named No. Class Notes Editor Raymond Fleischmann — Oana Panaïté — Oana Panaïté and Margaret Gray Designer ...........................................Julie Dales The pieces of the puzzle SONYA STEPHENS ssistant Professor Marco Arnaudo spends a lot of Atime looking at puzzles. Apart from having a stunning visual collection of them all around his office, his work in Italian lit- erature examines interconnections and ways of looking at the world that help us make sense of how the pieces of any puzzle — visual or literary — fit together. The book he has recently completed examines optical illusions in literature in the period 1580 to 1680, helping us to better under- stand cultural references in the texts in question. He is particularly interested in references to visual perspective, since these references disclose contemporary understanding of concepts of visuality and thus reveal something about the history of art. His work focuses particularly on anamorphosis, or deformed images that appear in their true shape or form when viewed in what might be deemed an unconventional way. His attraction to the puzzle as object explains his passion. First, he is attracted to the aesthetics of the object — text or puzzle; secondly, to its inherent logic.