Caroline Laurent
Assistant Professor
- Department: French Studies and Modern Languages
- Office:SD-10
Professor Laurent began teaching at 91勛圖厙in 2021. At AUP, she teaches French as well as courses on Francophone cultures and literatures. Before joining AUP, 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,泭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 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泭Connected Histories of (Post)Coloniality: Circulation and Reception of Art Representing a Diverse Francophone Past泭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
- Caine Prize 2023: Senegalese writers win for fantasy-horror story about dangers facing girls.泭The Conversation Africa. 16 October 2023.
- Mohamed Mbougar Sarr: Senegalese novelist's win is a landmark for African literature.泭The Conversation Africa. 9 November 2021.
- Goncourt Literary Prize - Senegal's Mohamed Mbougar Sarr wins prestigious award.泭Eye on Africa, France 24. 3 November 2021.
- David Diop: his haunting account of a Senegalese soldier that won the Booker prize.泭The Conversation Africa. 3 June 2021.
- Our World in Graphics. Audio blog post with Haya Alfarhan.泭Arts and Humanities Now. Kings College London, 7 August 2019.
Publications
Articles
- The Haunting Image and Memorial Construction for the 1.5 Generation: S-21/Tuol Sleng in Francophone Sequential Art.泭Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum: A Multifacted History of the Khmer Rouge Crimes, edited by St矇phanie Benzaquen-Gautier and Anne-Laure Por矇e, Brill, 2024, pp. 226-44.
- Secrets de famille et fant繫mes/compulsion spectrale dans泭Cent mille journ矇es de pri癡res泭de Hui Phang et Sterckeman.泭Squelettes, ectoplasmes et fant繫mes, edited by Fr矇d矇ric Chauvaud and Denis Mellier, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2023, pp. 119-41.
- M矇moire et Imag(e)ination : La Repr矇sentation de la violence et du g矇nocide cambodgien par lart s矇quentiel.泭Art s矇quentiel et catastrophes, edited by Charlotte Krauss and Fran癟oise Lavocat, Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2022, pp.泭275-96.
- Embodiment and Transmission: An Interview with Franco-Cambodian cartoonist Tian Veasna. Interview with Angelica P. So.泭Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, vol. 13, no. 3, 2022, pp. 486-98. DOI:泭
- Vers une m矇moire partag矇e des tirailleurs s矇n矇galais.泭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.
- Voyageurs malgr矇 eux: Silence, Embodiment, and Exposure in Doan Bui and Minh Tran Huy.泭French Cultural Studies, vol. 32, no. 4, 2021, pp. 346-63. DOI:泭泭
- Le g矇nocide rwandais : LEcrivain-t矇moin indirect comme donneur d矇chos dans泭Moisson de cr璽nes泭de Waberi.泭Nouvelles 矇tudes francophones, edited by Nicoletta Dolce and Irena Trujic, vol. 30, no. 1, University of Nebraska Press, Spring 2015, pp. 79-90. DOI:泭
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Conferences & Lectures
- Reclaiming Vi廙t Nam: Memory and Embodied Transmission in Papins泭Les Os des filles.泭Women, Memory, and Intergenerational Transmission in the Francophone World. Women in French Australia. Virtual Seminar Series, 29 November 2023.
- The Presence of Perecs泭Je me souviens泭in Francophone Works or How to Create a Literary Memory of Past Traumatic Events.泭Perec泭: Je me souviens. Je me souviens de Perec. Perec: I remember.泭I remember Perec. MLA Convention 2023. San Francisco, 5-8 January 2023.
- Pass矇, exil et souffrance : le corps-archive dans泭Les Os des filles泭de Line Papin.泭SELF XX-XXI Exp矇riences. Paris, 16-18 June 2022.
- (Mi)Lieu de m矇moire: Southeast Asian Identities in Pariss Chinatown.泭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.
- Entomological Re-Appropriation of Propagandist Rhetoric: From泭Inyenzi泭to泭Phal癡ne泭in Koulsy Lamko.泭Narrating Violence: Making Race, Making Difference.泭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.
- Through Mati Diops Eyes: Representing Social and Gender Realities of Women in Senegal.泭Visual Africa: Francophone Womens Aesthetic Representations of Africa泭(WiF Roundtable), NeMLA Conference 2021. Virtual Convention, 11-14 March 2021.
- Je to Tu in Loo Hui Phangs泭郭I鳥梯娶喝餃梗紳釵梗: Siblings in Stories of Migration and Exile.泭Siblings in French and Francophone Literature, NeMLA Conference 2021. Virtual Convention, 11-14 March 2021.
- Forgetting and Remembering Frances泭Tirailleurs S矇n矇galais.泭MemWar Memory and Oblivion of Twentieth-Century Wars and Trauma. Universit di Genova. Virtual Conference, 9-11 December 2020.
- Secrets de famille et compulsion spectrale dans泭Cent mille journ矇es de pri癡res泭de Hui Phang et Sterckeman.泭Squelettes, ectoplasmes et fant繫mes. Angoul礙me CIBDI, 18-19 November 2020.
- Hybridity and Writing: The Representation of Violence in Rwanda and Burundi.泭Narrating Genocide泭(Roundtable), NeMLA Conference 2020. Boston, 5-8 March 2020.
- Being and Belonging: from I to We in Cl矇ment Baloups泭Vi廙t Ki廙u泭Memoirs.泭Narrative Voice in Autobiographical Graphic Novels, NeMLA Conference 2020. Boston, 5-8 March 2020.
- Presque malgr矇 nous, nous commencions de nous 矇tablir en ces lieux o羅 nous navions pens矇 que passer: Migration and Embodied Silence in Franco-Vietnamese Literature.泭Narratives of Forced Migration in The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. University of Stirling. Stirling, 16-18 September 2019.
- Je lai cherch矇e sans plus y croire: Victims and Survivors of the Khmers Rouges in泭La Colline empoisonn矇e泭by Poustochkine.泭The Missing Picture: Rethinking Genocide Studies and Prevention, International Association of Genocide Scholars 2019 Conference. American University of Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 14-19 July 2019.
- Listening泭to Others: Writing the Rwandan Genocide as an Indirect Witness.泭Thinking with Jean-Luc Nancy, Oxford International Conference 2019. Oxford, 28-30 March 2019.
- Violence, or the Memory of Childhood in Ga禱l Fayes泭Petit Pays. ASAUK: African Studies Association in the UK 2018 Conference. University of Birmingham. Birmingham, 11-13 September 2018.
- R矇sister, par tous les moyens: Mobilisation in the Dystopian Political Work of Karim Amellals泭Bleu Blanc Noir.泭Sous les pav矇s, Contemporary French and Francophone Studies Colloquium. Brown University. Providence, 12-14 April 2018.
- The Haunting Image and Memorial Construction: Tuol Sleng in French Comic Books. ACLA Conference 2017. Utrecht University. Utrecht, the Netherlands, 6-9 July 2017.
- Cest le chemin qui d矇cide de lendroit o羅 tu vas atterrir: The Plural Representation of Migration in Barroux and Bessoras graphic novel泭Alpha. Cincinnati Conference on Romance and Arabic Languages & Literatures. University of Cincinnati. Cincinnati, 31 March-1 April 2017.
- Beyond Borders: How to Openly Speak of the Rwandan Genocide Through Literature.泭Global Trajectories: Towards New Critical Horizons, Inaugural French and Francophone Graduate Conference. Harvard University. Cambridge, 12 May 2016.
- Between Life and Death, Past and Present: The Heritage of a Specter in泭La Phal癡ne des collines泭by Lamko.泭Passages, Seuils, Portes, Contemporary French and Francophone Studies Colloquium. St. Louis, 17-19 March 2016.
- M矇moire et Imag(e)ination: La Repr矇sentation de la violence et du g矇nocide cambodgien par lart s矇quentiel.泭Sequential Art and Catastrophes: Comics, Mangas, Graphic Novels. Universit矇 Paris 3- Sorbonne Nouvelle. Paris, 11- 13 February 2016.
- Le G矇nocide rwandais: Voix collective et m矇moire multidirectionnelle (Moisson de cr璽nes泭de Waberi). Congress of the泭Conseil International泭dEtudes Francophones. San Francisco, 29 June-6 July 2014.
- The Pain of Incest in D矇w矇 Gorod矇s泭郭p硃措梗: from the Individual to the Caledonian Nation.泭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