Caroline Laurent
Assistant Professor
- Department: French Studies and Modern Languages
- Office:SD-10
Professor Laurent began teaching at 91视频 in 2021. At 91视频, she teaches French as well as courses on Francophone cultures and literatures. Before joining 91视频, she taught Postcolonial Studies at Sciences Po - Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France, African and Comparative Literature at King's College London in England, and French Language and Romance Literatures at Harvard University in the United States.
Laurent's research deals with twentieth- and twenty-first-century French and Francophone literatures and cultures, with special emphasis on Metropolitan France, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia. Her book manuscript,听The Words of Others: Remembering and Writing Genocide as an Indirect Witness, examines literary and graphic representations of genocidal violence. She focuses on the Holocaust, the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and the Khmer Rouge genocide and mass killings in Cambodia. Specifically, by connecting the authors鈥 representational strategies to critical theories related to memory studies, she examines how indirect witnesses, that is individuals who did not literally or personally experience genocide, problematize their own testimonial acts. Her newest project entitled听Connected Histories of (Post)Coloniality: Circulation and Reception of Art Representing a Diverse Francophone Past听considers the representation and dissemination of histories through art forms, with the aim of dismantling a monolithic national(istic) narrative. By insisting on their creation, their circulation, and their reception, she shows how these historical representations encourage the formation of a new heritage that encompasses different communities. The foregoing creative processes also point to their perpetual transformation that would allow for new decolonized epistemologies and ways to illuminate the past in a context which is Francophone, but also alive in its plural, global, as well as multilingual realities.
Education/Degrees
- Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures. Harvard University, 2016.
- M.Phil. in European Literature and Culture. Christ's College, The University of Cambridge, 2006.
- BA (Hons) in Comparative Literature and History & Social Sciences. The American University of Paris, 2004.
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News
- 鈥淐aine Prize 2023: Senegalese writers win for fantasy-horror story about dangers facing girls.鈥澨The Conversation Africa. 16 October 2023.
- 鈥淢ohamed Mbougar Sarr: Senegalese novelist's win is a landmark for African literature.鈥澨The Conversation Africa. 9 November 2021.
- 鈥淕oncourt Literary Prize - Senegal's Mohamed Mbougar Sarr wins prestigious award.鈥澨Eye on Africa, France 24. 3 November 2021.
- 鈥淒avid Diop: his haunting account of a Senegalese soldier that won the Booker prize.鈥澨The Conversation Africa. 3 June 2021.
- 鈥淥ur World in Graphics.鈥 Audio blog post with Haya Alfarhan.听Arts and Humanities Now. King鈥檚 College London, 7 August 2019.
Publications
Articles
- 鈥淭he Haunting Image and Memorial Construction for the 1.5 Generation: S-21/Tuol Sleng in Francophone Sequential Art.鈥澨Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum: A Multifacted History of the Khmer Rouge Crimes, edited by St茅phanie Benzaquen-Gautier and Anne-Laure Por茅e, Brill, 2024, pp. 226-44.
- 鈥淪ecrets de famille et fant么mes/compulsion spectrale dans听Cent mille journ茅es de pri猫res听de Hui Phang et Sterckeman.鈥澨Squelettes, ectoplasmes et fant么mes, edited by Fr茅d茅ric Chauvaud and Denis Mellier, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2023, pp. 119-41.
- 鈥淢茅moire et Imag(e)ination : La Repr茅sentation de la violence et du g茅nocide cambodgien par l鈥檃rt s茅quentiel.鈥澨Art s茅quentiel et catastrophes, edited by Charlotte Krauss and Fran莽oise Lavocat, Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2022, pp.听275-96.
- 鈥淓mbodiment and Transmission: An Interview with Franco-Cambodian cartoonist Tian Veasna.鈥 Interview with Angelica P. So.听Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, vol. 13, no. 3, 2022, pp. 486-98. DOI:听
- 鈥淰ers une m茅moire partag茅e des tirailleurs s茅n茅galais.鈥澨MemWar - Memorie e oblii delle guerre e dei traumi del XX secolo, edited by Roberto Francavilla, Anna Giaufret, and Laura Quercioli Mincer, Genova UP, 2021, pp. 51-68.
- 鈥Voyageurs malgr茅 eux: Silence, Embodiment, and Exposure in Doan Bui and Minh Tran Huy.鈥澨French Cultural Studies, vol. 32, no. 4, 2021, pp. 346-63. DOI:听听
- 鈥淟e g茅nocide rwandais : L鈥橢crivain-t茅moin indirect comme 鈥榙onneur d鈥櫭ヽhos鈥 dans听Moisson de cr芒nes听de Waberi.鈥澨Nouvelles 茅tudes francophones, edited by Nicoletta Dolce and Irena Trujic, vol. 30, no. 1, University of Nebraska Press, Spring 2015, pp. 79-90. DOI:听
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Conferences & Lectures
- 鈥淩eclaiming Vi峄噒 Nam: Memory and Embodied Transmission in Papin鈥檚听Les Os des filles.鈥澨Women, Memory, and Intergenerational Transmission in the Francophone World. Women in French Australia. Virtual Seminar Series, 29 November 2023.
- 鈥淭he Presence of Perec鈥檚听Je me souviens鈥听in Francophone Works or How to Create a Literary Memory of Past Traumatic Events.鈥澨Perec听: Je me souviens. Je me souviens de Perec. Perec: I remember.听I remember Perec. MLA Convention 2023. San Francisco, 5-8 January 2023.
- 鈥淧ass茅, exil et souffrance : le corps-archive dans听Les Os des filles听de Line Papin.鈥澨SELF XX-XXI 鈥 Exp茅riences. Paris, 16-18 June 2022.
- 鈥(Mi)Lieu de m茅moire: Southeast Asian Identities in Paris鈥檚 Chinatown.鈥澨Postcolonial Realms of Memory: Sites and Symbols in the Modern Francosphere. Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies. Florida State University. Tallahassee, 7-8 October 2021.
- 鈥淓ntomological Re-Appropriation of Propagandist Rhetoric: From听Inyenzi听to听Phal猫ne听in Koulsy Lamko.鈥澨Narrating Violence: Making Race, Making Difference.听Nordic Summer University Study Circle Narrative and Violence and The George and Irina Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights, and Conflict Prevention at The American University of Paris. Paris, 29-31 March 2021.
- 鈥淭hrough Mati Diop鈥檚 Eyes: Representing Social and Gender Realities of Women in Senegal.鈥澨Visual Africa: Francophone Women鈥檚 Aesthetic Representations of Africa听(WiF Roundtable), NeMLA Conference 2021. Virtual Convention, 11-14 March 2021.
- 鈥溾楯e鈥 to 鈥楾u鈥 in Loo Hui Phang鈥檚听尝鈥橧尘辫谤耻诲别苍肠别: Siblings in Stories of Migration and Exile.鈥澨Siblings in French and Francophone Literature, NeMLA Conference 2021. Virtual Convention, 11-14 March 2021.
- 鈥淔orgetting and Remembering France鈥檚听Tirailleurs S茅n茅galais.鈥澨MemWar 鈥 Memory and Oblivion of Twentieth-Century Wars and Trauma. Universit脿 di Genova. Virtual Conference, 9-11 December 2020.
- 鈥淪ecrets de famille et compulsion spectrale dans听Cent mille journ茅es de pri猫res听de Hui Phang et Sterckeman.鈥澨Squelettes, ectoplasmes et fant么mes. Angoul锚me 鈥 CIBDI, 18-19 November 2020.
- 鈥淗ybridity and Writing: The Representation of Violence in Rwanda and Burundi.鈥澨Narrating Genocide听(Roundtable), NeMLA Conference 2020. Boston, 5-8 March 2020.
- 鈥淏eing and Belonging: from 鈥業鈥 to 鈥榃e鈥 in Cl茅ment Baloup鈥檚听Vi峄噒 Ki峄乽听Memoirs.鈥澨Narrative Voice in Autobiographical Graphic Novels, NeMLA Conference 2020. Boston, 5-8 March 2020.
- 鈥溾楶resque malgr茅 nous, nous commencions de nous 茅tablir en ces lieux o霉 nous n鈥檃vions pens茅 que passer鈥: Migration and Embodied Silence in Franco-Vietnamese Literature.鈥澨Narratives of Forced Migration in The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. University of Stirling. Stirling, 16-18 September 2019.
- 鈥溾楯e l鈥檃i cherch茅e sans plus y croire鈥: Victims and Survivors of the Khmers Rouges in听La Colline empoisonn茅e听by Poustochkine.鈥澨鈥淭he Missing Picture鈥: Rethinking Genocide Studies and Prevention, International Association of Genocide Scholars 2019 Conference. American University of Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 14-19 July 2019.
- 鈥Listening听to Others: Writing the Rwandan Genocide as an Indirect Witness.鈥澨Thinking with Jean-Luc Nancy, Oxford International Conference 2019. Oxford, 28-30 March 2019.
- 鈥淰iolence, or the Memory of Childhood in Ga毛l Faye鈥檚听Petit Pays.鈥 ASAUK: African Studies Association in the UK 2018 Conference. University of Birmingham. Birmingham, 11-13 September 2018.
- 鈥溾楻茅sister, par tous les moyens鈥: Mobilisation in the Dystopian Political Work of Karim Amellal鈥檚听Bleu Blanc Noir.鈥听Sous les pav茅s, Contemporary French and Francophone Studies Colloquium. Brown University. Providence, 12-14 April 2018.
- 鈥淭he Haunting Image and Memorial Construction: Tuol Sleng in French Comic Books.鈥 ACLA Conference 2017. Utrecht University. Utrecht, the Netherlands, 6-9 July 2017.
- 鈥溾楥鈥檈st le chemin qui d茅cide de l鈥檈ndroit o霉 tu vas atterrir:鈥 The Plural Representation of Migration in Barroux and Bessora鈥檚 graphic novel听Alpha.鈥 Cincinnati Conference on Romance and Arabic Languages & Literatures. University of Cincinnati. Cincinnati, 31 March-1 April 2017.
- 鈥淏eyond Borders: How to 鈥極penly鈥 Speak of the Rwandan Genocide Through Literature.鈥澨Global Trajectories: Towards New Critical Horizons, Inaugural French and Francophone Graduate Conference. Harvard University. Cambridge, 12 May 2016.
- 鈥淏etween Life and Death, Past and Present: The Heritage of a Specter in听La Phal猫ne des collines听by Lamko.鈥澨Passages, Seuils, Portes, Contemporary French and Francophone Studies Colloquium. St. Louis, 17-19 March 2016.
- 鈥淢茅moire et Imag(e)ination: La Repr茅sentation de la violence et du g茅nocide cambodgien par l鈥檃rt s茅quentiel.鈥澨Sequential Art and Catastrophes: Comics, Mangas, Graphic Novels. Universit茅 Paris 3- Sorbonne Nouvelle. Paris, 11- 13 February 2016.
- 鈥淟e G茅nocide rwandais: Voix collective et m茅moire multidirectionnelle (Moisson de cr芒nes听de Waberi).鈥 Congress of the听Conseil International听d鈥橢tudes Francophones. San Francisco, 29 June-6 July 2014.
- 鈥淭he Pain of Incest in D茅w茅 Gorod茅鈥檚听尝鈥櫭塸补惫别: from the Individual to the Caledonian Nation.鈥澨The Poetics of Pain, Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference. CUNY. New York, 25-26 February 2010.
Affiliations
- Memory Studies Association
- Modern Language Association
- International Association of Genocide Scholars
- British Comparative Literature Association
- Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies
- Northeast Modern Language Association
- Women in French
Research Areas
- 20th- and 21st-century French and Francophone Literatures;
- Comparative Genocide Studies;
- History and Memory;
- Psychoanalysis;
- Postcolonial Studies;
- Diaspora Literature;
- Cultural Studies;
- Graphic Novels and Narratives;
- Popular Culture