Women, Memory, and Intergenerational Transmission in the Francophone World

Reflecting on the role of novels written by women writers in the context of Jean-Claude Duvalier’s dictatorship in Haiti, Régine Jean-Charles argues that cultural production fills the memory gap left by the dictatorship, due to the refusal on the part of the Haitian government to create official acts of memorialization about this traumatic period. She writes: ‘because the historical record is so incomplete, the realization of justice so elusive, the cultural memory so lacking, the imaginary becomes a space in which to explore other possibilities’ (2013: 161). This imaginative space is all the more important for women who have often been locked out of historical discourse in patriarchal societies where it has been men who have determined which histories have been told and how they have been remembered. The centrality of the theme of memory for women writers and artists across the Francosphere is intimately tied to the French colonial past. The colonization and enslavement of peoples from Africa and the Caribbean wiped out indigenous memories and engendered a fracture in the subjectivity of subsequent generations from these locations, a void Édouard Glissant identifies in his 1981 treatise Le Discours antillais. At the same time, the French government has endeavoured to integrate the historical experiences of the formerly colonized – and, in the case of Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and Réunion, subsequently departmentalized peoples – into the rhetoric of the French Republic, meaning that histories that contradicted the Republican ideals of liberté, égalité, and fraternité have been erased (Vergès 1999; Niang 2022). Women writers and artists from across the Francophone world have thus sought to recuperate these difficult and traumatic memories to place their stories at the centre of discourses surrounding violence, colonization, enslavement, and forced displacement. Well-known figures such as Maryse Condé, Gisèle Pineau, Fabienne Kanor, Fatou Diome, Assia Djebar, Véronique Tadjo, and Michèle Rakotoson have paved the way for a new generation of artists to engage with themes of memory and intergenerational transmission.

This online event seeks to explore specifically feminine processes of coming to terms with the past. It asks what histories and memories are foregrounded by women across the Francophone world, and how this memory transmission occurs. How does the French colonial and postcolonial context come to bear on these memories and their transmission? How do women transmit these difficult and traumatic memories across generations through techniques such as postmemory, a process whereby stories, images, and behaviours are imbued with so much emotion that the subsequent generations take on these memories as if they were their own, according to Marianne Hirsch? (2012). We welcome proposals from a range of time periods and geographical contexts. Proposals could consider the following themes: 

• Women’s role in personal and collective memory practices;
• The role of different media and genre in this memory transmission;
• Intersectional influences on memory and its transmission, including but not limited to race, social class, sexuality, and disability;
• Ethical implications of transmitting difficult and traumatic memories;
• Memory as resistance and empowerment.

The event will take place on Wednesday 29^th and Thursday 30^th November 2023. The first half day will be run from the UK will take place on 29^th November (this will be accessible to European time zones (afternoon of 29^th November) and also EDT and CDT in North America (morning of 29^th November).

The second half day will be run from Australia and will take place on 30^th November (this will be accessible to Australian and South Pacific time zones (morning of 30^th November) and also all other North American time zones (afternoon of 30^th November)).    

Please send your proposals (250-300 words & a biography of no more than 100 words ) for 20-minute presentations and any questions to the organisers Alison Clare (A.M.Clare@liverpool.ac.uk) and Antonia Wimbush (Antonia.Wimbush@unimelb.edu.au) by 15^th September 2023.

We particularly welcome and encourage proposals from postgraduates and early-career researchers.

 

Works Cited

Édouard Glissant, Le Discours antillais (Paris: Gallimard, 1981)

Marianne Hirsch, The Generation of Postmemory: Writing and Visual Culture after the Holocaust (New York: Columbia University Press, 2012)

Régine Jean-Charles, ‘Beyond Truth and Reconciliation in La Mémoire aux abois and Un alligator nommé Rosa’, French Forum, 38.3 (2013), 147-64

Françoise Vergès, ‘Colonizing Citizenship', Radical Philosophy, 96 (May/Jun 1999), 3-7

Mame-Fatou Niang, ‘Innocence, Ignorance et Arrogance : Les Trois Grâces de l’Anti-Noirité en France’, Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, 26.4-5 (2022), 361-374

11^e Conférence Internationale Women in French 
University of Alabama
Precarious Lives/Vie précaires
28-30 mars 2024 

Thème: 

L’épidémie de Covid-19, la guerre en Ukraine qui menace non seulement l’Europe mais met en lumière d’autres conflits en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient, une série de désastres naturels liée au déréglément climatique, et la pression économique qui vient avec tous ces bouleversements ont mis en relief ce que beaucoup d’entre nous savaient déjà : la précarité de notre propre vie et la vie des êtres humains et non-humains qui nous entourent. Cependant, comme c’est souvent le cas, cette précarité est aggravée  par plusieurs facteurs qui nous affectent différemment selon notre position et/ou identité. Les femmes ont disproportionnellement dû quitter le marché de travail pendant la pandémie ; pour beaucoup les raisons de cet exode étaient hors de leur contrôle. La pression économique est ressentie le plus lourdement par les femmes subissant les diverses formes de racisme ; les femmes, les enfants, et les personnes de genres minoritaires constituent la majorité des réfugié.es, y compris des réfugiés climatiques. Tout en étant « la grande cause du quinquennat » du premier mandat d’Emmanuel Macron (maintenant renouvelée pour le second), la féminicide et les violences conjugales et sexuelles plus largement persistent en France, un reflet de ce qui se passe ailleurs dans le monde. Pour WIF 2024 nous vous invitons à réfléchir aux manières dont la précarité de la vie des femmes a été dépeinte dans la littérature et la culture françaises et francophones à travers l’histoire. Quels sont les facteurs qui exacerbent cette précarité ? Qui ou quoi d’autre est vulnérable dans ces circonstances ? Comment est-ce que la résilience naît face à ces pressions. Nous invitons des propositions de communications individuelles ainsi que des panels en rapport avec le thème général de « Vies précaires ». 

Le colloque aura lieu à Tuscaloosa, Alabama, à l’Université d’Alabama, le 28-30 mars 2024. Les organisatrices prévoient un colloque majoritairement en présentiel ; cependant, on pourra accommoder un nombre limité de participant.es qui ne pourront pas s’y rendre. 

  

Les communications peuvent traiter, entre autres, les sujets suivants : 

La migration, l’immigration, l’asyle
La guerre, la génocide
L’environnement, l’écologie
La violence conjugale et sexuelle
La classe et la dépendance/indépendance économique
La race, l’orientation sexuelle, d’autres identités intersectionnelles
La charge mentale
Les études de vulnérabilité
La maladie et les études des handicaps
Les études de mémoire
Les femmes et la mythologie
L’exile
La femme et le statut de citoyen.ne de seconde classe
Les désastres naturels et la survie
La précarité et la science-fiction
Les femmes et la/les démocratie/s précaire
La femme et l’ordre mondial
Les mouvements d’émancipation
Les femmes et la révolution
Les études transatlantiques 

Veuillez envoyer les propositions de 250-300 mots à wif2024@ua.edu ainsi qu’une courte notice biobibliographique avant le 31 août 2023. Les propositions de panel devront comprendront comprendre des résumes des communications individuelles d’environ 100 mots chacun avec une brève description (également 100 mots de l’idée qui les unit. 

One book, one Wif 

En partenariat avec WiF UK-Ireland, WIF-North America continue le projet « One book, one WIF” qui a débuté en 2017. Le but de cette initiative et d’aider à promouvoir l’intérêt critique à des écrivaines françaises et francophones moins connues, et en ce faisant faire croître le lectorat de leur corpus. L’autrice pour le colloque de 2024 est Meryem Alaoui et le texte et La Vérité sort de la bouche du cheval (2018). Des propositions de communication ou de panel au sujet du livre ou de l’autrice en général sont bienvenues.

11^th International Women in French Conference
University of Alabama
Precarious Lives/Vie précaires
28-30 March 2024 

Theme: 

The COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine threatening not only Europe but also shedding new light on other ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, series of climate change-related natural disasters, and attendant economic strain have thrown into relief what many of us were already aware of: the precarity of our own lives and that of those around us, human and nonhuman. However, as in most cases, that precarity is exacerbated by a number of systemic factors that impact us differently based on our position and identity. Women disproportionately left the workforce during the pandemic and many of the reasons driving this exodus were out of their control. Economic strain has been hardest on women of color; women, children, and minority genders make up the majority of refugees, including climate refugees. Despite being the “grande cause du quinquennat” during the first Macron term (and now renewed for the second), feminicide and domestic violence more widely continue to plague France, mirroring what has been happening in the rest of the world. For Women in French 2024 we invite you to consider the ways in which the precarity of women’s lives throughout history has been depicted in French and Francophone literature and culture. What are the factors that exacerbate that precarity? What or who else is vulnerable to these circumstances? In what ways has resilience emerged in response to these pressures? We welcome proposals of individual papers and entire panels on topics related to the overarching theme “Precarious Lives.”   

The conference will take place in Tuscaloosa, AL at The University of Alabama March 28-30, 2024. While the organizers envision a largely in-person event, accommodations will be made for a limited amount of colleagues who need to participate remotely.  

 

Possible topics may include but are not limited to:   

Migration, immigration, asylum 
War and genocide 
Environment and ecology 
Sexual and domestic violence 
Class and economic dependency/independence 
Race, sexual orientation, other intersectional identities 
Charge mentale 
Vulnerability studies 
Illness and disability studies 
Memory studies 
Women and mythology 
Exile 
Women in second-class citizen status 
Natural disasters and survival 
Precarity and science fiction 
Women and precarious democracies 
Women and world order 
Early emancipation movements 
Transatlantic studies 
Women and revolution  

Participants may present in English or in French. Please send a 250-300 word abstract and short bio to wif2024@ua.edu by August 31, 2023. Participants will be notified of acceptance by October 31, 2023. Panel proposals should include a short (about 100 word) proposal for each paper and a description of the unifying idea of the panel of the same length, as well as a brief bio of each participant. 

  

One Book, One WiF 

In partnership with our colleagues in WiF UK-Ireland, WIF North America is furthering the 

'One Book, One WiF' project that began in 2017. The aim of this initiative is to help promote 

critical interest in less known French and Francophone women writers and thus to increase 

the readership of their corpus. The author for the 2024 conference is Meryem Alaoui and 

the text is La Vérité sort de la bouche du cheval (2018). Proposals for papers or a panel on 

this book or the author in general are welcomed. 

“Essential Work” 

How are the working conditions of (female and minoritized) essential workers in the service sectors portrayed in contemporary French literature? Send short abstracts by March 15, 2022 to Johanna Montlouis-Gabriel, jmontlo@ncsu.edu. Non-guaranteed session.

Women in French Session
MLA Convention in San Francisco, CA
(5-8 January 2023) 

« Femmes de couleur et d’écriture en France contemporaine » 

À une époque où l’anti-communautarisme et l’anti-wokisme continuent de sévir en France, aujourd’hui, n’est-il pas grand temps de se pencher sur l’écriture des femmes de couleur incontestablement françaises plutôt que trop commodément « francophones » ? De quoi parlent ouvertement – ou entre les lignes – Jeanne Benameur, Bessora, Isabelle Boni-Claverie, Nina Bouraoui, Maryse Condé, Rokhaya Diallo, Fatou Diome, Gisèle Pineau, Leïla Slimani, Delphine Minoui, Marie Ndiaye (peut-être ou non), Line Papin ou Françoise Vergès – et tant d’autres encore – dans leurs livres ?  

Comment ces auteures contemporaines écrivent-elles la multitude des micro-agressions vues et vécues au quotidien ? Comment représentent-elles les traumatismes intra-générationnels issus des passés esclavagistes et coloniaux ? Que disent-elles des malaises sociaux, culturels, linguistiques, religieux, de genre et d’orientation sexuelle qui ne manquent pas d’intersecter avec la perception hexagonale blanche d’autres couleurs de peau pourtant toutes aussi françaises ? 

Tels seraient les enjeux d’une session WIF intitulée : « Femmes de couleur et d’écriture en France contemporaine. » 

Please submit abstracts of 200-350 words to frederique.chevillot@du.edu by March 15, 2022.

The 2022 MMLA Convention will be held in person November 16-21 in Minneapolis, MN. We welcome proposals that relate the study of French and Francophone women authors, the study of women's place in French and Francophone cultures or literatures, and feminist literary criticism to this year's theme: “Post-Now.”

“The past two years have brought us to an inflection point. As we see the consequences of post-truth politics, as we come to terms with what post-pandemic life can and must be, as we live our professional lives in post-corporatized academe, and as we continue our national racial reckoning, the MMLA's 2022 convention offers us a moment to consider our ethical responsibilities to our profession, our pedagogy, our research, our democracy, and ourselves. We invite our members to a collective discussion of the role of humanities post-now in an emphatic call for immediate changes to allow a fundamentally different future.”

Please send a 250-word abstract in French or English along with your academic affiliation, brief bio, and A/V requirements to Jennifer Howell, Illinois State University, jthowel@ilstu.edu by April 15, 2022. Proposals for complete panels and/or roundtables are also welcome.

Notifications will be sent by May 31, 2022. All presenters must be current members of both the Midwest Modern Language Association and Women in French by August 1, 2022 to participate. Additional information can be found on the conference website: https://www.luc.edu/mmla/convention/

SCMLA 2021 will take place in Memphis, TN at the Sheraton Memphis Downtown Hotel from October 13-15, 2022.  In-person and virtual presentations will be accepted.  

You may propose a paper on any topic related to the study of French and Francophone women authors, the study of women's place in French and Francophone cultures or literature, and/or feminist literary criticism with a focus on this year's theme "Movements" (see full description). 

Please send a 250-word abstract in French or English by March 15, 2022 to Siham Bouamer, Sam Houston State University (sbouamer@shsu.edu).  

If your proposal for the WIF open panel is accepted, you will be notified before March 30, 2022. Presenters must become SCMLA members by the time of the conference. More info may be found on the conference website: 

https://www.southcentralmla.org/conference/

RMMLA 2022 Women in French Panels 

For Women in French Sessions, please send a 250-300 word abstract in French or English, including presenter’s academic affiliation and contact information, to one of the panel chairs listed below . Please do not hesitate to contact Courtney Sullivan (Women in French Representative) if you have any questions (courtney.sullivan@washburn.edu).

Women in French I: Réalisatrices françaises contemporaines. Chair: Michèle Bacholle, Eastertn Connicticut State University bachollem@easternct.edu

Description: Outre l’oubliée Alice Guy et la lointaine Germaine Dulac, le cinéma de femmes en France a longtemps reposé sur Agnès Varda. La révolution culturelle et le féminisme des années 1970 ont ouvert la voie à des réalisatrices comme Coline Serreau, Diane Kurys ou encore Catherine Breillat, une voie où bien d’autres se sont engouffrées depuis – la France compte actuellement 27% de femmes cinéastes. Cette session vise à examiner la production – tant dans ses genres, ses thèmes que sa cinématographie – de réalisatrices françaises contemporaines plus ou moins connues. Dans un milieu encore majoritairement masculin, voire misogyne, comment leurs films se démarquent-ils et comment se singularisent-elles ? Quel regard, figurativement et cinématographiquement parlant, portent-elles sur le monde actuel, les problèmes sociétaux etc. ?

Veuillez envoyer un précis, une note bio-bibliographique et vos coordonnées à Michèle Bacholle, bachollem@easternct.edu avant le 15 mars 2022.  

Women in French II: La Francophonie Existait-elle Avant Notre Ére. Chair: Glenn Fetzer, New Mexico State University gwfetzer@nmsu.edu

Description : De nos jours, les études francophones se concentrent essentiellement sur des auteures contemporaines, au Québec, dans les anciennes colonies du Maghreb ou d’Afrique sub-saharienne, ou les pays européens dont le français est l’une des langues principales. Certains pourraient se demander s’il existait des auteures francophones avant la seconde moitié du XXe siècle. Y-a-t-il eu dans le passé des auteures de langue française vivant ou écrivant en français hors de France ? Certains se souviennent sans doute de quelques Européennes francophones, telles que la Néerlandaise Isabelle de Charrière (1740-1805) ou la Vaudoise Isabelle de Montolieu (1751-1832), aujourd’hui incorporées dans le corpus littéraire français, dont les écrits n’ont pas échappé à la critique féministe. Moins connu est le fait que la tsarine Catherine II de Russie (1729-1796) écrivait en français des pièces destinées à être représentées pour un public privé dans son théâtre de l’Ermitage ; elles ont été recensées par Cecilia Beach en 1994, mais jamais sérieusement étudiées. Que nous apprendraient-elles sur les cultures francophones hors de l’Hexagone ? Ne faudrait-il pas y consacrer l’attention de la critique féministe francophone actuelle ? Y-a-il parmi les générations et les siècles qui nous précèdent des romancières, poètes, dramaturges, essayistes ou journalistes dans d’autres pays et d’autres régions du monde dont l’œuvre en français mériterait d’être ressuscitée et étudiée ?  
     Cette session propose de pousser la recherche francophone au-delà du temps et de l’espace sur lesquels elle se concentre à présent, d’aller à la découverte d’auteures de langue française, inconnues ou peu connues, de quelque genre que ce soit, ayant contribué au rayonnement de la langue et la culture françaises de par le monde. Comment ces auteures sont-elles devenues francophones ? Quelle place la langue et la culture françaises occupaient-elles dans leur pays ou leur région ? Quelle influence leur œuvre ou leur francophonie a-t-elle eue sur leurs compatriotes ? En somme, l’objectif de cette session est d’ouvrir les frontières et d’explorer de nouvelles voies de recherche. *Cette proposition évolue de celle proposée et présidée par Samia Spencer, en 2021.

Veuillez envoyer un précis, une note bio-bibliographique et vos coordonnées à Glen Fetzer, gwfetzer@nmsu.edu, avant le 31 mars 2022.   

Women in French III: Jewish French and Francophone Women and Women Writers. Chair: E. Nicole Meyer nimeyer@augusta.edu and Nancy Arenberg arenberg@uark.edu

Description: In exploring questions of diversity and inclusion, Jewish women authors are often doubly excluded. In addition, from a marginalized position, these minority voices often grapple with issues such as fragmented identities, absence of self, disempowerment, and “otherness.” This session proposes to examine the French language texts (in a broad sense) of Jewish French and Francophone women authors, cineastes, and creators in different media. Why do these texts and their creators deserve inclusion? How does exclusion come through their text(s)? We welcome exploration of narrative (whether visual, print or other) in order to understand not only their production, but that of others. 

Please send a 250-word abstract in English or French to both co-organizers: E. Nicole Meyer nimeyer@augusta.edu and Nancy Arenberg arenberg@uark.edu along with presenter’s academic affiliation, contact information and A/V requirements by March 15, 2022. 

Women in French IV: Space, Place, Time and Identity in French and Francophone Narratives. Chair: E. Nicole Meyer nimeyer@augusta.edu and CJ Gomolka cjgomolka@depauw.edu

Description: Questions of identity are often informed by notions of space, place, and time. Narration operationalizes space, place, and time in ways that inform our understanding of broader concepts like family, kinship, immigration, politics, denomination, gender (to name only a few). This session proposes to investigate intersections between space, place, time and identity in narrative (understood broadly) in French. Questions may include (but are not limited to the following): In what ways do narrative intersections between space, place, and time create novel understandings of the aforementioned? How does this relate to the experience or production of identity? Does resistance to sanctioned versions of French identity play out in French and francophone narrative spaces/places/ time? Do certain interactions between space, place, and time produce post-identity notions of the social/of politics in France and/or in francophone culture? How do these notions play out in literary production, whether contemporary or earlier? How does questioning time and spatial constraints in an author’s production change the nature of narrative and our reading or viewing of it? In what way do authors name themselves through narrative time and space?

Please send a 250-word abstract in English or French to both co-organizers: E. Nicole Meyer nimeyer@augusta.edu and CJ Gomolka cjgomolka@depauw.edu along with presenter’s academic affiliation, contact information and A/V requirements by March 15, 2022.

Women in French V: Screening Women in Nineteenth-Century France and the Francophone World. Chair: Courtney Sullivan, Washburn University courtney.sullivan@washburn.edu

Description: This panel explores representations of women in films and television shows about nineteenth-century France and the Francophone world. Papers on film adaptations of novels and short stories are welcome as are discussions of films about life in nineteenth-century France such as Les Enfants du Paradis, French Cancan, and Partie de campagne, to name a few. Works exploring women who travel to and inhabit French colonies such as L'Histoire d'Adèle H and La Veuve de Saint-Pierre are also welcome. Papers on depictions of women with prominent roles in television series such as Au Siècle de Maupassant and Maison close, etc. are also encouraged.

Please send a 250-word abstract in English or French to organizer: Courtney Sullivan, courtney.sullivan@washburn.edualong with presenter’s academic affiliation, contact information and A/V requirements by March, 31. 2022.

  

Women in French VI: French Pedagogy Roundtable. Chair: Joyce Johnston, Stephen F. Austin State University jjohnston@sfau.edu

Description: This panel explores innovative ways to teach Women in French in this classroom. From graduate students, to lecturers, to faculty who are on the tenure track or retired, this panel seeks ways to promote French language, culture, and civilization, particularly as it relates to women writing and creating in French.

Please send a 250-word abstract in English or French to organizer: Joyce Johnston, jjohnston@sfasu.edu along with presenter’s academic affiliation, contact information and A/V requirements by March 31, 2022.

Deadline: February 21st 2022

Details in the link below:

https://sites.google.com/email.arizona.edu/3rdgraduateconferenceinfrench/home

The 29e Biennale de la langue française will be held this year in Berlin May 23-25 at Humboldt University.

The theme is "interculturalité" and we are welcoming a wide range of proposals covering literature, linguistics, cultural studies, and more.

This is an in-person conference only.

Deadline for submissions: March 2nd 2022

Details attached